Tag: qr codes australia

The barcodes were used on a virtual shopping wall outside an Australian movie theater.

Disney partnered up with an Australian mid-market retailer called Target for a mobile marketing campaign using QR codes in order to reach children attending a screening of the classic animated film, Cinderella.

The barcodes were mounted on an interactive shopping wall to allow kids to learn about branded products.

The wall was located at a Sydney movie theater. It was geared toward children using their parents smartphones. It displayed a number of branded Disney products that may be of interest to those children and that were being sold at Target. The QR codes allowed the children to learn more about those products so that they could be purchased by their parents.

The QR codes were designed to simultaneously build on the child’s experience and display various products.

The Event Cinema virtual wall was at Sydney’s Castle Hill. This was where the Cinderella was being screened over the weekend. The QR codes were left up only for that one weekend as a deliberate temporary mobile commerce event, and not one that was designed to be permanent. Audience members were able to view various Disney products from Target, such as costumes and DVDs, and allowed them to order them online to be shipped to their homes.

“Like with everything else, young kids will be seeing the movie with their parents, so it’s expected they’ll use their parent’s smartphones to interact with the wall,” said a spokesperson from Disney. When the QR codes on the wall were scanned, they directed the user to the Target website page that was connected to the product next to which the barcode was displayed. They could be scanned either with any free barcode reader, or the Disney Princess Store app.

Disney has been taking several steps into the mobile commerce world, including augmented reality toys, shopping applications, and a number of other efforts. It has also used QR codes for several other purposes, for instance, to connect the user with different types of online content, like videos. However, this is the first time that the company has ever used these barcodes as a virtual store or to help to link consumers directly to a page where they can make a purchase.

Australian consumers still widely unfamiliar with QR codes

QR codes continue to be a hot topic in marketing and have even begun to generate some hype around their use in mobile commerce. Despite the fact that the codes have become widely used, however, many consumers are still unfamiliar with the barcodes. This is especially true in Australia, where Econsultancy, a market research publisher, and Toluna, a survey and market research firm, have found that the majority of consumers do not know what QR codes are.

Codes still obscure despite their age

QR codes are not new technology. The codes emerged in the early 1990’s in the auto industry of Japan, developed by Denso Wave, a subsidiary of Toyota. Denso Wave used the codes to keep track of inventory. The codes eventually found their way into the hands of advertisers, who were able to leverage their striking appearance and ability to distribute information quickly to engage consumers. Over a short period of time, QR codes became rampantly popular in Japan, and are still so today. Outside of Japan, however, the codes have had more trouble finding traction with consumers.

Survey shows many consumers are unfamiliar, but also that many are well aware of QR codes

According to the survey from Econsultancy, 62% of Australian consumers do not know what a QR code is, let alone what the barcodes are meant to do. The survey does show, however, that approximately 51% of consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 recognize the codes and know how to use them, with another 51% of these consumers having used a code within the last three months. The problem seems to be awareness, as many of the companies that use QR codes either for mobile commerce or marketing do not take the time to educate consumers on what the codes actually are.

Codes picking up momentum in mobile commerce

QR codes are becoming more popular in the realm of mobile commerce, especially in terms of so called “pop-up,” or virtual stores. These stores can be located anywhere and take up little room. Instead of physical products, these stores feature pictures of products they sell, with a QR code attached. When the codes are scanned, consumers can purchase the product associated with a QR code through a mobile website. UK retailer Tesco has done this in the past, as well as other retailers throughout the world.