10 Ways to Use QR Codes beyond Advertising

Written on Apr 19, 2011 by in Mobile Barcodes

By now, most of us have seen the mobile barcode known as a Quick Response, or QR Code. After they start popping up in your local shopping mall (Guess stores), strip malls (Best Buy), on billboards (Calvin Klein), and in the media (CNN), it is hard not to notice. All of the exposure has been great to instill curiosity for consumers and curious passerbys to scan the codes with thier smartphone to see what lies on the other side of Alice’s rabbit hole. Just as danger found Alice, QR codes are facing a similar nimesis — novelty.

If marketers keep using advertising as a novel way to continue push (broadcast) advertising, consumers will quickly tire of the effort to scan the codes. Anyone interested in the success of QR Codes must start thinking in terms of utility, giving the consumer something of value.

 

10 Ways to Use QR Codes for Utility

  1. How-to videos optimized for mobile screens (near limitless potential!!!!)
    — how to put together furniture you just bought
    — how to properly use that tool
    — how to use that software feature 
  2. on products for companies to share their green message/certification/initiatives
  3. on medicine bottles to list useful information like possilbe drug interactions
  4. on medicine bottles to order refills
  5. on real estate signs to over virtual tours
  6. offer mobile coupons
  7. link to loyalty sign-up programs
  8. links to FAQs, user groups, or instructional videos on technical documentation
  9. in the owner’s manual to order replacement parts (would work well for Charbroil Grills)
  10. on airport signage to call for rebooking

What are your other suggestions or experiences that used QR Codes, or any other 2d barcode, to provide utility?

photo credit: tomvoni

Print Friendly
6 Comments - Leave a comment!
  • Anonymous

    We agree that in order for QR Codes become more widely adopted you must be able to suggest to your clients some practical uses for them beyond the obvious marketing benefits. Here at Still Creek Press, we’ve begun to add a QR Code to the invoice we send out to our clients. When scanned, it sends them to a web page where they can view a low resolution proxy image of the item that was printed. This enables the accounts receivable department, or the small business operator herself, to identify the print project far more easier than having to parse a line item on the invoice.

    • Ryan

      That is a perfect practical use for QRs. How has the feedback been from your
      customers?
      - Ryan

      • Anonymous

        The feedback has been very positive so far! For some of our customers, the technology still seems a bit foreign, but for the majority of customers that have figured it out on their own think it’s just the coolest thing!

    • Dave Morgan

      How are you managing the qr code production / back end

  • http://twitter.com/easyprintsharm easy print

    We have created a photo book (Power to the People) documenting the Egyptian Revolution and used QR codes with each photo to link it to videos related to each photo taken live by protesters using their mobile phones, as well as video interviews with protesters.
    We submitted the book to the Xerox best-of-the-best award 2011 and we have won under the category for photo publishing. @easyprintsharm.com

  • http://twitter.com/easyprintsharm easy print

    We have created a photo book (Power to the People) documenting the Egyptian Revolution, we used QR codes with each photo to link it to videos taken by protestors using their mobile phones. the idea was to give the reader a chance to see the photos and watch and hear the events unfolding. We submitted the book to the 2011 Xerox best-of-the-best competition and we won under the category of photo publishing

Welcome! Sign-up below to get have-it-your-way updates.