Voir QR: The History, Use & Abuse of QR Codes

“A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”
— Wayne Gretzky

Well, that didn’t tell me much. Seriously, what are QR codes?
They’re a kind of bar code!
Also called graphical tag, 2D bar code, or [chillingly] matrix code
Developed by Toyota’s Denso Wave in 1996 to track car parts
ISO standardized & open source

What do QR codes do?
Store digital information on analogue media [IRL!]
Paper [or any other real life item] - based hyperlinks
[But they don’t necessarily need an internet connection]
Open a website, dial a phone number,read an RSS feed, send a text msg or email, schedule a calendar event, retrieve location data to help you get somewhere, share a contact card, download audio, and/or launch any app on your phone!

How do you
scan a
QR code?
Whip out your phone
Doesn’t need to be a smartphone
Launch your reader
Black berries & some Android phones come with software
Many users will have to download an app
Scan the code with your camera
Enjoy magically delivered content

All QR code readers are, sadly,not created equal.

Do you need an internet connection to make this magic happen?
Nope
Data is encoded in the graphic itself ( “direct” code)
Plain text can be returned where there’s no cell / wifi signal

How much info can you pack in 1 of these puppies?

Making QR codes: all generators are [of course] not created equal.
Generators can produce different:
Capabilities [URLs, app store links, MP3s]
Metrics / tracking
Error correction levels
Graphic customization
Languages, sizes, URL shorteners, simultaneous Datamatrix generation...etc!

QR codes provide great metrics.
Where are people scanning my code?
Tells you whatad locations are effective
Tells you which creative is working
Tells you where you might want to do a pop-up store, flash mob,or other guerilla invasion
When are people scanning my codes?
Tells you what time of day your customer is active

If you can’t afford fancy metrics...
You might use custom landing pages or PURLs
or
Bit.ly & goo.gl URL shortenerslet you create & track QR codes
Add “.qr” to the end of any shortened bit.ly or goo.gl link
Goes to QR code that resolves to original link
Allows for metrics including Google Analytics
See how many “clicks”, phone OS, user path, etc

TEST.
Scan your printed code
Try several readers
Try several phones
Test all major OS’s
Test in the light or other location conditions you expect scans to happen

28.2%
Increase in time spent with mobile devices in 2010
eMarketer

300,000
Daily AndroidActivations
270,000
Daily iPhone Activations
Andy Rubin, Google, December 2010
Apple, October 2010

Demographics
Age
Income
<$50k
18%
$150-200k
16%
>$200k
10%
45-54
22%
55+
11%
< 18
5%
35-44
25%
$50-$100k
32%
18-24
16%
$100-$150k
24%
25-34
22%
Scanlife Mobile Trend Report, December 2010
Global data Oct 2010 – Dec 2010

Demographics
Gender
1 & 2D codes
QR codes
Female
30%
Female
64%
Male
70%
Male
36%
The Naked Facts: QR Barcode Scanning in 2H-2010 North American data July 2010 – Dec 2010

Mobile OS
Symbian
3%
J2ME
1%
Windows
Mobile
1%
iPhone
18%
Blackberry 23%
Android 54%

Barriers to adoption.
Poorly thought out campaigns turning people off
Competing systems
Lack of preinstalled code scanners
Current smartphone penetration
But not for much longer
Unclear value proposition
Not sure what you’re going to get
Good ad copy can help with this

“QR Campaigns are gimmick ridden at this point. They don't create naturally extended story experiences from the real world to mobile. They are wasting people's time & people will simply cease to engage with the technology before it goes mainstream in the States”—samiam22, comment on Mashable

You’ve got their attention, so don’t blow it.
The tag itself is not a call to action
Tell people what they’re going to get
Provide friendly instructions
This is no place for interruption marketing
Don’t make people watch a commercial
Don’t waste their time with an inane experience
Provide something very useful to thank them for interacting with your brand
Give people contextual content—products/services that:
Make sense at the time & place / is best delivered on their phone
Can be delivered instantly
Save the user time

Context = location [what makes sense/is useful where I am now: transit update, historical photos]ORContext = phone-specific [perfect info to have on my phone: contact info, Google map] ORContext = conversion [what i want to do next: buy tickets, get a deal]ORContext = attention [I’m currently interested: entertain me with more info]

Design a mobile site/experience
Optimize for all major mobile browsers
Light, fast-loading graphics
Big buttons & easy touch navigation
Make contact with brand easy[phone, email, twitter]
Make sure the internet is available where the audience will scan the tag [ie not the subway or airplane]
Don’t leave them hanging at the end
Lead people to what they should buy/join/like/visit/share
“Scan resolve” best practices.

Competition: a bit of a browser war to muddy the waters.
QR Codes aren’t the only type of 2D bar code
Wide adoption in Japan with proven uses helping them gain traction here [All phones come with readers, many with RFID shells!]
Microsoft is trying to dominate North America with a proprietary system called Microsoft Tag
ATT&T is doing the same thing with Datamatrix
Other companies creating proprietary QR systems that require their reader
Open source = no champions

The upside
of Tag.
The non-upside
of Tag.
Excellentmetrics
Location data heat map
Password protectable
Can set to expire
“Editable” after the brochure has gone to print
Microsoft resources promoting adoption
Microsoft stores & controls your data
Internet connection required
Some URLs blacklisted
Artistic customization makes them hard to recognize
Fragments the market

So...should you use QR codes?
“There is no tipping point”
You don’t need to wait if you think your audience could benefit
Educate them & experiment with it
If it makes sense & you can deliver a useful experience, go for it
Already have mobile-ready Facebook page, YouTube
**It’s your responsibility** as a marketer / lover of new media not to:
Let clients do inane or frustrating things with QR
Turn people off the technology by wasting their time

2d-code.co.uk
alphagraphics.com
alvarobarata02.wordpress.com
axissalon.com
bestbuy.ca
cakestudio.ca
calvinklein.com
Chris Lamberth
clikbrix.com
emarketer.com
emilystrange.com
garage.ca
hbo.com
i-nigma.com
jefftallon.com
jetblue.com
Kathleen Driscoll
kaikaikiki.co.jp
Matthew Shepherd
ming-ling.livejournal.com
miltoncontact.blogspot.com
mobioid.com
mts.ca
mytoys.de
nationalpost.com
nbc.com
NYC media
nycresistor.com
Oliver Spalt
pandemic-design.com
pfsk.com
qrarts.com
qranywhere.blogspot.com
retailgeek.com
scanlife.com
setjapan.com
socialqrcode.com
Sophia Sengsuriya
space-invaders.com
sparqcode.com
time.com
vibe.com
winnipegfreepress.com

http://interact.csu.edu.au	1795
http://ericaglasier.com	1588
http://www.iphone-entreprise.com	1180
http://www.scoop.it	1057
http://www.qrdresscode.com	814
http://gregorypouy.blogs.com	448
http://www.marketcast.co.kr	440
http://www.qrcartist.com	349
http://www.conseilsmarketing.com	337
http://paper.li	211
http://tactica.ca	178
http://www.digitalist.com.ua	170
http://codeglutton.tumblr.com	132
http://www.qr-koodi.net	97
http://becinthelibrary.wordpress.com	96
http://www.dirtytshirt.net	75
http://comfortabletech.blogspot.com	72
http://www.welovedata.be	65
http://qrdresscode.over-blog.com	61
http://www.weebly.com	61
http://www.dutchbuttonworks.com	54
http://heyjude.wordpress.com	52
http://marketcast.co.kr	32
http://jeffthomastech.com	31
http://dirtytshirt.net	29
http://www.formation-blogueur.fr	25
http://francklargeault.tumblr.com	23
http://graphicedgedesign.wordpress.com	22
http://membres.boiteaoutilsmarketing.fr	22
http://www.netvibes.com	20
http://lonewolflibrarian.wordpress.com	18
http://www.dmplaza.be	18
http://nouveaumonde.wordpress.com	14
http://lawrencekok.blogspot.com	14
http://rogerschmitz.blogspot.com	14
http://itklassrum.blogspot.com	12
http://shama.flhs.us	11
http://yvesfrateur.posterous.com	7
http://nonprofit-design.tumblr.com	6
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	6
http://www.hanrss.com	5
http://itklassrum.blogspot.se	5
http://rogerschmitz.blogspot.com.au	5
url_unknown	4
http://extranet.glucoz.fr	4
http://comfortabletech.blogspot.ca	3
http://static.slidesharecdn.com	3
http://yvesfrateur.be	3
http://faninthehand.com	3
http://atome-formations.tumblr.com	3
http://comfortabletech.blogspot.fr	3

Voir QR: The History, Use & Abuse of QR Codes

by Tactica Interactive on Feb 25, 2011

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