You want it? You got it. At least that is what the Toyota® commercials used to say back in the big-haired ‘80s. Then they’d close with a freeze frame of some dorky Toyota owner jumping for joy. Well, a lot has changed since the days of those cringe-worthy jingles and icky mnemonic devices. One recent change in the ad world is the emergence of something called Quick Response codes.
Quick Response codes, or QR codes for short, are those tiny op-art-looking boxes you are starting to see in the corners of ads, beverage labels, POS posters and direct mail pieces. Coincidently, the QR code is the invention of Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave. Small world, huh?
What exactly are these strange little boxes? They are essentially timesaving barcodes that people can scan with their mobile devices. Scan the code and your Blackberry® will launch a micro-site with promotion details, training videos or even games. All it takes is downloading a free app to get started or if you have an Android® you are good to go.
The QR code has been around since the mid-nineties and been utilized in marketing across the Orient. In the West, advertising agencies have been slow to jump on the bandwagon. Brands like Pepsi® and PlayStation® have used QR codes with mixed results. Today, branding agencies from Daytona to Dallas are experimenting with these amazing little codes.
It remains to be seen how effective the QR code will actually be in leveraging your brand in the marketplace. But for those marketing managers who have that pioneer spirit it is definitely something bright and shiny that might attract that gadget-head segment of your demographic, and that could mean incremental sales. So, you might want to explore this option. Or to put it another way: You want it? You got it.
