QR Codes, Internet Marketing and the mobile web.
Introduction
QR* Codes (* derived from “Quick Response) are special matrix codes designed to be decoded at high speed by devices such as mobile/cellular phones. QR codes can contain a variety of important information such as addresses, URLs & phone numbers – which means that anyone with a camera phone (complete with QR-decoding software) can take a photo of one and be taken to the relevant web page immediately.The codes are huge in Japan, appearing in magazines, billboards, business cards, shop windows, T-shirts, and more. The codes, also common in Korea, and already popular in Asia, are now becoming more widespread in other countries too.
This tutorial will tell you more about QR codes, how they might affect you as an internet marketer, where you can find out more information and also how you too can even place one on your own website, or anything else. QR codes are not difficult to create.
In the West, QR codes are “new” and may not gain traction for some time to come. Being forewarned is forearmed however and you will now be able to plan your strategy accordingly.
Background to QR Codes
QR codes were invented by Denso Wave, a Japanese company as long ago as 1994. Initially, the codes were used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, however these days they are used for a huge variety of purposes. Frankly, the amount of creative uses for the QR code are up to you. QR codes are the leading edge of digital product identifiers. They look like a close up low resolution picture of a puzzle where the image has been broken into squares of different sizes, or distorted. An example appears further down this post. I created for my site http://www.ImproveNow.net and I will show you how you can create your own QR codes later in this tutorial.
Special image recognition software on the phone takes the image and converts it to data such as a URL that can be accessed on the phone’s browser or downloaded to a computer. QR codes are graphical equivalent of any text that you want, something similar to bar codes you have seen on products for years. But while bar codes were one dimensional (vertical lines of variable thickness), QR codes are two dimensional.
QR codes are actually used in the “western world” – in France they’re quite popular for example. The national economic newspaper and several magazines use them at the end of articles as a “for more info” sort of link. I have just recently (November 2008) seen the first one in an Australian magazine.
One Japanese magazine consists entirely of free things you can download with QR codes. QR codes are the hottest thing since sliced bread in Japan.
An example scenario: You see an ad for a movie in either a magazine or a poster on the wall, you take out your phone, scan the QR code and then your web browser loads & takes you to a website where you can download the trailer.
QR codes have been attached to children – if they are lost, someone can use a scanner to read their QR codes. QR codes are designed to be obvious. They are designed for people to visually recognize them and interpret – this is what I am meant to do here to ‘interact’ with this object. QR Codes are turning up in the most unlikely places.
Adidas has used QR codes on retail merchandise tags and clothing imprints. McDonalds currently attach QR Codes to all of its meal containers and some of its posters in Japan.
Marketers are using the user’s environment to key into content. For example, a phone can trigger content from a product image on a billboard advertisement. Mobile users find it easier to scan codes to get information rather than having to send a text message or make a call. So, this minimizes effort for consumers / mobile users.
Data can be read even if the QR Code is partially damaged or dirty (up to about 30% damage is usually OK). Data access is widely available these days, and at relatively cheap rates, so that scanning QR codes to view a website for information is cheap and helps with day-to-day life. In Kyoto for example, QR codes are printed next to bus stops, where you can scan them and download the bus schedule to your phone.
In the US there is a competing 2D bar code called Semacode, which even has FaceBook integration. http://semacode.com/
Wikipedia has more information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code
Uses for QR Codes
So far in this tutorial we have already heard about a number of uses for the QR codes. To many of us, in the West at least, the QR code concept will be new and unfamiliar, with the resulting lack of awareness about how QR codes will soon affect our lives. You may find it helpful to take some time now to imagine…
Imagine walking up to a movie poster at a subway stop and then passing your phone’s camera in front of the QR Code labeled trailer; and your phone immediately plays a trailer for the movie. Next, putting the phone in front of a second QR Code would enable you to buy tickets. Imagine this; you are shopping in a grocery store and you spot a QR Code on a head of lettuce. You take out your phone, take a picture and see that it has not yet expired. Imagine walking down the street of the city trying to choose a restaurant where you’d like to eat. You take out your mobile phone, and take a quick photo of the QR code posted in the window.
Some new apartment blocks with residences for sale in Japan have a massive QR code draped from them – people passing in cars snap the QR code for later reference. A new slant on using a mobile phone while driving!
QR codes are being passed on phone to phone, email to email, accelerating product recommendations and orders. Some companies are using QR codes to build key databases about their customers, thus enabling the tailoring of better services and products.
Some Japanese travel agents are putting posters in their windows with a travel competition, complete with QR code. People enter the competition by holding up their phone to the poster and clicking; which is both an easy way to enter and for the travel agent to learn about its potential customers.
So how would you use QR codes as an internet marketer? To an extent the answer will depend on where you, or your target market, are located and what type of consumer you want to attract. If you, and more importantly, your target market are in a region where QR scanning is a popular activity then you can get a competitive advantage over any of your competitors who are not using the technology. Besides convenience, the presence of QR codes will help create rapport with the consumer. Perhaps you advertise offline to drive some of your traffic? Use a QR code.
You may simply want to be ahead of the game and get prepared for what seems to be an impending significant change in the way we access & process information in the West.
Personally, I have experimented with making a QR code for my website and blog. What is the use of that some might say – well, if someone came across your website in a situation where they could not save the url and did not have a pen, then a QR code could be handy. Down the track it is likely to become commonplace – seeing a site at a friend’s place for example. Some of my clients are corporations with a presence in South East Asia – a QR code on my site is a useful tool for demonstration purposes, among other things.
Creation of QR Codes.
Creating a QR code is not difficult!
Click here for a site that will enable you to make one easily.
The page is easy to use and self explanatory.
Personally I selected the Web button, input my site URL, set the size to 2 (XS) and Type to JPG and clicked Generate. I then saved the resulting image to my hard drive. I did not bother with the Permalink aspect, nor copying the code that appeared in a results box – I simply saved the image.
You can see QR codes for two of my sites, and how they differ below:
AlexWebley.Net QR Code
AlexWebley.Com QR Code
Soon you will be making your own!
Using – Reading a QR Code
So how do you read a QR code?
This can be harder – in my case for example I am unable to because my camera phone does not support the software. I am in Australia and have been informed that only the Nokia N95 is currently able to read QR codes.
I tried visiting this site: http://reader.kaywa.com/ on my mobile phone to download reader software; where I received a message saying that my phone was not compatible. You may fare better. Please note that the site also has a QR creator, however unlike the QR creator earlier in the tutorial, the Kaywa creator does not allow any commercial use.
Summary
It seems clear to me that QR codes are very likely to have a huge impact here in the West – probably during the next 3 to 5 years.
The concept at the moment may well seem a little strange to many of us, like anything else that is new. At least now you can get a head start and prepare for the future, before it arrives. Some of you will no doubt be able to find uses for QR codes right away. Those who want to enhance their internet marketing credentials and educate people in their geographical, or other, areas might want to contact their local media outlets with a story on the subject. The media are often more open to new and fresh stories.
Have fun!
Note: post originally appeared on an old blog in around mid 2008. It has been slightly altered for this blog.
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Category: Internet Marketing
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