QR Codes: Print and Mobile Marketing Converge
QR or “Quick Response” Codes, are small printed bar codes that, when captured with a mobile device, allow users to visit web sites, send emails, get product information, see a location on a map, send a text message, play a video, interact with social sites, place phone calls (to numbers not in their address book), and many other actions, without typing a single character. Anyone with a smartphone can scan and read QR Codes with the click of a camera.
QR Code Readers
For your phone to be able to read QR Codes you will need to have QR Code barcode reading software installed on it. If you visit your phone’s app store and search for “QR Reader” there should be several options, the following are a collection of our favorites and resources to cover the most typical models.
- Optiscan – The best QR Code scanner for iPhones – it understands all the new trickier encoding types and has definitely kept up with development in QR code technology.
- I-Nigma – Probably the most popular decoder/reader application and works on most of the popular smartphones. iOS 4
- Quickmark – For most phones, but most noticeably has an Android version and a Windows Mobile version
QR codes incorporate data into a graphic which can be viewed at any size readable by a digital camera. The larger the image, the more data that be integrated, and the greater likelihood that smartphones with lesser capable cameras will be able to “see” the barcode. A large QR code can incorporate an entire electronic business Card or “vCard”, for example.
Combine QR Codes with our variable data digital printing, and you’ve got a innovative marketing powerhouse. Clearly, early adopters of this technology will have an edge on their competitors.
You can print QR codes on anything, for example:
- Business Cards
- Posters
- Brochures
- Packaging
- Clothing
And just about anything else.
Here are just a few applied examples:
- Place a QR code on product packaging, directing the user to a web page displaying nutritional information.
- Place a QR code in an advertisement or poster for an event, directing the user to a event registration or ticket purchase page.
- Place a QR code in an advertisement in a magazine, allowing the reader to interact with an on-line version of the same ad.
