The Message Behind The QR Code | More businesses try to reach customers via barcodes that can be accessed from smartphones
Jim Pond, owner of the Leominster marketing firm Compassed, recently had a client who was looking to make a splash with his marketing strategy. Pond knew exactly the right technology to use: a Quick Response, or QR, code.
QR codes are barcodes that can be scanned using the camera on a smartphone, directing the user to a web page. That can be anything from a company's website to a coupon for the business or a YouTube video.
Pond said the technology was a natural fit for his client, Dean's Beans, an organic, fair-trade and kosher coffee distributor in Orange.
The company's CEO, Dean Cycon, travels around the world to find organic coffee. Along the way, he brings a video camera and makes clips showing where he's gotten his beans to make the coffee.
A Natural For Videos
QR codes are an easy way to turn a print advertisement into a digital one.
Here's how it works for Dean's Beans: The company places a small QR code- made by Pond's firm - on certain packages of coffee beans. The customer scans the barcode with a smartphone, taking him to Cycon's YouTube page, which shows a video of where the coffee beans came from.
"It gives the customer a little something extra," Pond said. "It reinforces the brand and gets people interested in the product."
Cycon is one of a growing trend of business owners using QR codes today as a way to connect with customers, increase brand awareness and be on the leading edge of technology.
"They're starting to be everywhere; everyone wants to do it," said Chris Corbett, interactive director at Davis Advertising in Worcester.
Not So Fast
But while QR codes are increasing in popularity and use, it doesn't mean businesses should plow all their marketing dollars toward them, Corbett said. QR codes are good for plugging specific pieces of information - such as a YouTube video - and work best as part of a larger marketing strategy, he said.
Sometimes, he said, customers see other businesses or a competitor using QR codes and they feel like they need to start using them.
"Sometimes we have to talk customers off the ledge a little bit," he said about customers' enthusiasm for using QR codes.
It's important to put together a campaign that makes sense for the advertiser, he said. Sometimes that can include QR codes; in other cases, not.
For example, QR codes work well in print advertising and event displays, but not as well on a highway billboard or on television. People shouldn't be using their cell phones while driving, after all.
Plus, it's not just where they're used, but how they're used.
Mobile Devices Are Musts
By their nature, QR codes are accessed via a mobile device, so, Corbett noted, it's important to make sure that the website the barcode sends people to can be used by a mobile device. His advice to businesses: Don't send customers to a non-mobile-friendly site.
Also, even if a consumer has the technology to scan a QR code - which can be gained by downloading a mobile application - not all QR code scanners can read all the different types of QR codes. Some QR codes only work with specific types of code readers, so Pond said it's important to consider what type of QR code generator is being used to ensure your target audience will be able to use it.
Despite some of the challenges in using QR codes, there are clear benefits, marketing experts say.
Pond, for example, tries to use QR codes for marketing features that "have legs," meaning the codes extend the advertisement beyond just the printed code, sending the user to another piece of the advertising campaign.
They're a type of "technology word of mouth," he said.
Benefits For Customers
One good example of QR code usage Pond has seen is a customer who scans a code that takes him or her to a site that will register the person's name, email address and contact information. For doing so, the customer gets a coupon for the company's product.
It's a win-win: The business makes a connection with a customer, and the consumer gets a discount.
Other businesses see QR codes as a way to distinguish themselves from competitors.
Ken Karns, president and principal at Elevation Exhibits in Shrewsbury, said his business is always trying to stay on top of the leading advantages in marketing and event presentation.
He began using QR codes for clients earlier this year. The results, he said, have not quite been what he was expecting, but he's confident they will only gain in popularity.
The biggest problem, as he sees it, is that not everyone has a smartphone with a QR code reader on it yet.
Karns has even used QR codes in his own company's advertisements. Despite the fact that it hasn't been as successful as he has hoped, he said the technology and its use are still in the early stages.
"It's an easy add-in feature that costs very little," he said. "I think the adoption of it is certainly going to keep growing. It's a wonderful way of delivering information and connecting people to a vibrant, robust form of information on your product."
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