DSA Online | New Media Updates

I saw three interesting applications of the QR code this week. The first one was on a large sign for a bank at a busy Skytrain station, listing all the branches in the area on a map, and providing a QR for each. The second was a QR prominently displayed over a realtor’s sign on a neighbour’s lawn. The third was the strangest of all, but I’ll touch on it in a bit.

I’d bet they each went to an appropriate spot, like a map or a listings webpage. But that’s just a guess, because, let’s be honest, who wants to stop in a busy crowd or pull over to carefully aim their focus-challenged phone camera at a sign? And that’s just one of the obstacles with the QR code.

The Problem

Not too long ago, we decided to put QRs on the back of our business cards, so that, when scanned, our contact info could be quickly added to a user’s address book. Pretty cool idea, right? But in reality, the feedback was mixed. Some Blackberrys didn’t have powerful enough cameras to capture the code, some applications just dumped the info into a note app or to the pasteboard, and a few actually loaded it as a v-card like we wanted.

That’s the challenge. You need to get someone who:

1. Owns a competent smartphone
2. Is willing to experiment with one of the many free or paid apps
3. Is interested in interacting with your QR code

And even if you get 1, 2, and 3, you then need to provide a meaningful and consistent experience. I doubt many people will interact with a realtor’s sign, but if I was looking for real estate in a print magazine and saw a QR code that went right to the MLS listing, I’d check it out.

The third use of the QR code that really made me shake my head, though, was a company whose online banner ads included a tiny QR code. Click through rates are already low enough, but expecting someone to pull out their phone and move their experience from computer to mobile based on an ad seems like a stretch. Even if it’s for a mobile-specific product, that needs to be some strong incentive.

What’s Next?

Experts seem to be split about whether the QR is in for the long haul or racing against other technologies to take a hold of the general public. In September 2011, about 18% of smart phone subscribers in Canada used their devices to scan a QR code according to comScore. As marketers and the public begin to understand it more, and devices catch up, adoption rates should continue to rise.

What would put it over the top? I’d say the QR needs a killer app, and not one you can download. Native support in iPhone and Android with simplistic integration right from inside the camera. If Apple put that in the next version of iOS, I think we’d see it really take off.