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Australian QR Codes

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QR Codes Blog

Awesome Volkswagen QR Code Ad 26 May 2013 I love it when businesses take the QR Code to new levels (pardon the pun!) It may be the biggest QR Code in the world like the maize Maze, or it may be the Mexican orange crate QR Code shown here in the video by Volkswagen. Very clever marketing and, I believe, it promotes the better use of QR Codes. See the YouTube video HERE. What do you think are some of the best examples of QR Code use?

Good or Bad Customer Service? 24th May 2013 I guess in this day and age customers want a GOOD service experience and many businesses appreciate the feedback from customers. this was brought home to me recently when I had to deal with a monopolistic Telco. All I wanted to do was change my phone account to a private account and keep my current mobile number. Simple enough you would think!! However, I had to fill in about 4 pages of forms, have an employer letter of authorisation (even though I was the Director), forms of ID etc. So along I went to the Telco. Stood in line for 20 minutes to be told a representative will not be available for 40 minutes. Go and have a cup of coffee and come back (no coffee voucher given!). After a good coffee and 40 minutes I came back to wait in line for ten minutes to be told to have a seat and wait for ten minutes. Service person comes along, talk about what I want to do, goes off and faxes paperwork to head office. Comes back and says I would need to have a personal account on the home phone account for a while before I could change to a prepaid account, which is what I ultimately wanted. I was then told it would take about 10 business days to transfer. Two weeks later (ten business days) I phoned the Telco to see where we were up to. Was told by the business section that it could take up to 15 business days to transfer. Not happy Jan!! In the interim, I was under pressure from my head office to get this account sorted. So I phoned the corporate section of the Telco who said it had to be sorted out in store. Even less happy Jan!! Went back to the local Telco store, waited in line for 40 minutes, then was told there were no appointments available for two days. I told them this was not good enough and I wanted an appointment tomorrow!! Received an appointment at 7pm. Went in to the store and was told by the service person they could do it in ten minutes!! When I inquired about the mess up and incorrect information, they said that was beyond their control but they would speak to the original person concerned. On one of my waits in line I overheard the person behind me tell another customer they drive north for 30 minutes to get better and faster service including the 60 minute round trip!! I get the feeling this monopolistic Telco does NOT care about customer satisfaction. Why should they? However, for the vast majority of businesses, word of mouth is an important marketing tool for repeat business. One suggestion would be to have a QR Code at the entrance to the store, so as you leave you could scan a GOOD service QR Code or a BAD service QR Code. Perhaps you might even like to leave a mobile phone number so the company who did care could phone you, offer you a free coffee voucher and ask how they could improve their service! Maybe my head is just in the clouds!! Maybe you could scan the code below if you agree or disagree with my sentiment that businesses should care about their customers satisfaction!! Scan below for YES I agree Scan below for NO I disagree

QR Codes Coffee and News Thursday, 23 May 2013 Let's face it - who doesn't like having a coffee in the morning while reading the news? It doesn't have to be a cappuccino, it might be a skinny latte or a herbal tea!! Anyway, how about getting the latest news from around the world while having your morning beverage? An innovative company in UAE (Gulf News) have done just that. By printing a special sleeve with an updated QR code to go around the coffee cup, you can now scan the QR code for the latest news while enjoying the coffee! Have a look at the YouTube video HERE.

QR Code Maxims Wednesday, 22 May 2013 On previous occasions I have given my thoughts about how QR Codes can be successfully used in marketing and I am adopting these, as I can, in my own marketing for business use. The other day I came across some truisms or maxims for QR Code use that I thought were worth passing on. Credit to 2d-code.co.uk for this useful information. The point is that QR Codes are not an end to themselves, as by themselves they offer no value! QR Codes are a portal to allow customers to easily go from the offline world to the online world. It is about making the experience easy and worthwhile, or else why do it?

They Get It Right Sometimes Thursday, 16 May 2013 It is great to see some companies can get it right and follow the basic rules of a successful QR Code campaign. My suggested rules (evolving day by day) would be: 1. Only use a QR code if there is a good reason to (e.g. newspaper ads where advertising costs are high or where the URL is just too long to type in and even a URL shortener is ungainly). 2. The QR code must link to a mobile website (a desktop version will just not work on a mobile device and guess what - if the QR code was scanned then the customer is on a mobile device - a no-brainer really!) 3. The mobile site must allow for quick access to the information required and should not be just a copy of the desktop site. Text should be reduced and menus simplified for anything to be no more than a few clicks away (or pushes as the case may be). 4. The user must know the reason why they are scanning the QR code (e.g. to download an app, to gain a discount, to get a free sample or to gain the latest news, location of the store, phone the sales rep, etc.) 5. There must be a valid and enticing reason for scanning the app. That is, the customer must see some value in doing so. To be able to read the terms and conditions of the store is probably the last thing you want to do!! 6. The company would want to add tracking and analytics behind the campaign so they could measure their success. 7. Obviously, the code must be accessible and the right size to be easily read. I am also pleased to see the QR Code is not black and white! Therefore, I was happy to read recently that Subway got it right!! They recently had a QR code campaign designed to entice customers to scan the QR code to download a beta version of an app designed to expedite the ordering process for customers. In addition, you received a free cookie in store for doing so. It ticks all the boxes for me. Are there any other considerations for a successful QR Code campaign?

QR Codes Give Instructions Wednesday, 15 May 2013 How many times have you bought the DIY version of the furniture pack, bike for the kids, etc? How often do you find when you get home the instructions are written from someone with a not so good translation of the original instructions in Mandarin? I know I have certainly spent too much time trying to follow instructions. At least they now put pictures there to help, but sometimes I still get it wrong. When I bought an above ground pool last year there was a CD with it showing how to install the pool and use the filter properly and how to maintain everything. It was wonderful as I am a graphic learner and like to see how things work. The video is MUCH quicker than reading the manual (always as a last resort!) How about the company placing a QR code on the packaging of the item linking a video you can access of how to assemble the latest purchase? Even better still, how about a QR code linking to a video showing you how to troubleshoot if something doesn't work or how to maintain your latest acquisition? The manufacturers could save money by not having to print user manuals and I am sure customers would be appreciative of their after sales service as well. Customers of the world unite and may your voice be heard!! P.S. the company must have heard me!

That Takes the Cake!! Tuesday, 14 May 2013 A super large cake which bears a QR (Quick Response) code pattern is displayed at a shopping mall in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 31, 2012. The cake, which takes up a floor area of 36 square meters and weighs three tons, was produced by Tencent, an Internet and smartphone value-added service provider, and Ebeecake, a local bakery. It took ten hours to finish the QR code pattern on the cake's surface. By scanning the QR code pattern, smartphone users can download and install Tencent's news service client onto their gears. (Xinhua/Wang Shen) See the full story HERE.

Five Examples of Successful QR Code Campaigns No, I don't receive kickbacks from Visualead, but I have to mention them again! According to their latest blog: "The Mobile market is said to be numbered at over 5 billion subscribers. People are using their mobile devices for everything from price comparisons, purchasing, movie and restaurant reservations and occasionally even making phone calls. According to a recent Google survey, 74% of people asked made a purchase in direct result to information received with a mobile phone and over 79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping, from comparing prices, finding more product info to locating a retailer." In their latest blog they also outline the 5 MUSTS of successful QR Code campaigns: 1. VALUE: You must offer the consumer some extra value in order to scan the QR Code 2. SOCIAL: Likes, Pokes, Pins and Tweets - use these to gain recommendations to your business 3. WI-FI: Consumers may be reluctant to scan the code unless your premise is wi-fi free 4. VIDEO: 30 seconds of video = 1000 words 5. Look at their GREAT example of QR Codes incorporating the brand. See the full blog HERE.

Talking QR Codes 12 May 2013 I read with interest lately about "Who's Your Santa?", a promotion using QR Codes by an American company back in December 2011. The store chain was inviting customers to personalise their Christmas season giving with the use of QR tags and mobile phone technology. “Santa Tags”, in the form of QR codes, enable shoppers to record a personalised gift message for each of their gifts. The QR Tag project, online at jcpsanta.com, is part of the “Who’s Your Santa” campaign, including “Who’s Your Santa” gift cards, a Facebook game and catalogue themes. After reading this I read another article about using Jing to create an audio or video message attached to a QR Code. Then I read an article about Tokkers Audio QR Codes. The examples come from Bud Light (an entertaining blatant advertising gimmick.) How can you see audio QR Codes being used?

Visualead the Leader in QR Codes? As I have said in previous posts, I think the future of QR codes is to make them more enticing for customers to WANT to scan them. Boring black and white QR codes just won't do it for today's consumers. Uriel Pelead, the founder of the Israel based Visualead company recently launched their product in China. We all know the Asian market has been using QR codes for years. Peled believes QR codes are far from struggling and he has the figures to prove it. He says 65 percent of the 200,000 businesses that Viuslaead serves each month come from the US, and 20 percent are from Europe. He adds that, since its launch six months ago, Visualead has seen its business grow by 100 percent each month – both in terms of revenue and users. He also points out that most smartphone owners have a QR code reader on their device – although many may be unaware of that. The future of QR Codes looks bright, both in terms of their aesthetics and their place in the market. What is stopping businesses from embracing this technology?

QR Code Business Card 11 May 2013 I have just had my business cards reprinted and it was time for a rethink. Is there a place for paper based business cards these days? I thought the answer was yes because some of my colleagues (although not many) do not have a smartphone yet! They still prefer to have the tangible piece of paper in their wallet or in their index at work. I thought about a Virtual Business card where I could simply have a QR code on my smartphone that provided all my contact details and when scanned by my new friend, would be automatically added to their contacts on their phone. Perhaps we could use the Bump app to share business cards! However, I went for a hybrid solution with a traditional business card with a QR Code on the front linking to my website, so when they forget who I am after a few drinks at a business dinner, then can put a website to the name, if not the face! How do you use business cards these days?

Who Would Scan This QR Code? 10 May 2013 Mobile Barcode Trend Report from ScanLife reveals some interesting facts about QR codes, who’s using them, and how the technology is trending in the marketplace. "Not surprisingly, the people most apt to scan QR codes skew younger, with 12 percent of those 18 years of age or less, 19 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds scanning a QR code and 27 percent of 25- to 34- year-olds scanning codes. Still, 22 percent of 35- to 44-year-olds have scanned a QR code. About 13 percent of adults 45 to 54 years of age scanned a code, while 7 percent of adults aged 55 and up used their phones to follow a QR lead. It’s perhaps also no shock that 73 percent of scanners were men compared to 27 percent for women." SO ... if the highest demographic likley to scan QR Codes is men aged 25 to 34 year olds, then is the following clever marketing? The moral of the story is .... it is important to know your marketing demographics when entering a QR code campaign.