Much has been written about how mobile marketing is going to be the next great way for marketers to connect with customers. The latest hype fuel is the success of the iPhone and thousands of applications. But another trend is gaining pace in the mobile world: QR codes.
QR codes are a kind of two-dimensional bar code. In marketing to date, they have been used mainly to make it easy for a mobile phone to communicate via the Web. They can send your phone to a mobile webpage, or direct it to download information such as songs, videos, or photos. QR codes are increasingly appearing in magazines as part of print ads. One might dismiss this idea immediately as a second-coming of the ill-fated Cue Cat, but let’s give it the benefit of the doubt and look further.
For a look at QR codes in action, let’s take the example above of a Polo clothing print ad that appeared in The Week magazine. Here, a QR code and directions in the lower right corner allow readers to whip out their mobile phones and shop online, read Ralph Lauren magazine stories, and watch Ralph Lauren videos. It’s an interesting concept – and I could see some ways in which people would be willing to engage with the brand in this way. If you’re on a train on the way to work, or at home reading on the weekend, it could be interesting to pull out your phone and check out the latest tennis fashions from Ralph Lauren.
I followed the instructions to give it a try myself. I texted RLQR4 to 23000. In a few minutes I was instructed to visit m.ralphlauren.com on my Treo 700’s browser. From there I had to navigate to download a QR reader. After a few clicks the site asked for my cell carrier and confirmation that I had a Treo 700. Then disaster struck: Either the Treo or Sprint was not covered by the QR software. Alas, my search for meaning was over and I ended up wasting my time with this ad.
Despite the hype and gee-whiz factor of new technology, I’m not sure QR code marketing is here to stay. First, there’s a huge education factor. Geeks like me who bother to download the software are less than 5% of the general population. Second, the range of browsers, phones, and service providers make mobile marketing a mess at this point.
Finally, there’s the issue of whether or not QR codes are meaningful for consumers. If these codes don’t excite people in their early use, adoption is likely to lag. In the example above, I really question Polo’s strategy in using QR codes to simply open up a mobile store link with a few articles and videos. Magazine readers are not necessarily in shopping mode, and we can always open up our laptop for a much better shopping experience when we get home or to the office. I was able to get to the site on my laptop and the content is extremely basic. For example, a Style Guide section on “insights, tips and essential information on Ralph Lauren style” had only three basic FAQ.
It’s pretty obvious that Ralph Lauren wanted to experiment and learn with little cost and effort. I can see the rationale clearly, but I would bet that low risk will result in low reward in terms of learning. What if the brand spent more thought on how it could uniquely use the mobile space to ad value in the world of athletic fashion. One idea: Let users send a photo of themselves, and a real fashion expert at RL send back personalized wardrobe suggestions. It’s more complicated, sure, but I think you can see it as much more meaningful.
As I wrote a few weeks ago, for new technology to be effective in marketing, we must work hard to make meaning from Day 1. Advertising is not needed for mobile and other new devices to be successful. We’ve got to earn consumers’ attention with tools and content that truly add value.
