The following is an excerpt from John Foley’s new book, “Untethered Marketing: The Role Of The Cloud And Mobile Communication.”
No discussion about mobile marketing is complete without mentioning 2D barcodes. One of the most popular of these is QR codes, square two-dimensional barcodes that when decoded by the phone, direct its browser to a website or send the phone a text or image message (such as a discount code).
QR codes are showing up on everything from billboards to magazine advertisements and direct mail, email and even vehicles. For example, in New York City, garbage trucks carry a QR code that leads citizens to information about how to recycle properly. Some of the political campaign buses in the 2012 Presidential campaign featured QR codes on the exterior that led to more information about the candidate and offered an opportunity to contribute to the campaign.
Philadelphia commutes can do their grocery shopping at a virtual store, compliments of Internet grocer Peapod, Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble’s Charmin. Posters at Philadelphia’s transit stations feature a variety of commonly purchased grocery items along with QR codes that commuters can scan with a Peapod mobile app for ordering and delivery by Peapod.
QR codes are increasingly being found on product labels to provide up-to-the-minute product information, including details about ingredients, product comparisons, coupon offers, recipes, and other marketing and informational tactics. With all the contamination scares over produce, consumers want to know the source of the food that they are buying, and QR codes provide an easy way to deliver against this demand.
