Category: QR Code

I have noticed a couple of South African QR Codes campaigns on some adverts, packaging & campaigns lately, but still. So many of them are getting them wrong ! There are a couple of key points to “follow” to ensure you get the best results from running a QR Code Campaign. So I thought I would share a couple of them, from my experience in using them :)

[dropcap style=”2″]1[/dropcap]Make sure your QR code ends up on a Mobile formatted page

This is the golden rule. I can’t even begin to explain how critical this is. What is the use of having someone snap a QR code and it lands up on a “normal” web site ? They using their mobile phone to snap the code, make sure it lands it up on a mobile page. Simple !

[dropcap style=”2″]2[/dropcap]The shorter the URL, the easier the QR code is to snap 
QR codes are really just a string of text, whether it is a URL or 7089 characters of text, QR code readers need to decipher the code, so the longer the text, the more complex it is to decode and the longer it takes to decode. Use a shortening service like http://bit.ly to shorten URL’s, or direct people to a web page for longer text. That way you can also get some sort of stats & analytics on the codes snapped.

[dropcap style=”2″]3[/dropcap]Make QR big enough to read

Make your QR code easy enough to snap. The other day I picked up a crisp packet (image on the right) which had 2 QR Codes on it, 1 directing me to a Facebook page & the other to a twitter account for the product. Both were really small codes, and were right next to each other making them almost impossible to scan. Rather have 1 bigger code, redirect them to a mobi page, with links to each social media account. Much simpler !

[dropcap style=”2″]4[/dropcap]Make sure people can actually access the internet when scanning your code

We know South African cell networks are nutorisly bad when coping with large crowds. Go to any sporting or music event where there are more than 1000 people, and you won’t be able to even use your phone. Because our cell bandwidth sucks, make sure you put your QR code in a place where people can actually access the internet. So don’t put your QR code in the bathrooms at the Shark Tank. Or at the bottom of the Gautrain station in Sandton (looking at you Gautrain)
It just won’t work.

[dropcap style=”2″]5[/dropcap]Not everyone has a QR Code scanner on their phone

Fact. Not EVERYONE is going to think your QR code campaign is cool. Which means no everyone really cares about your QR Code and is everyone is NOT going snap it. Be clever and put a short URL next to the code. That way, the guys who don’t have scanners installed can still access your content. Use the same bit.ly url as in point number 2, which will give produce meaningful stats.

Have you got any suggestions ? Leave a comment below with some ideas and we will add them to a future post about how to execute a successful QR Code campaign

Yesterday I picked up my copy of the Sunday Times newspaper, to be greeted with what looked like a cool campaign for their 125th year birthday celebration. On the front page there was a prompt to turn to page 3, which I did, and lo and behold, there was a QR code to snap. I was stoked. Finally, brands are climbing on the QR code bandwagon, and using them to enhance their advertising campaigns.

This one was pretty plain & simple. There were a couple of instructions to SMS a premium rated number to get a download link to get the app. I didn’t bother downloading the app, and instead used my new favorite QR Code app, Qrafter (more on that tommorrow).

If you sent an SMS to the premium rated number, it came back prompting you to go to http://www.coke125.co.za, which did have some info about coke and allowed you to download the Scanlife QR Code app

I snapped the code, which lead me to a webpage. Imagine my utter dissapointment, when the code resolved to nothing, but a simple webpage – http://www.coke125.co.za/ar/, with a movie clip on it. Nothing else. Just a plain white page with a movie clip ??? Nothing to tell us about how addicted we have become to your product over the last 125 years ? Nothing about how many cans of coke you have sold in the last 125 years ? Really ? Not even a nice mobi site styled nicely for mobile screen.

So I ventured forth & clicked on the movie clip. And all I got was a 31 second movie clip with a bottle of coke wasting some of the good black stuff, by spewing it out the bottle telling us they have shared a 125 years of happiness with us. Um, Thanks & Happy Birthday. Really.

Seriously. I am totally dissapointed with this. Here is a global brand, who I’m sure understands what QR Codes & mobile is all about, and how to execute it properly. Coke spent around R210,000 (according to the Sunday Times ad rate card), and achieved nothing from it. Nothing (except this whining blog post).

Honestly though, this has to be one of the most poorly executed QR Code campaigns I have ever seen. Next time gimme a shout, and I’ll give you some tips on how to properly execute a QR Code campaign.

Sidenote: (If you sent an SMS to the premium rated number, it came back prompting you to go to http://www.coke125.co.za, which did have some info about coke and allowed you to download the Scanlife QR Code app, and some “cool stuff” My argument here though is, that if you didn’t send the premium rated SMS, then you would never land on their site. The QR code seems like it was just dumped in the paper to try and make it look good, and to get people to pay the premium rated SMS to “download” the QR App)