By B.L. Ochman
One of the most tiresome recent “is dead” headlines of late is “QR Codes are dead.”
Nope. QR Codes are very much alive as the stats below demonstrate. What should die is the stupid way many agencies use them.
Here are some recent campaigns that worked because of clever execution that exhibits an understanding of what will motivate consumers to scan a product, brochure, or ad’s QR Code:
A QR Code postage stamp was issued for the 20th anniversary of the issuance of postal stamps by Croatian Post Hrvatske pošte, the national postal service of Croatia.
Each of the 3.10 Kuna (0.56 U.S. dollars) stamps has a unique code printed below the QR Code. When you scan the QR Code you’re taken to a mobile site where the unique code can be entered and you can view confirmation on the receipt of your mail as well as additional data about its route. Users can find out when the mail was sent, how many kilometers it had traveled, when it reached its destination and more.
• Cognac brand Hennessy recently produced a limited edition run of bottles featuring art from famed New York designer and artist Kaws. Each bottle has a custom designed QR code with an image of a Hennessy bottle in the center. The code leads to a mobile site, which has so far been accessed 1.3 million times, 600,000 of those via QR Code scans.
• Starbucks teamed up with Lady GaGa for an online and offline six-round scavenger hunt with prizes of GaGa’s music, Starbuck’s gift certificates and more, played by thousands of enthusiastic fans of both brands.
• Google’s new WebGL Bookcase lets you browse a 3D version of any of thousands of books. Once you decide what book you want to buy, you scan a QR Code to view the selected books on your mobile phone.
Why QR campaigns fail
• Unreadable codes on billboards, too high up for people to get a clear scan; on ads in subways, where there is no cellphone reception for scans.
• QR codes in TV ads By time you run and get your phone, find the scanner, and try to take a shot, the ad’s over. Doh!
• No instructions. Not everyone knows what a QR code is and how to scan it. So it’s necessary to include clear and concise instructions that include the benefits of bothering to make the scan.
• Using a proprietary code so you need a specific type of QR readers to scan it. As if people would download a scanner just to read a code they don’t understand. Fail.
• Lamest of all. The same agency that came up with the Croatian postage stamp also proposed QR codes on license plates in Croatia. To use them, you’d just whip out your smartphone, keep your eyes on your phone while you find your QR scanner and take the scan while tailgating the car in front of you at high speeds. Should you live through this, you are directed to a tourism website. Sadly, it seems many potential tourists might die before they get to book their trips. The good news: this one didn’t get done.
Here are the 2011 Q3 global stats for QR code use, via 2D Code blog’s editor, Roger Smolski:
• Worldwide usage on growth path: Q3/2011 growing by 20.0% over Q2/2011, with daily scans coming from 141 different countries around the world
• Barcode usage in North America continues to expand in Q3 with 42.1% growth in the USA and 35.1% growth in Canada compared to Q2/2011
• QR Code activity in the Spain and Australia showed a significant growth in Q3 of 66.5%, and 50.9% respectively over Q2/2011
• In the Czech Republic, the continues activity of our partners Seznam (http://www.seznam.cz ) to promote QR Codes resulted a 65.6% growth in Q3 compared to Q2/2011
Like the argument. As a new startup in deal promotion sector we adopted QR Code right from inception and successfully implemented it as a consumer tool and the model seems to be working well with our users. No technology is dead until users abandon it. This is not the case with QR Code.
I’m honoured to be working on a well-reviewed QR project – QRpedia, which uses QR codes in museums and galleries (and elsewhere) to show people mobile-friendly versions of Wikipedia articles, magically detecting their preferred language.
QR Codes aren’t dead. I have heard many companies are using QR Codes displayed on their websites and even to advertise.
I love the idea of custom designed QR codes. I remember an Iron Man 2 (I think) advertisement with a QR code on the center of Iron Man’s chest and the QR code sent the user to a video. If used correctly QR codes can be extremely effective. I think that QR codes are just breaking ground and we will see more and more use of the codes as smart phone ownership grows.
I never really understood the argument surrounding QR Codes. Since the introduction of the mobile Smartphone, QR Code use and scanning has been on a constant rise.
Yes there are problems with the way marketers are using them but to say QR Codes are dying when their numbers are climbing is a bit…silly.
When it comes to the QR Code itself there is a basic downfall with the design itself. QR Codes were originally designed to interact with computers and if we want people to interact and engage with them, then their original meaningless, uncommunicative appearance must change.
I am working with a great start-up that is keeping the scanning technology but doing away with the code leaving just enough to know that a image, logo or design can be scanned.
I would say let’s wait till QR Code use and scanning decreases before declaring its death. Here are some examples of Visual QR Codes look like:
http://www.visualead.com/explore-qr-code-designs/
Ari – the problem: we’ve been waiting 5 years for this evolution. I’m happy to look at your company’s technology.
Thanks for your comment!
BL