By: Jack Emery, Vice President of Business Development
QR Code
2D Barcodes – also called QR Codes, MS Tags, Snap Tags – are all visual codes that encourage a consumer to span the divide between print and the digital world. Sounds great doesn’t it? In the right hands, and applied correctly, they are a good supplement to a sound marketing strategy, but there are a couple of challenges.
Challenge 1: Standards – do you have the app? The idea of placing these codes on out-of-home marketing, labels, advertisements, and in-store marketing is to allow someone to quickly access deeper or more engaging content with a few simple taps on their phone. The problem is that each new type of code developed requires a unique code reader. This requires consumers to add another, arguably redundant, app to their smartphone. Eventually, with the emergence of so many types of codes the consumer is going to refuse to deal with the hassle of downloading a new one if they want to act on a marketing message.
Several years ago, when I first began discussing the applicability of these codes with clients, I remember sitting in the conference room of a major magazine publisher along with the CEO of a large American printing company and several publishing executives. We were discussing how QR codes would change print advertising. My first thought was Cue Cat (an unmitigated but entertaining disaster you can read about here). My second thought was the app hurdle – if you have to download a reader then you start limiting your audience immediately. The CEO at the meeting talked about the widespread adoption and use of these tools in Asia, especially Korea and Japan. I did some independent research and he was right – the adoption of the 2D barcode was widespread in both advertising and commerce. The reader apps were being preloaded onto phones and usage of it was wide spread…. Notice I say it, not them. Everyone, consumers, marketers and phone companies, were using a single type of code—the 2D barcode developed by Toyota subsidiary Denso-wave. It was developed in the early 90’s as an industrial standard and is free of any license. It has been used in the US and around the world since its development for inventory control, direct mail matching, and other manufacturing usage. This standardized 2D barcode is the one we refer to as a QR code.
It’s an elegant solution. A non-licensed, standard QR/2D barcode that can be read by many, many free or inexpensive apps, some of which come pre-loaded on new phones. Different readers perform differently—the NeoReader, for example, reads the alphanumeric information and tries to immediately launch a browser and drive the user to a web page; the more sophisticated quiQR can identify the information as a contact, a url, an ics calendar file, etc.—but they all read the standard QR/2D code.
MS Tag
So wonderful … we have a standard that everyone should use right? Well we did, but today we also have other formats in the marketplace, and many more being introduced that are somewhat proprietary. MS Tags are a Microsoft product that requires the use of Microsoft’s Tag reader App to read these codes. The code is based upon their development of the High Capacity Color Barcode (HCCB), a proprietary 2D Barcode that is like using a tinyURL to redirect the phone’s browser and provide better analytics than QR codes…(thank you Wikipedia). Wait a minute… did I just write that MS Tags provide better analytics, but all they do is send you to a web page? Maybe I am misunderstanding this, but it sounds like the decision to use an MS tag instead of a QR code (a more widely accepted standard) is for the good of the marketer’s analytics not to create a better experience for the consumer. Let me get on my soapbox for a second… if the choice is between widespread effectiveness and consumer usability (because they have the app) and better analytics… I choose the former.
Louis Vuitton QR Code
The other argument I’ve heard when discussing this with a client using MS Tags was “they are prettier”. You got that right folks – they are better looking and the creative group wants them. I proceeded to show them this QR code from the lovely folks at Louis Vuitton Japan and you could here a pin drop. Nothing like trumping a creative group’s ‘prettier’ objection with something that actually IS pretty (not just prettier).
Facebook Snap Tag
Another type of tag out there (also proprietary and requiring a separate reader) is the SnapTag by Spyderlynk . The SnapTag has a lot of things going for it. It not only looks great and allows you to incorporate your logo into the tag (which is something you can do with a QR Code – ie Louis Vuitton) but they have also developed a way that you can use it to “Like” something on Facebook. This “Like” functionality is great because it connects your print advertisement/signage with your social media strategy. I love this concept, but again the hurdle is yet another app and no standard. This puts a greater burden on the consumer. If you are going to put a greater burden on the consumer by asking the consumer to voluntarily take an action at the moment they encounter a marketing message then it better be easy, it better be quick, and it better deliver an incredible experience.
Using a standardized 2D barcode, like the QR code that is widely accepted and already has apps living on countless phones, delivers on the requirement of easy and quick. Imagine standing around on the street waiting for the app to download, so you can then hunt it down on your phone (which is already crowded with useful apps like Angry Birds), and then (finally) taking a picture of the code? Imagine this experience. You’re reading a magazine and you see instructions on downloading the app, and then start seeing the codes show up on the subsequent advertisements. Are you going to put down your magazine, go to your computer, download the app, sync your phone, go back to the magazine and then start snapping away at the codes? Maybe. But if you’re going to ask someone to do this the result has to be a great experience that makes the extra effort worth it.
Which leads us to challenge number 2…creating a great consumer experience.
(to be continued…)
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