Take a quick look at the three questions below to find out your QR code literacy and go to the designated section to learn more.

Q1: QR Codes: What the heck is that B&W square I see popping up on direct mail, posters, and even the sides of buildings? Go to Section 1:

(insert timessquareqr.jpg here)

Q2: QR Codes: As a wide-format print provider, what are the applications of the QR code and more specifically, how can I profit from them today? Go to Section 2:

Q3: QR Codes: I am a master of two-dimensional Symbology, but what is the role of the QR code in the larger marketing picture? Go to Section 3:

Section 1: What are QR Codes?

QR code is a simple square image which can be snapped by a mobile phone user to automatically go any website (e.g. You Tube, www.yourcompany.com) without any typing. It connects print with the internet with the click of a button. QR codes have been around for about 15 years, but have been exploding in popularity in the past year. Using them is literally a “snap” Once you have downloaded a QR app (for those with the newest Iphone and Android, there is no need to download it as it comes pre-installed) from your phone’s app store, there are only three steps to experience the QR code:

1. Find a QR code to snap (they are everywhere!)
2. Open App (which will open a screen similar to the camera app on your phone)
3. Line up the QR code in the center of the phone screen, press the “take picture” button and voila, you should have just experienced the magic of cross media marketing!

Section 2: What are the applications and where can I make some $$$.

The creation of the QR code is free so the ability to charge for them is going to be based on the ability to consult with your customer. Fees can then be assigned on how much time it takes for you to recommend when/where to use them, how to link them, how to output them and finally in helping to navigate marketing pitfalls associated with the QR code for your client.

Consultative selling is a big one for most of us and I do not want to make it sound too easy. Sitting across your customer, asking questions and finding out the need and then making a recommendation to solve their unique marketing challenge is a billable activity independent of the output.

Most service providers have a tendency to give this component away for the sake of getting the output business. It takes a few times to realize the impact of forgoing consulting fees, but the next time it happens, please note down what percentage of profit you bypassed on your total invoice by not seizing the opportunity to capture an additional $250-$1000 that was on the table. Was it 10? 25 percent, perhaps even more?

Applications for the QR code, specifically for the wide-format printer are everywhere. I have seen them on:

1. Entire side of buildings - Google: QR Calvin Klein ad Times Square, New York.
2. Event Posters- Enabled with QR code for a quick YouTube video on the event.
3. Airport Signs- Smart phones are nearly ubiquitous amongst business travelers and they are a captive audience.
4. Bus/Truck Wraps- Great application for ‘SMART’ QR codes, where you can change the message embedded in the code without changing the physical wrap
5. Direct Mail Google: QR codes in my mailbox

Section 3: I am a master of Symbology, but what is the role of the QR code in the marketing picture and where is this going:

In order to read a QR code you need a smart phone, with a data plan, a downloaded app and the knowledge/interest on behalf of the customer to use them. Now throw in that using a phone without an auto-focus camera (most blackberry devices, pre-iphone 3gs) feels more like a science experiment than a smooth request for instant information. Finally, the segment with the greatest exposure to the QR codes is the cash strapped 18-25 year olds. All told, you can see the audience is quite small… for now.

But now consider three simple facts:

1. Ninety percent of all cell contracts in the USA are two year or less in duration
2. All new android 2.0 OS based phones and later, BBM 5.0, and the Iphone 4 have a QR barcode reader app pre-installed on the device.
3. Smart phone market is the fastest growing segment within mobile.

The take away is that the ability to read a QR code is considered a basic functionality and has the support of all major mobile device manufacturers. It also shows that nearly all people with smart phones will have the ability to read a two-dimensional code for free as their contracts expire in the near term.

Where is this going? I feel this is going in the direction of the consumer. The consumer with his hand held super computer (aka mobile phone) gets the depth of information never before possible whether at the supermarket looking for the origins of a particular fruit, learning about the trailhead at a historical landmark or reading a magazine and wants to get pricing on the latest pair of designer jeans.

Our role, as cutting edge print service providers and marketers, is to connect with the various types of technology, especially QR codes, so we can more effectively help our clients connect with their consumers. The race is on to capture customers through new exciting channels and guess what? Large-format print featuring a QR codes is one of them.

Putting QR Codes to Work

Chicago-area company sees quick results from a QR code billboard campaign

When Mane Image's owner Leslie Robinson bought her parent's company twelve years ago, she immediately decided that the biggest differentiator she held over her competitors was her personal commitment to new technology. Robinson understood technology's impact on her business. So when it came to marketing, it was no surprise she was the first in her area to try something new by utilizing QR code technology.

Leslie Robinson of Mane Image approached Hobart, IN-based Point Imaging in August about a big investment she was making in her business. Mane Image was in the midst of a major expansion with the addition of two surgical rooms and introducing surgical hair transplants. They were also flying in a world-renowned surgeon, Dr. Shelly Friedman, each month to perform hair transplants. This level of investment required a "Big Splash" marketing campaign. The creative advertising and print team at Point Imaging got to work on what would become one of Chicagoland's most recognized billboard campaigns.

Leading the team of marketing specialists and designers was Point Imaging's director of marketing, Marco Perez. "We knew coming in that Leslie had a lot riding on her investment," said Perez. "We needed to create a billboard campaign that was eye-catching, entertaining and memorable while delivering the vital information."

Point Imaging was already working with Robinson on an aggressive billboard campaign, so she was very receptive to the idea of using one of her most coveted billboard locations for a giant QR code—the first of its kind in the area! Point Imaging had just run several marketing campaigns of our own using QR code technology and were happy with the response rates. We figured "why can't we put a QR code on a billboard that is accessible to the public?"

"There is a distinct theme to Leslie's boards," says Perez. "We hit on local pop-culture that received a good amount of buzz and even controversy, but nothing like the publicity we generated by adding a massive QR code on a billboard adjacent to a parking lot near a Target store during the Holiday season." The buzz was felt almost immediately.

Within an hour of the QR code board going up, a passerby saw it and called Leslie for a consultation. More importantly, it led to an appointment for a transplant consultation. By 5pm that evening, her first sale was made because of the QR code billboard. By the third week, business had already paid for her entire campaign. In fact, so much buzz had been
created by the mysterious looking square that the local newspaper ran a story about the billboard and how QR code technology was impacting printed media.

"We found out that people were calling and writing to the newspaper asking about the billboard and what the design meant," Perez said. "Frankly, I wasn't concerned with people using their smartphones to scan the code as much as I was about just generating the buzz. I feel that eventually, QR codes will be part of our daily lives when it comes to advertising. Being the first in this area to take the leap with interactive print was what created the buzz."
The overall success of the marketing campaign was more that Mane Image could ever have hoped for. "We weren't sure what the QR code board or the other billboards would bring us, but we trusted the marketing and print pros at Point Imaging and they more than delivered," said Robinson. "They are way more than just printers. They are advertising experts with a creative team that rivals any ad agency. I am very satisfied."

A QR code can be read from virtually anywhere and have made print interactive. Codes can direct a consumer to a website, a video advertisement, a Facebook page or it can also auto-populate the consumers address book with the information of whoever set up the QR code.

Codes can be custom designed so long as 70 percent of the original code remains intact.

QR codes are making their way to the US as more smartphone companies are developing downloadable applications allowing smartphones to capture and decode QR codes. Smartphone usage in the US is also up and it is estimated that by December of 2011, 50 percent of cellphones used will have smart technology (Internet access and built-in cameras).

QR codes are two-dimensional codes which were first invented in 1994 by a Japanese company named Denso Wave. They used the codes to help Toyota keep inventory of car parts. Today, it is estimated that 40 percent of Japan's entire population access at least one QR code daily.