QR Codes & Cheeky Marketing

I have to admit I am obsessed with QR codes. Not overly obsessed, but obsessed enough to scan every single darn one I see! This week I noticed a cheeky (pun intended) way of using QR codes by two athletes taking part in a London 2012 beach volleyball tournament. They decided to strategically place the 2D barcodes on a very eye catching part of their ‘uniform’ in a bid to gain a sponsorship deal.

The placement of the QR codes made news and the story made me think about content for this post. QR code placement within your advertising and marketing collateral is important. In this case the buzz is what got the sponsor air time but I doubt they got that many actual scans of the barcodes during the tournament.

Here’s why: You have to capture a still barcode to read it. A moving target, like one on an athlete at play won’t work. Also, the barcode has to be as flat as possible. When I put QR codes on clothing, like t-shirts, I usually place them on a sleeve. The left sleeve works best.  Most people are right handed and won’t be moving their left arm when drinking, talking on the phone etc. It is also less intrusive a spot when you are pointing your phone at an arm.

A smartphone’s scanning app uses the phone’s camera to read a QR code. Not all smartphone cameras are created equal. An iPhone can scan barcodes in the blink of an eye; a Blackberry laboriously tries to auto focus before reading. Having a flat barcode makes for most successful barcode scans. Therefore, putting a barcode on the front of a t-shirt, especially on (most) ladies’ T-shirts, isn’t the best placement. Bikini bottoms aren’t either. Except for publicity.

Sharpness is another issue. Some print run and fabric combos can make a barcode look slightly fuzzy. Making the QR code large enough (about 2 inches square) will reduce the fuzzies and error rate when scanned. And size is important. The barcodes on the athletes’ swimwear is a good size for snapping at several feet away – but only if they are still!

Not only am I constantly looking out for these little black and white squares on every piece of advertising and promo piece I pass, but I try them out to see where they go and rate the mobile campaign they are a part of.

I’d say only about 20% of the codes I scan are used with best practices in mind. Because QR codes are new and eye-catching many marketers feel those factors are enough to give a campaign traction. The barcodes are being slapped in the corner of an ad with no word about what it’s for, or for users without smartphones, a web address adjacent to it. If you use a QR code, tell us what to do with them, why we should scan them, and how else we can get to the end goal. For example, place verbiage like this close to your barcode: “Scan this QR code with your smartphone or visit www.domainnamehere.com to sign up for special offers.” Other small print around the QR code can tell the user where to get a free scanning app and even a preferred app’s name.

I was bummed (pun intended, again) that I couldn’t decode the QRs for the beach volleyball campaign. All the photos I found on the Internet displayed barcodes too fuzzy to scan. My hope is that, when scanned, the user was taken to a mobile friendly web page to continue their mobile experience in an easy to read and navigable environment.

As the beach volleyball athletes can attest, QR codes can really get people talking and interacting with your business or enterprise. What ways can you use this eye-catching form of mobile marketing to enhance your current marketing?

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