Tag: qr code marketing

QR codes may not be visually appealing but they work

| April 19, 2013

QR Codes StudyThough people don’t typically like the way they look, they are still scanning them, study.

QR codes are being used on a rapidly increasing basis for mobile marketing purposes, and the results of a recently conducted study have shown that as much as people don’t find them attractive, they are still using them.

The results of this research are in direct contrast to many who doubt the effectiveness of the barcodes.

Among the various industries where there has been the highest use of QR codes by mobile marketers and yet the largest amount of controversy, is tourism. While some marketers are fully convinced that the barcodes are a cost effective marketing tool that is appealing to consumers and that produces results, others feel that they are simply a fad that is not worthy of being included in their advertising.

A recent trial program for QR codes was just implemented to help to judge their effectiveness.

In order to be able to judge the effectiveness of using QR codes, Ruidoso Tourism started to test them using two different methods. The first method was including them in print advertising in order to help to draw attention to the launch of the company’s new website. The barcodes were issued in various different publications, and depending on the publication in which they were printed, the themes of the ads themselves were different.

Some of the QR codes were linked to outdoor activities such as winter sports, trails, or attractions. For instance, the barcode that was published in Wild West magazine linked to the Lincoln County History page. Those print ads generated 1000 scans, which was well within the success bracket designated by the marketers.

The other barcodes were printed on restaurant menus. Their goal was to promote restaurants within specific areas. A page was created for a range of different restaurants at the destinations, and each one was assigned its own unique QR codes. When the barcodes were scanned, they led to reviews and images of the meals, as well as additional information about the restaurants such as their specific locations. At the high point of the marketing campaign, there were 35 restaurants included in the listings. Within the designated time period, those barcodes were scanned more than 1,500 times.

QR codes used in Australian mobile marketing by Disney

| March 18, 2013

Australia Disney QR Codes Mobile MarketingThe 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.