The Tray Way: Where do we stand with the QR Code?

Over the past couple weeks, we have shared a series of articles on our social media pages on how the QR Code technology has been evolving to allow organizations to take more strategic advantage of their power. While there are number of examples, here are a couple of our favorites:

The Inaudible QR Code:

SonicNotify, a start-up company, has developed a technology that will enable a smartphone - through an app - to receive data via high frequency sound inaudible to the human ear. According to a recent article:

The signals would be sufficient to transmit, say, a web address that could be automatically opened by your smartphone. These frequencies could be embedded into any audio being played through a speaker, and provide contextual information to the user. So, museums and art galleries could effectively transmit detailed information on their exhibits via their apparently silent PA systems.

The Product Logo QR Code

For those that like the visual aspects of QR Codes, but not the mystery of what is behind it, there is an answer. Mobile Visual Search (MVS) is QR Code technology 2.0. The concept is similar to the previous, but instead of sound, it simply entails taking a picture of a logo to get more information. The mobile technology would recognize images (specifically those related to a brand) and lead the user directly to more information. Some of its advantages include…

MVS will have wrap-around and three-dimensional recognition capabilities. Even traditional advertising will be revitalized with MVS. For example, picture an interactive print campaign that incorporates MVS as part of a competition or game. Marketers can offer instant gratification in the form of videos, mobile links, coupons or discounts as incentive for taking the best pictures of a particular product or logo.

The idea behind the QR Code as a marketing tool has been very intriguing over the past several years. You see that black-and-white square on signage, and there is an air of mystery about what is behind that code. What website will it lead to? What message will I be privy to? The concept has worked to some extent, although the fact that only about 14 million mobile users in the U.S. have utilized a QR Code indicates that its popularity has not reached the extent of other technologies.

However, as we as marketers predicted, the current QR Code technology is very much a transition to something more safe and appealing. The current QR Code technology has the ability to hide spyware or fraudulent information behind it, and is therefore becoming more untrustworthy as a communications mechanism (although, when used to supplement a marketing campaign, it works beautifully. Here are some examples). However, as with many other things, if the QR Code's negatives can be fixed, and its positives enhanced, then this is just the first generation of a marketing technique that has the ability to be very, very profitable.

The Tray PML Way is the blog for Tray, experts in the printing, mailing, logistics and promotional products. You can learn more about our capabilities by visiting our website, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages.
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