 Even 7 years after they were introduced, QR codes still have a lot of catching on to do, before they've actually caught on. First developed by a subsidiary of Toyota to track auto parts, some call them the "next big thing" in advertising and marketing. Still, they're not quite the latest and greatest. Yet.
Amazing opportunities: The attractiveness of the QR code are the limitless applications to your marketing / advertising. It is an interesting technology - scan a digital bar code with your smart phone's camera, and it can take you directly to a web page, advertisement, etc. You can use them as a conversion tool to take a viewer to your site or microsite for a list sign-up, sweeps entry, product info, etc. You can have it SMS text to the viewer. You can put them on packaging, POS, in windows for after hours shopping, even put them on shirts. In Japan (where there is solid traction for QR codes) they are even printing them on graveyard tombstones for viewers to view a biography of the deceased. There really are almost no limits, except for limiting the size of your market which is the downside.
Yeah, but how many people can actually use them?: Right now, about 80% of Americans use cell phones. So using any marketing tactic that relys on mobile phones means you're cutting your general market by 20%. Of course QR codes need a web-enabled smart phone, which penetration is at about 30%. So of the 80% of your market who has cell phones, only 30% of those are able to use QR code technology. Then, no cell phones come with QR code readers built in (Sprint is just now starting to preload them) and the consumer needs to download and install a QR code reader application - which is kind of a hassle and most people don't / haven't. Some estimate QR code apps penetration is at about 25%.
So if your general market has 1 million prospects, 800,000 have cell phones, 30% of those have smart phones (240,000) and if 25% of those have the reader, then your able to actually reach 60,000 prospects out of 1,000,000, or you're reaching about 6% of your market. Not so good.
A telling sign: I was in a client's boardroom for a planning / brainstorming meeting the other day, and they were hot to implement QR codes into their marketing mix. They are a healthy, multi-million dollar coproration, and the General Manager, Vice President of Sales, etc, were all around the table discussing how to incorporate QR opportunities when I asked, "how many of you have QR reader apps installed on your cell phone?..." None did. Hot to implement a technology they couldn't use themselves. The point is, trends can come fast and furiously. And the means and the media need to fit the market.
They're still cool... I am in no way against QR codes, I like them and think with the correct strategy and creative they work amazing. I did suggest to the client (above) we move forward with adding QR codes to their marketing. But as a complementary way to spread information to their existing elements. The client happens to be in environmentally delicate industries, so at the next trade show why not have the option to "take a brochure" or "save a tree - scan QR code to download a brochure," etc. You just need to evaluate your market before judging how to make the best use of QR codes. Youth markets tend to have early adopters of techonogy and they are a perfect fit for QR codes. You can also assume higher QR application usage among techies like engineers, computer geeks, and gamers. The consumers who are already using QR code apps think they are part of the "in-the-know" crowd, and in on a secret the rest just don't get. You get major points for talking to them in their language and build brand trust as a result.
In addition, smart phone penetration is climbing rapidly, and as more come preloaded with QR code apps the buzz will build and the technology will spread.
So go for it, dive in. Research your market, temper your approach to fit your market and add QR codes as another way to communicate your brand message - all the while keeping your other vehicles, of course.
Kevin Daniels is a Principle Rabble-Rouser at Ruckus Creative, llc, with 20 years in advertising and marketing.
Ruckus Creative is a results-driven, full-service creative agency - "Business results through strategic creative."
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