QR Codes

On the NY Tech mailing list this week there has been a good discussion about the launch of a mobile commerce site by clothing manufacturer Polo Ralph Lauren. Dianne from mocoNews commented on the launch yesterday. Normally a mobile commerce site launch is not that exciting but in this case, Polo Ralph Lauren is using print advertising to drive shoppers to the mobile site via QR codes.

"This is about someone who's interested in our brand and interested in technology, and wherever the two meet, that's what's appropriate," David Lauren, son of CEO Ralph Lauren, said.

The image on the left is of a QR code. If you are new to QR codes, check out our coverage which includes a Japanese perspective where these codes are well received among consumers. You can think of QR codes as upc codes with more intelligence.

RL Magazine has an overview of the QR codes from their perspective which includes, “You’ll be able to walk past fruit at the supermarket, scan an apple, and see when it was picked and where it came from,” says Jonathan Bulkeley, ScanLife CEO. “While buying hair dye, you’ll be able to scan the code on the signage and see instructions. You can create your own code, put it on a T-shirt, and then let people scan your shirt and link directly to your MySpace page."

I still believe that the use of QR codes will change the mobile marketing and ecommerce landscape by allowing consumers to "pull" the marketing we want. That is, once the majority of mobile devices can handle processing the codes.

Stephanie Clifford at the NY Times has an interesting story today about a test that Rolling Stone and Men’s Health are running with certain advertisements in each print magazine. The idea is to take a photo with your mobile phone, email the photo to a specific address and then you will receive your goodie sent back to you. Isn't that exciting? Doesn't it make you want to jump off your computer and head down to the local 7-11 or Borders to pick up the latest issue? Kind of reminds me of the skill games at the amusement park - you shoot the water into the frog's mouth for an hour, spend $25 and get a tiny frog which loses a leg on the way home.

Ray Chelstowski, the publisher of Rolling Stone said, “We’re always in the market to find other ways that we can work with our advertisers in providing empirical data in showing how readers engage and interact with our ads.”

It's a great idea to make the ads in print magazines more interactive. But for adoption, the technology must be so easy that people will do it. And the ads and the goodies have to be well worth the effort. Would Britney Spears fans do it if they knew they would get a free Britney ringtone? Perhaps. The key is in the offer and the effort. This test program seems like a lot of effort for a very small return.

Above I have inserted an image of a QR code. If you are new to these codes, check out our coverage for a primer. Are QR codes the answer? Perhaps as long as they work when you scan them.

What I'd like to see is something as simple as holding your cam up to a QR code (or other "thing") and automatically the goodie is sent to you. No picture taking, no emailing, no effort. Otherwise these potentially innovative advertising programs might never get off the ground.

Cabel Sasser recently came back from Japan and has provided a look into what is the latest Web marketing subway billboard craze: search terms. I've embedded one example at the bottom of this article. This type of search term marketing is something I've written about before with regards to Yahoo and it branded search results was one of my suggestions for Google. It's an excellent way for a brand to tie into a search engine past the typical text ad or ad banner purchase. For the time being it would eliminate ad blindness on search engines.

My guess is that recall from the subways ads is minimal at best. There are so many adverts within a short trip that remembering not only which search engine to use, but also what the correct term is to enter is a bit much for the average person.

Enter the QR code. We've written about these new barcodes (shown above) several times before. While I don't know if the specific QR technology is the best one, the ability to snap a picture or scan a code for more information is a much stronger message than any advertisement that pushes to a search engine. It's immediate, there's no recall and if setup correctly the scanned code could send information back to your desktop or laptop for a rich experience. It also helps the marketer keep a brand top of mind -- hit them on the subway, and get them involved at home or at the office. It's the future.

Earlier this week we took a look at Google's Real World Hyperlinks. Yesterday Japanese blogger Satoko Hibi who took a look at the QR barcode scene in Japan. Today, in the third piece in the series, I'd like to take a look at why these barcodes will take off in the U.S.

Years ago during Web 1.0, Digital Convergence Corporation produced a device named CueCat. The privacy police were all over this device from the beginning. I though the idea was brilliant but clearly others disagreed. The idea was strong, the execution was poor. The CueCat would scan barcodes in magazines and then send you to a Web site for more information. Joel Spolsky has a review of the device from 2000 which is worth reading. In the end, the device (and the company) failed.

continue reading »

In Japan, barcodes (QR codes) are being used by marketers and the media as a method for direct access to customers. They are mainly targeting mobile-savvy twenty- and thirty-somethings leading them to sales promotions for products such as snacks and beverages.

The Real Life of Japanese mobile and Internet users

Out of its 120 million population, 69.23 million Japanese people access the Internet via mobile phones. About the same number (66.01 million) access the Internet using a computer. And almost all of the mobile phones in the Japanese market now are equipped with a barcode scanner by default. More details can be found here and here (in Japanese).

continue reading and check out some Japanese mobile barcode examples »

Editor's note: We first began discussing QR codes at the Google advertising forum last week. Below we have a discussion from Steve Poland on QR codes in the U.S. Tomorrow we will have the perspective from a Japanese entrepreneur and on Friday, my summary plus opinion on where QR codes are going from the marketer's perspective. Your input is very much appreciated as well.

Google has announced that 2D barcodes (called a "QR code") can be included in their Google Print Ads program. Here's how it works -- you're reading a magazine and there's an advertisement for something you're actually interested in. Most times you'd just turn the page and forget about it, because you're not near your computer and don't feel like stopping what you're doing to go find out more information on the product/service in the ad by logging onto the Internet. But now, the print advertiser can put a 2D barcode in the ad, and you can simply whip out your cell phone, take a picture of the 2D barcode (using specific software installed on your cell phone that recognizes/decodes the 2D barcode) and then your phone's web browser opens and automatically takes you to a corresponding website with more information on the product/service that you're interested in.

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