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Don't know what a QR code is? Better find out soon...
QR codes are being used extensively in mobile marketing campaigns
overseas, and are starting to make a breakthrough in the US. Quite
simply, a QR code is a "matrix" bar code that was developed in Japan.
The QR stands for "quick response", and is being used in marketing for
mobile users to take a picture of the code or read the code with the
cameras on their phones and trigger an action on their mobile phone. It
could be a content download, a message or link to a mobile site.
Companies can create a QR code that's uniquely their own, and
implement it anywhere their imaginations lead to do some interesting
things. The only caveat is that mobile users who want to interact with
the code must have a software on their phone that can utilize the
camera to read the code. While phones overseas are beginning to
implement these as a standard software on phones, in the US you'll
likely have to prompt users to download the software. Don't fret,
though, as you can have them send a text message to a short code and
download it, if they're on the go.
There have been some cool campaigns using this technology. Some examples include Mind Share's use of QR codes for Northwest Airlines
to collect email addresses, Singapore Air and McDonald's have also
joined the list of many marketers using QR codes. In fact, recently, I
saw an ad in a magazine for Sprint that introduced readers to the QR
code. It's only a matter of time in the US before we begin to see this
used more extensively.
One of the more recent interesting uses I've run across is QR Kill,
a real-world game where players "kill" one another by taking photos of
the other's QR codes, which they wear on their backs. You can read more
about QR Kill at this QR Code blog.
To learn more about QR codes, you can also read this article at the Mobile Marketing Association site on QR codes.
To read more great articles like this one, visit Random Culture.
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