The thing that I'd like to talk about and hopefully get some feedback on is the QR code and it's use in marketing. QR, for quick response, is the symbol you see from time to time on posters and in ads which can be scanned by a phone or tablet in order to open a web page. They have many industrial uses due to the amount of information they can pack into a small space but it's marketing that concerns me at this time.
QR codes have been the subject of a great deal of both hype and conjecture in the past 5 years from being hailed as the future of marketing to yesterday's news. I think that the truth may still be somewhere in the middle.
I'll say now that I'm a believer in the technology and what it can bring to the table if used well and there are several reasons why I think it can make a comeback. The foremost complaint I've heard about the QR experience is that the resulting page is not optimized for the mobile device. Today, with the use of HTML5 and many other core web technologies, it's much easier and more more common to have web sites detect that the visitor is on a mobile device and provide the appropriate content. This, coupled with continued market penetration of smarter smart phones will only make the experience increasingly satisfying for users.
On the other hand, the "Fad" status that QR codes developed may be the hardest obstacle for them to overcome if they do have a chance of reaching their potential. Companies who have been swayed into including them in an inappropriate context may well shy away from trying them again given the type of ridicule leveled at "fails". Marketers can learn from these http://mashable.com/2012/03/04/funniest-qr-code-fail/
Another complaint which is being addressed is the difficulty of scanning the code in the first place, when codes were first introduced the apps required to scan the code were not included on the phone. It's taken many years but now Iphones and Android devices will ship with the app preloaded. What I would like to see is to take this one step further and have QR recognition built into the camera application, this would make the most sense because the camera is always easy to find and open, sometimes easier than the phone.
The reason I've been pondering the QR code of late is that they make up an integral part of the vision I have for a niche marketing project; a large scale project including web portal, webzine and direct marketing. If QR codes are dead or near dead it begs the question, can they do more harm than good? Heeding the cautions discussed above, I think they can be used effectively to guide consumers to a landing page with deals and info but the negative connotations have me wondering if the bright future is still too far away.
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