On June 22nd, 2011, interlinkONE's Jason Pinto hosted a webinar on the subject of "Print, Mail, & Mobile: Understanding QR Codes".
This presentation covers QR Code basics, design and creation options, best practices, and case studies for inspiration.
Thank you everyone for joining today’s webinar. We hope that you enjoy the material that we’ll cover. If you have any questions, please feel free to send them in using the GoToWebinar interface. We will try to leave as much time as possible to get to them at the end. Also, we will record the webinar… So.. Over the next couple of days, we’ll send an email around with a link to the recording.
When I reviewed my speaking proposal, one thing that caught me off-guard was the “Understanding QR Codes” part of my title… Have I become so addicted and in love with QR Codes that I’ve started thinking about them as things with emotions? As things that need to be coddled, comforted, wined and dined? But the more I thought about it, the wording and thinking does fit…. Some people hate QR Codes… They’re ugly. They don’t work. They’re stupid. And then there’s people that do love them!! But then they overuse them… or they don’t use them properly…. Or they expect too much out of them.
I promise that this presentation is not filled with charts and stats and survey results. But I think one… this one is powerful. Even if you do not believe or use in QR Codes yet, you must at least recognize the reality of numbers like these. The smartphone has changed the game… If you have one, you will be come addicted to it. You will use it to go on the web… you will use it to Search… To watch videos… to read reviews… to watch TV and movies… to read books….. To update your social networks…. To buy items…. Maybe to make a call too
So….. It’s fairly obvious…. As people began to rely on things such as their smartphone to do everything, other industries are affected. In fact, in 2 years, there might be people in attending BlogWorld who see these screenshots and ask what exactly we are looking at….. That was a newspaper…. Now, that is very sad to me… But
First, what does it stand for? Quick Response… So.. On the most basic level – think of it this way. Your mobile audience can save time by scanning the QR Code to go to your website rather than remembering and typing in the URL. Yes, it’s a call to action that can help increase response rates… strike while he iron is hot.
They are not new, per se… They’ve been around since 1994. Of course, they’ve recently been increasing in popularity in the US. In the automotive industry, shipping slips and receipts are encoded with QR Code containing customer data, shipper data, product number, quantity, and other data. The data is used for ordering and product scanning. They’ve been around for so long, do you want to know what else happended in 1994? The Price of Gas was $1.
The more information your fitting in the more complex the QR Code gets. A simple code can be the short URL code. Maybe you tell them a secret on SHort URL's and using them in QR Codes The complex is hold information about an event – title, date, time, end time so it requires more pixels to hold more data
If you are a pet lover, you may be saying this is not deterioation, but beautification! So this offers benefits, if you’re the designer, the markter.. You can incorporate images into the design a bit. This is possible due to the Reed-Solomon error correction code written into the QR Code encoder. This allows up to 30% deterioration of a QR Code possible with it still being readable. That correction code is used on DVDs, CDs and more. Same principles apply… Printed pieces may get damaged slightly, somewhat dirty, a bit of wear and tear.
Yes, you can also use that deterioration rate to place your logo inside the QR Code. The way this works normally is you create a QR Code, which is really just an image… Bring it into Photoshop, and then place the logo, and TEST!
The possibilities for QR Codes to help increase the impact and effectiveness of printed materials continues to increase. You have the ability to create QR Codes with different colors… I From our testing, darker colors have performed the best… Without a doubt, if you create one with color, test with different readers and phones.
Any Boston Celtics fans? When we win the NBA Championship this year, send me an email, and I’ll try to send you tshirt with this logo/QR Code on it.
We typically recommend using almost a ¼ inch of padding… Honestly, we do use a bit less than that, but give it room to breathe!
If you’re a designer… you generate the QR Code.. It’s outputted as a300 dpi image (depending on who you use). Then, simply scale it to a different size with a program such as Adobe Illustrator, or another image-editing program. 10 to 1 ration….. 20 feet away? Should be a 2 foot by 2 foot QR Code
Just from our own testing, when we take the QR Code less than an inch, we see troubles with the readers… For you, test…
How do you shorten a URL? There are tools such as Bit.Ly, ilnk.me. Some QR Code generators do it for you!
Now a huge reason and benefit of using QR Codes is the measurement and tracking! - You can start clearly measuring how effective your print ads are.. Your postcards… your signs..
Now a huge reason and benefit of using QR Codes is the measurement and tracking! - You can start clearly measuring how effective your print ads are.. Your postcards… your signs..
Now, while it may not feel like summer in the Northeast yet, QR Codes have exploded in regards to the flower & gardneing shops such as Home Depot and Lowes. Here you can see how QR Codes are used on the product label while buying Cauliflower plants. Earlier, I talked about how I love QR Codes. Well, since I am not a fan of QR Codes, I’d say this is a terrible use of them Juuuuuust kidding.
Here’s how they’ve used QR Codes… on their cash register… People scan this QR Code, and they are sent to a landign page that lets them subscribe for their newsletter. Also, there are other QR Codes that give people something to do while they’re waiting for their order.