Tuesday, April 5, 2011


QR Codes: The mood ring of the new millennium?


Remember mood rings?  Put them on and supposedly they would reflect whatever mood you were feeling by the heat you generated.

While QR codes (or Quick Response two-dimensional bar codes that can be read by a smartphone-based code scanner) aren’t new, we are just beginning to see the range of application they can have in marketing and capturing customer experience.   Here is an interesting example.

Our local friends at Best Buy are currently experimenting with QR codes as a way to tap into attitudes.  Imagine walking by a poster with a simple choice – it’s a good day today or it’s not.  Whip out your smartphone, take a quick shot and in a moment you find out what percent of X people responded that way today.  Since there are other posters hanging around the building, you also find out which location has the highest percentage of ‘thumbs up’ ratings.

“So what?”, you may be thinking.  Here is ‘the what’….


1.     While there are many other ways to get the data, this one has novelty and may capture your attention, just because it is different.  

2.     By raising awareness of this application, you likely elevate recognition of QR codes in other sites and applications.  I start to take greater notice of QR codes in my environment, which I might have otherwise ignored.

3.     Most exciting for marketers is the potential buzz it can create inside retail settings.  Maybe I’m in Best Buy and I rate some product; when I see the average rating I also notice that another product has an outstanding high percentage of thumbs up ratings.  It’s in the store, so I walk over to see why.

A smartphone-based mood ring that can drive customer behavior?  Maybe someday, but for now, hats off to the folks at Best Buy for their spirit of innovation and experimentation.

Don’t judge technology by what it can’t do today until you first imagine what it might allow you to do tomorrow.

Where have you seen marketing innovation using QR codes? 

Marc Sokol is an organizational psychologist with an eye for how people and teams can be more effective, even in a dysfunctional company. He is part oM Squared Group, a data-driven marketing consultancy.   
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3 comments:

Bonnie Koste said...

QR codes are great to use on promotional products too! They are fairly new to the industry, but the use of them is growing rapidly. It is a great way to send a targeted message to existing and future customers.

Marc Sokol said...

Absolutely! Pick up any travel magazine and you are likely to find 20 QR codes should you want to know more about travel in Tuscany, journeys to Johannesburg, or meandering around Madrid. Before you know it, expect to find supermarkets posting QR codes containing recipes using the products they want you to buy.

Thanks for your comment, Bonnie.

nadine ponting said...

I would really like your post ,it would really explain each and every point clearly well thanks for sharing.

Regards

mood ring

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