2D/QR/Bar Codes
Integrated Marketing on a Shoestring Budget
Advertisers now expect each integrated marketing campaign to stand out, be attention getting, relevant to their audience, perceived as cutting edge and able to drive action or response all with the same campaign. I have heard it called a tactic, sometimes amarketing strategy, depending how well fleshed out the plan is, but there is a low-cost way of bridging the gap between print and digital and shows your customers that you are making an effort to communicate with them in the mediums preferred by them. Try using a QR code on your branded materials. QR codes are a good way of involving consumers by making an ad interactive. At the very least it will achieve more recognition of the advertisement and more traffic to the website or wherever the link of the QR code leads to.
QR codes took over NYC in June of 2010 when the Thompson Reuters Building began putting QR codes on the face of the building in Times Square so passersbys could use their smart phone barcode scanning app to scan the QR codes — which were featured in an animated sequence on the buidling from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. When scanning the QR codes, it lead to information relating to specific agencies including 311, NYC Department of Transportation, NYCulture Calendar, NYC Business Express and City of New York Parks and Recreation.
Dubai is dedicating the entire exterior of one of their newest hotels to the movie industry,The CODE UNIQUE HOTEL athttp://holtermanndesign.com/blog/qr-code-unique-hotel-dubai-studio-city/. The entire exterior of the building is a huge QR code. Reality is that the use of QR codes need not be on such a grand scale to be effective. Each anticipated result would drive different implementations.
Macy’s Fall Backstage – QR Code Campaign – Scan for a chance to win a $500 Shopping Spree is their latest integrated marketing campaign. They’ve integrated social media, video, mobile, and the “What’s in it for me” factor is a chance to win a $500 Shopping Spree. What more could you ask for in an integrated marketing campaign that has customer interaction?
We know you can buy awareness and customer interaction, even results with bold tactics. You can test and prove that you can get increased attention and greater customer intimacy on a shoestring, if you have good knowledge of the product, audience and market by linking the web with your ad or direct response piece with a QR code, keeping your message and offer relevant and monitoring the result.
We know that timeliness is key in advertising and direct response. So offer something to your prospects that they want or need, tell them the offer won’t last forever and make sure that you give them the opportunity to respond via the medium that they find most comfortable to use by employing even just one integrated marketing tactic, using a QR code. It makes it just a bit more convenient for your audience just that much easier for your customers to reach out to you. See a video on Macy’s backstage pass campaign using QR and SMS.
Are QR codes replacing SMS?
Our two cents:
The short answer is no, despite the fact that some brands are seeing QR codes outperform the typical SMS call to action. The simple fact is that QR code adoption is still relatively low, ~14% in the U.S. Therefore, you’re starting with a smaller pool of people to begin with. We see SMS as still being the best all-around mobile tactic for creating customer loyalty, as many customers use it to sign up for coupons, alerts, etc. This is especially important for brands that target mainstream demographics, e.g., Moms 25-44 with an HHI of $75k or less. It’s common for this demographic to under-index on QR codes, but overindex on SMS and MMS. So at the end of the day, it really comes down to figuring out who your customer and defining their mobile behavior, instead of blindly following tech trends.
Mobile marketing ready to take off
Mobile marketing is poised for dramatic growth in 2012, according to a survey of 501 marketing and advertising executives by AT&T, which predicts that much of the growth will be driven by smartphone applications and mobile bar codes.
Separately, a study from ReturnPath found big increases in email open rates on mobile devices, suggesting an emerging area of opportunity for email marketers.
The AT&T survey of marketing and advertising executives found that 88% of respondents expect their mobile marketing program to increase over the next year, with 43% saying they expect more mobile apps, 41% pointing to mobile barcodes, and 40% saying they anticipate more mobile banner ads. Mobile Web came next at 35%, followed by SMS messages, cited by 34% of respondents.
Overall, 66% of respondents said they expect mobile barcodes to be the main driver of mobile marketing innovation over the next year. However, security and cost remain important issues when mobile marketers consider using mobile barcodes.
The ReturnPath survey found that the volume of email accessed via mobile devices increased 34% in the six-month period from April-September 2011 compared to the preceding six-month period. Over this period, the volume of email opened via iPads surged 73%.
One of the most popular times for accessing email via mobile devices was over the weekend, when users are away from workplace laptops and PCs. Conversely, the volume of email accessed via mobile drops sharply on Mondays, when workers return to the workplace.
People don’t understand QR codes, not even college kids
Our two cents:
The central theme in this article is that the QR code process is still overly complicated and non-intuitive. After all, if you really think about it, someone probably showed YOU how to use one. But the most important point from Amy Gaharan at contentious is that until mobile phones and the objects they are meant to engage with become more aware of each other, i.e., smarter, then it will always seem like a hassle.
QR codes replacing old-fashioned tour guides.
On a recent trip to the EU, we wondered in to Montepulciano. A historically preserved Italian town that looks like the backdrop for every Disney movie over the past 20 years. In order to convey the story of some of their landmark buildings, the town had QR code stations installed along the narrow, winding pathways of the town. Each one sits in front of the building with clear instructions (in Italian only) on how to use the QR code and what to expect. When passersby snap the QR code, they are taken to a mobile-enabled landing page, containing a short history and interesting facts on the featured building. Essentially a mobile tour guide
A simple, effective and well executed use of QR codes.
14 Million Americans Scanned QR Codes on their Mobile Phones in June 2011
14 Million Americans Scanned QR Codes on their Mobile Phones in June 2011
Newspapers/Magazines and Product Packaging Most Likely Source of QR Code
QR Code Users Most Likely to Scan Code while at Home or Store
RESTON, VA, August 12, 2011 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released results of a study on mobile QR code scanning based on data from its comScore MobiLens service. A QR (“Quick Response”) code is a specific matrix bar code (or two-dimensional code) that is readable by smartphones. The study found that in June 2011, 14 million mobile users in the U.S., representing 6.2 percent of the total mobile audience, scanned a QR code on their mobile device. The study found that a mobile user that scanned a QR code during the month was more likely to be male (60.5 percent of code scanning audience), skew toward ages 18-34 (53.4 percent) and have a household income of $100k or above (36.1 percent). The study also analyzed the source and location of QR code scanning, finding that users are most likely to scan codes found in newspapers/magazines and on product packaging and do so while at home or in a store.
“QR codes demonstrate just one of the ways in which mobile marketing can effectively be integrated into existing media and marketing campaigns to help reach desired consumer segments,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. “For marketers, understanding which consumer segments scan QR codes, the source and location of these scans, and the resulting information delivered, is crucial in developing and deploying campaigns that successfully utilize QR codes to further brand engagement.”
Demographic Profile of a QR Code User
A demographic analysis of those who scanned a QR code with their mobile phone in June revealed an audience that was more likely to be male, young to middle-age and upper income. Men were 25 percent more likely (index of 125) than the average mobile user to scan QR codes, representing 60.5 percent of the scanning audience.
More than half of all QR code scanners were between the ages of 18-34 (53.4 percent). Those between the age of 25-34, who accounted for 36.8 percent of QR code scanners, were twice as likely as the average mobile user to engage in this behavior, while 18-24 year olds were 36 percent more likely than average (index of 136) to scan. More than 1 of every 3 QR code scanners (36.1 percent) had a household income of at least $100,000, representing both the largest and most over-represented income segment among the scanning audience.
| Demographic Profile QR Code* Scanning Audience June 2011 Total Mobile Audience U.S. Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| QR Code Audience (000) | % of QR Code Audience | Index** | |
| Total Audience: 13+ yrs old | 14,452 | 100.0% | 100 |
| Gender: | |||
| Male | 8,743 | 60.5% | 125 |
| Female | 5,709 | 39.5% | 76 |
| Age: | |||
| Age: 13-17 | 1,076 | 7.4% | 108 |
| Age: 18-24 | 2,402 | 16.6% | 136 |
| Age: 25-34 | 5,317 | 36.8% | 211 |
| Age: 35-44 | 2,827 | 19.6% | 117 |
| Age: 45-54 | 1,798 | 12.4% | 68 |
| Age: 55-64 | 594 | 4.1% | 28 |
| Age: 65+ | 437 | 3.0% | 22 |
| Income: | |||
| Income: <$25k | 1,193 | 8.3% | 54 |
| Income: $25k to <$50k | 2,597 | 18.0% | 79 |
| Income: $50k to <$75k | 2,756 | 19.1% | 96 |
| Income: $75k to <$100k | 2,689 | 18.6% | 125 |
| Income: $100k+ | 5,217 | 36.1% | 13 |
*The set of questions asked specifically whether respondents had used their mobile phone to scan a 2D/QR code and an image of such a code was provide so there would not be confusion with 1D/UPC codes.
**Index = % of QR Code Scanners/% of total mobile users X 100, Index of 100 indicates average representation
Source and Location of QR Code Scanned
Analysis of the source and location of QR code scanning revealed further insights into how consumers are interacting with this marketing tool. The most popular source of a scanned QR code was a printed magazine or newspaper, with nearly half scanning QR codes from this source. Product packaging was the source of QR code scanning for 35.3 percent of the audience, while 27.4 percent scanned a code from a website on a PC and 23.5 percent scanned codes from a poster/flyer/kiosk.
| Source of Scanned QR Code* June 2011 Total Mobile Audience U.S. Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| QR Code Audience (000) | % of QR Code Audience** | |
| Total Audience: Scanned QR code with mobile phone | 14,452 | 100.0% |
| Printed magazine or newspaper | 7,138 | 49.4% |
| Product packaging | 5,101 | 35.3% |
| Website on PC | 3,957 | 27.4% |
| Poster or flyer or kiosk | 3,393 | 23.5% |
| Business card or brochure | 1,940 | 13.4% |
| Storefront | 1,850 | 12.8% |
| TV | 1,693 | 11.7% |
*The set of questions asked specifically whether respondents had used their mobile phone to scan a 2D/QR code and an image of such a code was provide so there would not be confusion with 1D/UPC codes.
**Percentages will not sum to 100% as respondents may select more than one source of QR code scanned
Among mobile users who scanned a QR code on their mobile devices in June, 58.0 percent did so from their home, while 39.4 percent did so from a retail store and 24.5 percent did so from a grocery store. Nearly 20 percent scanned a QR code while at work, while 12.6 percent did so outside or on public transit and 7.6 percent did so while in a restaurant.
For additional insights into QR Code usage in Europe, please visit the comScore Data Mine.
| Location When Scanning QR Code* June 2011 Total Mobile Audience U.S. Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
||
| QR Code Audience (000) | % of QR Code Audience** | |
| Total Audience: Scanned QR code with mobile phone | 14,452 | 100.0% |
| At home | 8,382 | 58.0% |
| Retail store | 5,688 | 39.4% |
| Grocery store | 3,546 | 24.5% |
| At work | 2,844 | 19.7% |
| Outside or on public transit | 1,827 | 12.6% |
| Restaurant | 1,095 | 7.6% |
*The set of questions asked specifically whether respondents had used their mobile phone to scan a 2D/QR code and an image of such a code was provide so there would not be confusion with 1D/UPC codes.
**Percentages will not sum to 100% as respondents may select more than one location when QR code scanned
