2D Bar Code Strategy

How many times does it have to be said...QR Codes can be customized with a brand's logo and/or colors. Why do people such as Jeff Hayzlett, Celebrity CMO and CEO, The Hayzlett Group (whatever 'Celebrity' is suppose to mean?), continue to believe that QR Codes can't be customized with a logo and/or corporate colors?

Recently, Mr. Hayzlett published a Trend Watch article for iMediaConnection titled, "Why SnapTags are Replacing QR Codes" and, in the article, he sites a campaign by Glamour magazine where a SnapTag was used and how it was received by the magazine's readers. According to Mr. Hayzlett, "...over 100,000 code activations, 50,000 Facebook likes, and 500,000 interactions of some kind including code scans and peer sharing" came as a result of using a SnapTag, which featured a Facebook "like" logo (see bottom right-hand corner of the cover below).


If you are unfamiliar with SnapTags, the idea is that a company's logo is placed in the center of a notched circle, and the SnapTag can either be read with SnapTag's proprietary reader app, or a picture of the code can be taken and then sent to a short code. The short code reply email provides the consumer with the intended advertising or promotional information. If this sounds like JAGTAG all over again that's because it is very similar.


Do SnapTags look cleaner and more simple than a QR Code, as Mr. Hayzlett suggests? That all depends if you are comparing apples to apples. Yes, a SnapTag will look better than a generic black and white QR Code, but a customized QR Code could look just as clean and just as simple as its SnapTag counterpart. And, if done correctly, a customized QR Code can be just as easy to scan and the analytics can be just as deep, as that of a SnapTag.  

Great that Glamour's SnapTag encountered 500,000 interactions of some kind, but can we be a bit more specific (i.e., how many magazine subscriptions were generated, how many advertiser products were sold, etc., etc.)? One 2D barcode campaign after another reports total number of scans, but few, if any, go beyond that and report what marketers, advertisers, publishers, etc., really want to know, what was the revenue generated as a result of the campaign? Of course, no one will make this claim, so we are left with scan rates that are virtually meaningless and somewhat out of context.

Based on my research, and as agnostic as I try to be in the 2D barcode space, I would say that SnapTags are hardly replacing QR Codes anytime soon and, even if they were, Mr. Hayzlett would need a lot more evidence than this one campaign to support his Trend Watch claim.

A few days ago, Nellymoser announced the release of their latest piece of 2D barcode research, which is titled "Mobile Action Codes in Advertising."

The research is based on a survey of the top 100 magazines in the U.S. and the analysis of every advertisement that was placed in those publications during Q3 2011.* In conducting this research, Nellymoser scanned every QR Code, Microsoft Tag, SnapTag, BEE Tag, JagTag and Digimarc watermark that was found with an iPhone or Android device, and activated every campaign, ran every video and visited every scan resolve page. This continues to be the most comprehensive study of 2D barcodes that I have yet to see, as the company provides updates quarterly. For those individuals or companies who may be interested in making use of 2D technology, there is a great deal of strategic and tactical information, insight and suggestions that are provided in the research, and it should not be missed.

Thank you Nellymoser for such thoughtful, and time consuming, work.

*Nellymoser limited the study to monthly issues readily available on newsstands nationally. This eliminated publications that require a membership, such as AARP magazine, as well as some regional titles. In most cases, Nellymoser subscribed to the magazine. For the purposes of this study, Nellymoser refers to this list of magazines as the Top 100.

The other day, a fan of the blog forwarded to me a direct mail piece that she received from AT&T (see below). Notice anything strange about the piece? Notice the 2D barcode being used is a QR Code? This is now the second time in less than a month that I have seen AT&T make use of a QR Code (see article).


What's going on at AT&T? Has the company abandoned the Data Matrix code for the more popular QR Code? Have they made changes to their Mobile Barcode product offering to reflect this change? Have they abandoned their relationship with MobileTag? Is this a move to catch up and become more competitive in the space? With all that I have written about AT&T (see here, here and here), questioning their platform and making suggestions related to the use of QR Codes, it would have been nice to at least get a thank you from AT&T for the free advice and input. (That's a joke.)

If you were curious to know what the QR Code resolved to, your guess is as good as mine, I could not get it to resolve.

Recently, Bose, the audio products and technology company, launched this print campaign, which features a Microsoft Tag. Could it be, two campaigns in a row that are worthy of a Litmus Test Pass?

When the reader of the advertisement scans the Tag, they are linked to a mobile website and are brought directly to the product page for the product shown in the advertisement, a Bluetooth headset. On the product page, the reader can purchase the product right there and then, read a detailed product overview, view product features, see what else comes in the box, review manuals and owner information and learn about other accessories. From the mobile site in general, the reader of the advertisement can also find a store, access the main website and access customer support. Wow! Go figure, some thought actually went into this campaign.



The mobile website that Bose developed should serve as a model for most other consumer product companies making use of 2D technology, and the only comment/suggestion that I have is to add customer product reviews and widgets to enable social sharing.

With respect to the Tag itself, the call-to-action ("Scan to learn more") could have been a bit stronger and some descriptive copy could have gone with the Tag, but at least a mobile URL is given, as is a 1-888 telephone number. Also, perhaps a purchase incentive could have been offered, as it is on other product pages.

Overall, a well done campaign and certainly a contender for the prestigious Best 2D Barcode Campaign of 2011 Award, which will be announced in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned.

2D Barcode Litmus Test: PASS

Tervis, the manufacturer of high-tech drinking tumblers, recently launched a new print campaign, which features a QR Code. After quite a dry spell, here's a 2D campaign worth mentioning and taking note of.


To begin, the company puts best practice to use and includes next to the QR Code a call-to-action, information about what to do with the code and information about what's offered in exchange for scanning the code (Bring the holidays to life. Use your smartphone for holiday party tips, special holiday offers, and more.) Smartly, the company also includes a URL address for those who don't have a QR Code reader and/or a smartphone. The only other bit of copy that could have been added was, "Go to your app store to download a QR Code reader" so as to help readers locate one. 


When the code is scanned, the reader of the advertisement is brought to a mobile web page that displays a message window with the following text, "Mingle with these smart people and get the holidays started right. Touch and drag to view the panorama image. OK." The panorama image is of a holiday party and the eight flashing orange touch points are found throughout the image (they can't be missed). Each touch point links to a different page, which includes: a holiday smart quiz, holiday gift ideas, product/company information, party excuse generator, how to make a giant 3D snowflake, personality plus (how to personalize a tumbler), exclusive holiday offer and holiday drink ideas. When just about any of these pages are viewed, there is a "shop now" button and a "next" button displayed on the page. When the "shop now" button is touched, the reader of the advertisement is brought to the desktop version of the company's website, which I question. Why not keep the mobile experience happening and make it easier for the reader to navigate off of a shopping page that is mobile-optimized? When the "next" button is touched, the reader is brought to a secondary page providing additional information about the product, company, etc. Also included on just about every page are widgets to share the experience/content socially via Facebook, Twitter and foursquare.
 
There are several items that I like/love about this campaign. First, it works. The panorama image loads correctly and operates without a hitch, as do each of the touch point pages. Second, there is descriptive copy associated with the QR Code, which serves to motivate the reader to take the next step. Third, the site has stickiness, because each touch point is different, the reader wants to spend time to discover what's behind each one. Fourth, there is value and a reward being offered via a special 25% holiday discount. Fifth, it's easy for a reader to share the campaign socially. And, sixth, the "mobile" consumer can purchase right then and there; no fumbling to get to a product purchase page.

The one major drawback to the way the scan resolve operates is that if I hit the "back" button on my mobile phone, as opposed to the "back" or "close" buttons on the scan resolve site, I loose the scan resolve site entirely and I am brought back to the code reader app viewing screen. Could this be fixed?

2D Barcode Litmus Test: PASS

For the past few months, Macy's has been placing customized/designer QR Codes in many of its print advertisements (see image below) and, for whatever reason, up until now, I have not paid much attention to them. When I spotted a code advertisement in today's New York Times, however, I decided to scan the code to see what would happen. Maybe I should have ignored this advertisement like I have all of the others.


When I scanned the QR Code, I was brought to a web page that read, "This feature is not supported. Go to Full HTML Version." Why should that be? Why should I not be able to view what I believe was intended to be a mobile website? Is my HTC Incredible running Android so out of date or not programmed correctly? Your guess is as good as mine. When I touched the "Go to Full HTML Version" message, just to see what would happen, I was brought to a desktop version of the company's website, which was expected, but is far from ideal. Although I said, "I should have ignored this advertisement like I have all of the others," in actuality, I wish I had scanned the others to see if their 2D/mobile experience matched this one. Lousy.

What's also interesting to note about the Macy's campaign is that several months ago, Macy's ran a campaign with JAGTAG codes (see article), then I thought ScanLife took over the account (don't quote me on that) back in the fall, and now I wonder who's calling the shots. Based on the scan resolve URL, it seems as though Macy's might have taken the work in-house. While there is certainly nothing wrong with a brand changing agencies/vendors and even bringing work in-house, I'm just wondering why the vendors couldn't keep the business.

2D Barcode Litmus Test: FAIL

Recently, I walked past an AT&T retail store here in New York City, and in the store's front window was a sign which read, "in the network, gifts have more to give" and next to the promotional copy was a graphical image of a holiday present made out of a QR Code with a bow on top (see second image below for a better view). A question or two, if I may, to the AT&T Mobile Marketing Solutions team, what the heck is going on there and who's calling the shots?

Several months ago, I wrote about AT&T's barcode product offering (articles here, here and here) and questioned the company's use of Data Matrix codes, as well as the "proprietary" code reader app they offer (AT&T does not view it as being proprietary, but it is) and now, I'm wondering, why the sudden switch from Data Matrix codes to a QR Code in your own advertising? Has the marketing team finally found religion (i.e., coming to the realization that QR Codes far out pace Data Matrix codes in use and acceptance here in the U.S.)? Perhaps, but I'm not all too sure, as the company's strategic approach to the 2D barcode market just baffles me. Here's more.


When I Google "AT&T mobile marketing" I come to this web page, which links to nothing more than a product/solution video. When I go to AT&T's main website (att.com) and search for "barcodes" I find a different web page. And, when I search for the company's Create-a-Code page, the product page which enables people to generate their own codes, I can't even find it unless I go through a press release that I know has a link to the page. Here's a question for our players at home, do you get the sense that AT&T Mobile Marketing Solutions has absolutely no idea as to what they are doing with respect to 2D barcodes? What's the strategy here, is there a strategy? Does the company want to stand by and use Data Matrix codes or don't they? Does the company want to offer code generation to the masses or don't they (i.e., making it easy to find the Create-a-Code platform)? If the company wants consumers to scan their codes, are they going to provide them with the tools and information to do so, or are they going to let consumers figure it out themselves (there were no instructions or information pertaining to the QR Code on the store front window)?

Am I being too harsh? Sorry, I don't mean to offend, but I just find it amazing that this is what goes on inside a major brand, a leading global enterprise. I would love to know how AT&T's charter barcode program went, which I believe should be finished by now. How many charter clients stayed on and continue to use the platform? How many code reader app downloads have there been? What's scan traffic been like? Are there any use cases to review?

I suppose my reaction to seeing AT&T's store front window really has less to do with 2D barcodes per se, and more to do with the questioning of a company's strategic marketing direction, objectives and/or product offering. 

Lastly, for those who may be curious. the QR Code resolved to a donation form, as the "gifts have more to give" campaign is a holiday fund raising for local charities.

Nellymoser, the mobile innovator and pioneer in rich media delivery, just announced the development of the Universal Action Code Scanner app which, for the first time ever, provides consumers with the ability to scan QR Codes, Microsoft Tags, Digimarc watermarks and UPC codes, all from the same scanning app. (Didn't see that one coming although many have spoken about it.)

A representative of Nellymoser told me that the Universal Action Code Scanner will be marketed towards companies, as opposed to individual consumers, and Lucky magazine will be the first company to make use of the app under the private label "Lucky Shopper." In the December issue of Lucky, which is due out later this week, the magazine will actively promote Lucky Shopper, which readers can download for free from the App Store or the Android Market. So, the idea, or excuse, that a consumer needs an app to scan this 2D code and an app to scan that 2D code, goes right out the window. Now, one app does it all.    


And, if by chance the Universal Action Code Scanner app cannot detect a code, the mobile phone's camera will be automatically launched, so a photo of the advertisement, image, etc., can be taken and stored for future reference and/or sharing.

It's also interesting to mention that Nellymoser is promoting the Universal Action Code Scanner app as a companion app, meaning that the advertiser, in this case Lucky, will provide scan resolve content to consumers, via the app, which is separate, different and exclusive versus content which may already be found on the advertiser's website or on other pieces of collateral. The strategic marketing/branding idea here is that "companion" scan content will serve to enhance the overall brand and interactive experience, thus increasing the value delivered to the consumer, as well as the desire for the consumer to share the experience (i.e., content) socially.
 


With an app such as the Universal Action Code Scanner, and the ability to private label, Nellymoser has changed the 2D barcode playing field for not only advertisers and consumers, but for other providers and platforms as well. It will be interesting to see the affect this app has on Lucky magazine scan rates, circulation, product purchases, etc. Stay tuned.

Dear Chief Marketing Officer:

Over the past year and a half, I have been actively researching, reporting and consulting on the strategic and tactical use of 2D barcodes (e.g., QR Code, Microsoft Tag, etc.) for advertising, promotion and general business purposes. In conducting this work, I have scanned and analyzed hundreds of 2D barcode-based campaigns, whether they be print, out-of-home, in-store, package, event, direct mail or television and, in analyzing these campaigns, I have found an inordinate amount that deliver a less-than-ideal or a less than favorable 2D barcode and/or mobile experience for the intended consumer audience. In fact, of the campaigns that I have reviewed, the ratio of good campaigns to bad campaigns is approximately 1:3.

If your company makes use of 2D barcodes, do you find this ratio as alarming and upsetting as I and many others in the industry do? If your company doesn't make use of 2D barcodes, and you look at the situation from a pure strategic marketing perspective, doesn't the degree of less-than-ideal or less than favorable campaigns strike you as odd? Odd to the point that red flags should be going up across the board. What if any other marketing-related technology, application, process or vehicle was being used to communicate a message or engage with someone, would you be comfortable knowing that existing or potential customers were interacting with the brand in a less-than-ideal or favorable way? Chances are, I doubt it.

With so much written and discussed on the topic of 2D barcode best practices and the technology in general I am hard pressed to understand how and/or why a sub-par 2D barcode experience can be signed-off on and allowed to see the light of day. If you use 2D barcodes, or even if you don't, can you explain this? I have spoken with a number of professionals across functions and managerial levels, on both the client and agency side, and have yet to fully understand what might be the cause of this. Some have said it's a matter of budget and the allocation of resources, others have said it's executive compensation and objectives and others have said the technology is still too new to fully commit to it. In my mind, and I believe I speak for many others, none of these responses can or should be used as an excuse to develop and execute a strategy or campaign that simply fails to deliver a remarkable, let alone a half-way decent, 2D barcode or mobile experience.

To know that an experience --any experience-- can affect positively or negatively on a brand, doesn't it behoove a marketing/creative team to develop the best possible 2D barcode and mobile experience? Last I checked, no one was twisting a CMO's or a creative director's arm saying, "you must use 2D technology in your next campaign or else." Would you allow other types of advertising or promotion campaigns (i.e., email, web, direct mail, television, print, package, out-of-home, in-store, etc.) to fail at delivering the best for the brand or consumers?

For companies that are using 2D barcode technology, don't your loyal and/or prospective customers demand/deserve better? For agencies that are creating 2D barcode campaigns for their clients, don't your clients demand/deserve better? Between the brand and the agency, there seems to be a gap where no one wants to tread. Why? 2D barcode technology works, and works well when best practices and marketing fundamentals are adhered to and implemented, but, for some reason, brand and agency leaders don't want to recognize this or take the time to understand the technology.

As a marketing executive who has devoted a tremendous amount of time studying this technology, I have one suggestion: The next time your company or a client wishes to use 2D barcodes please take the responsibility of learning about the technology and allocating the necessary resources beforehand, so that only a winning 2D campaign is created and implemented. By winning, I am referring to a campaign that delivers value, meaning, benefit and relevance to the intended consumer audience via the 2D barcode and mobile experience, and that the experience, as a whole, works seamlessly from end to end. After all, isn't this the way you yourself would want to experience the technology, and the brand, if you were to take the time and make the effort to scan a 2D barcode?

Lastly, from a pure return-on-investment perspective, which CMOs are being held responsible for now more than ever, don't you believe a 2D barcode campaign that is given some forethought and executed correctly will derive a greater return or response than a campaign where the thought to place a 2D barcode in the advertisement is done at the last minute, and it's left to chance as to whether or not the code generates any response or return? My hunch, you believe in the former.

If you wish to ask questions or comment about the information and suggestion discussed above, by all means, please contact me.

Respectfully yours,
Roger Marquis
Founder, 2D Barcode Strategy

Progressive Business Publications, a leading provider of specialized information and education services, will host a webinar titled "Marketing with QR Codes," and I am pleased to announce that I will be their featured guest.

To learn more about the one-hour webinar and to register for the event, please click here.

Date: Thursday, December 1
Time: 1:00-2:00 PM (Eastern Time)

Below is a transcript of the Twitter Chat (#TagChat) I had with Nick Martin of Microsoft Tag. The chat was pretty straightforward and there were no real questions to be had from the audience. Should you have any questions or comments, by all means, fire away.

(Note: I omitted a few lines of the introduction and grouped some lines to make it easier to read.)

Nick: Hello all! I’m excited to welcome Roger Marquis of 2d-barcodestrategy.com as our first guest on #TagChat.

Nick: Let’s get started! I’m going to be asking @r_marquis a few questions about the 2D barcode space and metrics for success.

Nick: First let’s start with a couple high level questions: What are the most common mistakes you see made with 2D barcodes?

Roger: Nick, thank you for the introduction. Glad to participate.

Roger: The most common mistakes with 2D barcode campaigns, in no particular order, include: No call-to-action in regard to code, no information to help understand code and how to scan it, no value being delivered via code scan resolve, no alternative for feature phone users and no testing to verify code works correctly. These would be the most common mistakes.

Nick: What does the 2D barcode space need the most to really spur adoption?

Roger: To spur adoption, people often look only towards consumers and scan rates, but there's more to it than that. The issue is three-sided between consumers, advertisers and code providers.

On the consumer side, as the number of smartphones keeps increasing, so too will the number of consumers who are capable of scanning a code. Consumers must be repeatedly exposed to 2D campaigns that work and work well. Campaigns that fail to deliver become one more hurdle to quicker and more wide-spread adoption. For first time users, there must be an easy way to locate, download and make use of a code reader app.

On the advertiser side, while not a requirement, advertisers should help to educate consumers about 2D codes. By educate, I am referring to stating which type of code that is being displayed (Tag, QR, etc.), where to locate/download a code reader app, what to do with the code and where the code will link to and what benefit will be derived from scanning the code. Also, as mentioned above, meaningful, beneficial and relevant campaigns are needed, repeatedly, to help spur adoption. Beyond all of that, advertisers need to adhere to best practices to ensure a well-received, seamless 2D code/mobile experience from end to end.

On the code provider side, the providers need to help advertisers better understand the advantages and disadvantages of the major code types (e.g., open source vs. proprietary) and the technology in general. Yes, some of the major providers share basic information like quarterly scan rates and percentages, but additional information could be useful to an advertiser. For example, if an advertiser knew how many Tag reader apps were installed vs. QR Code reader apps this might help in the decision making process. Another example, if providers were able to collect blind data from their clients, aggregate and report the data this too might help in the decision making process, as well as the overall adoption of codes by advertisers. Instead, advertisers are left to their own devices to figure out what's best or what's considered a success and this can play a role in slowing down, not spurring, adoption. 

Nick: What is your advice for brands/agencies trying to determine metrics for a 2D barcode implementation?
 
Roger: Before trying to determine metrics, companies need to determine and understand their own goals and objectives. Too often, I’ll see a campaign and have absolutely no idea as to what the advertiser's goal or objective is. Because a 2D barcode gets placed in the ad does not mean that goals and objectives are any less important. Once the goals and objectives are set, it should be relatively easy to then define the metrics. 

Nick: What approach do you take to define metrics for a campaign? 

Roger: Once goals and objectives are known it then becomes easy to set metrics. For example, the metric could be number of scans. Or the metric could be time on a website, or download of content, or sign-ups, or redemption of coupons. Or the metric could be did the ‘A’ version of the campaign pull better than the ‘B’ version. What’s also important with regard to metrics is the building of historical benchmarks. From one campaign to the next, benchmarks can be constructed and it is from these historical benchmarks that new metrics can be judged. 

Nick: What implementation would you consider the best to date & why? 

Roger: One of the best implementations I have seen is a campaign by FirstBank in Colorado, which was done last year. This campaign was purely service and value-add driven, as the bank looked to sell nothing via the campaign. The campaign consisted of 2D barcode billboards that were placed in the terminals at Denver International Airport. When codes were scanned, travelers link to crossword puzzles, Sudoku puzzles, works of literature, all at no cost. Over time, the codes would link to different puzzles and stories, so as to keep the campaign fresh. The campaign was a great success and I was told that it was extended several months past the original end date. 

Nick: What is your biggest piece of advice for anyone considering using 2D barcodes? 

Roger: The best advice I can give people is the following:

• Learn the technology
• Learn both technology and marketing best practices
• 2D campaigns should not be one time only
• Test and experiment from one campaign to the next
• Dedicate people/team to manage and be responsible for the use of 2D
• Develop a campaign from consumer’s perspective and ask what’s in it for them
• Campaign must be mobile optimized from end to end, don’t force desktop content on to a phone
• Through the code provide value, meaning, relevance, benefit, etc.
• Determine what makes the most sense, generate and manage codes in house or through a provider

Nick: Roger, thank you for being our first guest on #TagChat. 

Roger: Thank you and to those that participated.

Darden School of Business recently launched this print advertisement, which features a QR Code.


Let's go straight to the 2:25 minute You Tube video code resolve. The video features a second-year MBA student talking about the school's MBA program and a couple of aspects of the program, which she believes sets the school a part and helped her land a decent internship. Great, but at the end of the video, the person watching the video is left hanging with no other content or web page to link to, no place to request more information, nothing. So, how does this 2D experience help the student in any meaningful way, let alone the school itself? Maybe I need an MBA to figure that out.


Now let's focus on the QR Code itself. Could the marketing/creative team have made the code any smaller? It took me three code reader apps and over a minute to finally scan the code. If I were a novice at this, chances are I would have given up long before the code actually resolved. Best practice states that a QR Code should be no smaller than one inch square and this is just about on the borderline. To see the open space on the advertisement, where the code is located, one would think that space was not an issue. Also, there are no instructions with the code and no real call-to-action. So, again, why is a reader of the advertisement/prospective student bothering to scan and interact?

There is absolutely no value add to this campaign for the reader/potential student, but there could be. What about a mobile website that offers a series of mobile optimized videos, as well as easy to read content about the program and its curriculum? What about offering contact information to "ambassadors" of the school, so personal and specific questions could be asked by prospective students? What about offering literature which discusses MBA graduate placement? Anything of real use and value, not just a two-minute video.    

And to touch on the video again, the school might want to reconsider using it, because if you listen closely enough you might get the sense that all a graduate student really has to do is buy a few "How to for Dummies" books and take a public speaking course or two, instead of dropping several tens of thousands of dollars on the MBA program.

Great that an institution of higher education wants to inject some cool factor into their marketing via the QR Code and mobile experience, but perhaps the institution needs some schooling itself on 2D technology in order to make it that much more effective (sorry couldn't help myself).

2D Barcode Litmus Test: FAIL

Just a quick story to pass along. Take from it what you will.

Last Sunday, my wife and I wanted to shop at a children's retail store several miles away. Not knowing the simplest of things like, when does the store open on a Sunday, I went to my smart phone to pull up the company's website and store information. Did the company have a mobile site? No. Did the company get our business that day? No. Has the company gotten any business from us since? No. Will it ever? Maybe.

Sure, we could have fired up the old laptop and drilled down to get such information, but that's besides the point. When will companies, or should I say, when will marketing executives, realize that mobile is not an option? Instead, it is and has become yet another channel to be concerned about and paid attention to.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.