QR Codes

What exactly are these strange-looking, checkerboard-like, black and white boxes that have begun appearing in print ads, on store shelves, and even on billboards?

They are Quick Response Codes, or QR Codes. They were developed in Japan, in 1994, by a division of Toyota to be used as a tool for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing. Today, the explosive growth of smart phones has opened up enormous potential uses for these codes. Many new smart phones are being manufactured with code reading applications already installed on them. There are also a large number of free code-scanning apps available for anyone to download. QR Codes have been used in Europe and Asia for several years as a tool to drive readers of print and billboard advertising to online sites.

You can find the free application for your smart phone at www.mobile-barcodes.com.

To scan a QR Code, simply launch the scanning app on your phone, and aim the camera at the code. Your phone will read the code and send you to the online location that it is tied to.

Uses for QR Codes:

Retailers are posting the QR Codes on product displays to allow potential customers to learn more about their products.

Restaurants are using QR Codes on in-store ads and billboards to alert customers to their latest special offers.

Print a QR Code on the back of your business card, and the code can take your prospective clients to a U Tube video introducing you or your company.

A QR Code printed on the packaging of products you sell can direct your customers to sites for warranty information, or complimentary products and services.

QR codes can be used on direct mail as a response tool to take the potential customer to a site that will allow them to respond to your offer, register for your event, request more information, or download a coupon. Best of all, the QR code will allow you to track the effectiveness of that marketing effort because you will know which customer responses were the direct result of that specific point of contact.

QR Codes can even be personalized. We can produce a direct mailer that will incorporate a unique QR Code for each person it is being mailed to. When that person responds via the QR Code, the landing page they are taken to can already be populated with a personal greeting, references to their past purchases, and their name and address information to facilitate the ordering process. The possible uses for the technology are only limited by our creativity and imagination.

Creative Graphics can help you with integrating your print and online marketing efforts with the use of QR Codes as well as other traditional marketing methods.

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