Tag: quick response codes

QR codes generate hype from Taco Bell product packaging

| February 26, 2013

Taco Bell QR CodesThe ESPN College Football campaign used the barcodes to generate hundreds of thousands of scans.

The outcome of the ESPN College Football mobile marketing campaign have now been released by Taco Bell, which has revealed that the QR codes from their product packages were scanned 225,000 times in less than two months.

This marketing effort was part of the overall Bowl Championship series campaign.

Taco Bell feels that this achievement was a considerable one. This is not the first time that the fast food chain has run mobile marketing campaigns that have used QR codes. This time, it is receiving applause from many in the industry for the way that the barcodes were applied in order to generate the greatest amount of attention and use.

The QR codes were placed on the soda cups and the 12 pack taco boxes throughout the campaign.

Those items could be scanned using a smartphone and any scanner app designed for reading QR codes – of which there are many available for free. When a customer scanned the barcode, he or she was redirected to analyst Mark May’s previews that were presented for the upcoming games in the series. The initial launch of this campaign was on December 20, and it ran right through until February 3.

The QR codes saw periods of higher and lower popularity, coming to a high point as the games were actually taking place. However, after January 7, there was not as much attention seen by the barcodes, simply because the National Championship Game had already been played by that point. This was, however, a matter of context and the company does not at all consider it to be a failure of the campaign.

Behind the management of the QR codes was Snipp Interactive. Its CEO, Atul Sabharwal, pointed out a number of elements that led to the success and high rate of use in the campaign. He also shared that he feels that this is a prime example of the true potential of these smartphone friendly barcodes as a “mobile response mechanism”. He added that “It’s even more impressive when you consider that this wasn’t a contest, sweepstakes or giveaway, which have traditionally always generated high volumes of responses.”

QR codes test tattoo artist skills

| February 25, 2013

QR Codes test tattoo skillsA Turkish small business has used the barcodes to filter out applicants who aren’t accurate enough.

An upscale tattoo business in Istanbul has launched a hiring campaign that uses QR codes to help to test an individual’s accuracy, even before he or she is allowed to actually apply for the job.

The print ad barcodes were used as a unique and innovative strategy to stop sloppy artists from applying.

The typical application process for a tattoo artist would involve filling in the form, having an interview, and performing a test to make sure that he or she is adequately skilled. However, this can lead to a lengthy, uncomfortable, or even angry process as there are far more people who apply for the job than are actually up to the standards of the business. Some of this struggle has been overcome through the use of QR codes.

The tattoo artists who wanted to apply were required to fill out blank QR codes in the print advertisements.

The tattoo business, Berrge Tattoo, hired Istanbul based marketing agency, BÜRO, in order to help to create the smartphone friendly campaign. It integrated the use of a print ad, QR codes, and the innovative website to add an additional important step to its hiring process. The result was highly creative and completely unique.

The QR codes within the ad, itself, became a central part of the hiring process. There were blank barcodes printed in flesh color in the ad, which were required to be completed in order to make it possible to scan them with a smartphone using a scanner app. Scanning a properly completed barcode directed the individual to the application form for the position. However, if the task was not completed with enough accuracy, the code would not resolve and the individual would not be able to apply.

This use of the QR codes was very helpful in weeding out those applicants that paid the least attention to detail and accuracy, before the company was even required to receive their application forms or meet them for an interview. As the majority of scanners allow for a 30 percent margin of error, there was still some room to make mistakes, but those applicants would have the opportunity to prove themselves in their interviews and actual tests.