Fun, interesting direct response content is the key to brand loyalty in this age of fast-paced mobile marketing. One way many brands try to provide this content is with QR codes, but these just aren’t the best option.
QR codes have been around since 1994, and while they’ve had success in some East Asian countries, in almost 20 years they haven’t really taken off here in the U.S. They don’t look particularly inviting, for starters. We’ve been conditioned to ignore things like UPCs, so some people may do the same with QR codes. Plus, scanning a code can be an unnecessarily complex and cumbersome process that may scare off many consumers.
We're betting this doesn't give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.
Imagine you’re walking through the mall and see a QR code on an ad. The ever observant and tech-savvy consumer that you are, you stop, knowing the brand has some direct response content to offer you. First, you have to pull out your phone and open your QR scanner app. Don’t have one of those? You open up the app market, search for “QR scanner” and find that there are an obscene number of apps to choose from. After a moment’s hesitation, you pick the top rated app and start downloading. But even then, you might not be home free. After you’ve waited around for it to download, your app might not even be able to read the code at all. There are many different encoding schemes for QR codes, and they’re almost impossible to distinguish at a glance. By this point, you’ve lost interest completely.
But even if people are actually scanning a brand’s codes, it’s probably not something they love doing. Sure, the content may be enjoyable, but actually holding your phone up to a little square can be pretty boring. What if the same enjoyable content can be delivered to consumers while they’re doing something fun, like snapping pictures of themselves and their friends with products they love?
Using scalable, intelligent photo analysis tools from Pongr, brands can turn something that was once as dull as checking out at the grocery store into a fun, social experience. If the consumer is encouraged to share her own creation and self-expression, she’s got way more incentive to engage with the brand. Plus, brand moments can happen anywhere— not just where there happens to be an ad with a QR code. Uniquely tailored content can be delivered to people whenever they decide to take a cool picture. Doesn’t get much cooler than that.