Dated Saturday January 11, 2014
QR codes, you either love them or you hate them. They have been pronounced dead by experts over and over again, but they seem to have more lives than a cat. But if experts claim the QR code is dead, why are people still using or recommending them? Because the main problem for QR codes is not in the technique, but in way they are used. Here are four examples of QR codes that where successful:
1. Verizon achieves 200% sales increase
Verizon used QR codes in-store, to promote a campaign in which visitors could win a smartphone. After scanning the QR code you were asked to share an Verizon add on Facebook. If that add sold a smartphone to one of your friends, you would get a mobile for free.
The campaign run for one week, in which Verizon received an additional $ 35,000 in sales. Given that it had only had cost $ 1,000 to run the campaign, this was nothing short of an success!
2. Buying lego on MyToy.de
German retailer MyToy.de built QR codes using Lego bricks to promote their webshop. If you scanned the QR code, you got the a page where you could buy the lego that was used to create the QR code. A big fault in the campaign was that the QR code referred to a desktop site, but that did not stop the success of the campaign (surprisingly enough). During the campaign 49% of the visitors of the webshop of MyToy.de found the webshop by scanning the QR code. As a result, the sales increased by a 100% for the promoted lego parts.
3. Getting all environmental with Heinz
Last year Heinz put QR codes on the ketchup bottles US restaurants served. The QR code was part of an promotion of their new environmentally friendly packaging. After scanning the QR code you could win a prize by answering a question on green knowledge. During the time the bottles with the QR codes where served in restaurants, Heinz saw over 1.000.000 visitors started the quiz after scanning the code.
4. Getting just a little bit more out of the Homefront game
Another case study dating back to 2011, video game developer THQ hid ten QR codes within its Homefront game that allowed players to unlock exclusive videos and wallpapers.
The codes were scanned 30,000 times within the first two days, and it soon clocked up 30,000 wallpaper downloads and 18,000 video views.
Conclusion
In order to use a QR code successfully you need to keep the following things in mind:
- Incentive: give people something for free (Homefront) or something to win (others)
- Location: show the QR code in a environment where people have the time to scan the code. Either when waiting in the store (Verizon) or in a restaurant (Heinz)
- Direct link between QR code and the resulting page: after scanning the code, you should end up on the promotion or quiz page. When promoting your webshop, link directly to one product (MyToy.de) instead of the complete catalogue.
