By Becky Weston
Not unlike a little black and white square mosaic puzzle, the ‘QR’ or ‘Quick-Response’ code is increasingly present in our everyday lives.
From outdoor advertising, TV screens, point of sale displays, T-Shirts, business cards, direct mail, packaging and even as temporary tattoos! – The QR code is very much part of the marketing scene.
Originating in Japan in the early 1990’s, they were first used Denso-Wave, a subsidary of Toyota, for part-tracking during manufacturing. The increasing
ownership of smartphones with the technology to scan these matrix barcodes at high-speed has created a highly interactive form of marketing. The term ‘hard-linking’ or ‘object-linking’ has been used to describe this linking from physical objects.
As they may be placed virtually anywhere, they are an innovative way of connecting mobile consumers with online digital content. The data within the code may be used in a variety of ways – to connect to a website, dial a number, download music or vouchers, VIP access to events, exclusive offers and even for networking at conferences. Joint research by mobile marketing Joule and lifestyle environment agency Kinetic Worldwide reveals 39% of consumers are familiar with QR codes across all age groups.
Kinetic & Joules’ research does suggest the need for better information and sign-posting of QR codes and better integration into advertising creative. These examples show that the look of the codes themselves is indeed evolving all the time.
12% of consumers have successfully scanned a QR code with their phone and gone on to access the info it contains but perhaps unsurprisngly, this figure increases to 20% amongst 18-24 year olds. The study found that 49% of consumers thought that a product voucher or brand information was the most preferred content, although 42% thought a link to a website would be useful.
Richard Metcalf, business development director at Joule, commented – “While QR codes have been on general use in the UK for a relatively short time, their potential to play a significant interactive role in brand communication is becoming clear”.
Useful links –
QR Code Generator – qrstuff.com
More about QR codes – Denso-wave.com
