QR codes are so 2011… | BrightWave Marketing Blog

I was a little apprehensive about writing about QR codes because, let’s be honest, at this point it has received about as much publicity as the Kardashians and Paris Hilton, both to an equally undeserving amount. But there is a piece of the QR pie that has been driving me nuts lately so I thought my inaugural blog post would be a great opportunity to hop on my soap box and rant (stop reading now if QR codes are the cheese to your macaroni).

QR codes DO NOT belong in the digital marketing space.

Let me be more specific for those whose minds I boggle. They shouldn’t be in your promotional email, online newsletter, email signature, online banner, or any other digital space. Why is that you ask?

Because why in the world would you want to be this person? (see fig.1)

Figure 1

Does holding your phone up to your monitor and scanning something give you so much pleasure that you would waste precious minutes to reach your eventual online destination? Personally, I would prefer to click on a link like this: ‘best chicken on earth’.

Wow, wasn’t that speedy? Ohhh the power of the text link!

Now don’t think I am throwing the dishes out with the dishwater here; I know some QR codes are successful in marketing. For instance: QR codes on plant tags that lead to a page on how to care for them, QR codes on business cards that enable you to add their contact information to your phone, QR codes on retailer’s print ads that allow you to purchase the featured item (this is my favorite).

So in closing, I will leave you with Scott Stratten’s hilarious video that you have probably seen a few hundred times but never gets old:

Oh and this website that is sort of funny and really relevant. Oh and this infographic that is perplexing to me given that it is online, about mobile, and yet ends with a QR code that brings you back to that very page.

http://www.twitter.com/unmarketing unmarketing

Well aren’t you two scoops of awesome Thanks for showing my QR code rant! Great post, off to tweet it!
http://www.untitledminimalism.com/ Robert Wall

The only time I’ve found an on-screen QR code useful is, oddly enough, an app that wasn’t available in the Android Marketplace. I had it on my computer screen, and I scanned it on my phone – but that’s only because the on-screen keyboard on my phone was small enough that I didn’t want to use it to type the insanely long URL in.

A short URL would’ve been just as good as a QR code.
http://www.flaggindustries.com/ Ryan Flagg

Copy and paste.
http://twitter.com/ron_sparks Ron Sparks

HA yeah who wants to be that person (on phone taking photo of computer for a link!) – really thought no one did this.

sooo QR codes on paper are okay sometimes?
http://www.untitledminimalism.com/ Robert Wall

I’d been linked to the app from an article I was reading on my desktop PC, not my cell phone – so copy/paste wasn’t an option. I thought scanning the QR code off my screen was a silly way to get the app, so that’s why I did the quick Android Marketplace search for the app name.

After that failed, however, scanning the QR on my PC’s monitor was much, much easier than typing the developer’s incredibly-long download URL using the on-screen keyboard on my mobile.

I still think scanning QR codes off a monitor is a silly way to go about something. The sad part, in this example, was that it was the easiest way to do it.

*Sigh*.
Ed Bowden

I don’t think you will find anyone disagrees with you – QR codes definitely do not belong on screens

For direct marketing or even poster campaigns, photographing a QR code might seem a bit of a faff, but people love a gimmick, and if it drives traffic to your page then it is a valid tactic.

Personally I much prefer a vanity URL like ubs.com/curtcustard as it reinforces the brand. But it relies on people remembering it until they get to a computer and then typing it on, which is SUCH hard work!
http://twitter.com/JoeCascio Joe Cascio

It’s true, QR codes for marketing are a huge #FAIL. But like the bar codes that preceded them, QRs still have value in operational applications. For instance, for fulfillment, inventory, ordering, re-ordering, shipping/receiving, invoicing, payment and point-of-sale they are more flexible, can speed up the process and reduce cost and errors.
http://twitter.com/ahvance Amanda Vance

I wouldn’t say they’re a complete marketing fail. I think the failure falls on the marketers themselves. Simply placing a QR code without giving any context or providing some sort of insight/direction for the user will guarantee this marketing attempt will see disastrous results.

I may just be optimistic, but I believe there is still hope yet for QR code usage. If it wasn’t for so many individuals using them in such a poor manner, maybe they wouldn’t have such a bad rap today!
http://twitter.com/ahvance Amanda Vance

I think QR codes can be great for print. Say you’re looking at a menu in-restaurant. Most menus don’t list nutritional information (at least not fully), but a restaurant could provide a QR code, and include messaging that tells the customer to scan with their smartphone to receive full nutritional information. Seeing as gluten and caloric concerns are at an all time high for diners these days, this could prove very successful. And that’s just one approach you could take with print!