Comments on: Even Bill Cosby Can’t Make Bad QR Codes Funny

By: Nikolai

Nikolai — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:30:55 +0000

I’m guessing that a lot of that might be attributed to the fact that so many developers are (wrongly) ignoring phones other than iPhone and Droids when they design mobile websites.

QR Codes are definitely not being utilized very well, though. Not yet…

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:50:52 +0000

netmeg - if you're into mobile marketing tracking, check out one of our new beta tools QR Create - instead of having to add tracking codes for each different qr code in analytics, you can just pick one destination URL and serialize multiple QR codes with different information associated with each code. It's a quick & easy way to make a bunch of serialized qr codes to the same landing page (without having to add tracking to analytics for each one) and still keep track of where, when, and which one is scanned.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:29:09 +0000

Ugh. Don’t even get me started on people putting QR codes on the web.

I tend to think most people that use QR codes just do it because it’s the cool, new thing. That being said, I think they can be effective when used correctly, and this post certainly offers a step toward proper usage.

Thanks!

By: Bob Nunn

Bob Nunn — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:30:07 +0000

I may start a fire here but you seem like good marketers. The persistent technical difficulties surrounding QR codes make me continue to be the skeptical marketer. I gather some stats on QR codes on my blog in an effort to better understand and discuss. http://bit.ly/QR17st Appreciate any thoughts.

By: Jonas Olofsson

Jonas Olofsson — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:49:59 +0000

I just bought a Windows Phone, and was impressed by the QR reading speed, so I started to scan every QR I came across. (Not very many, since i live in Sweden.)
At this point my experience is that about 50% of the codes does not work as intended.

Examples:
One QR sent me to a webpage with only an “error” message on; “This page is intended for mobile devices only”.
Another QR sent me to YouTube, but the video linked to was private, so I could not view it.

By: Andrew Stromberg

Andrew Stromberg — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:09:43 +0000

Great guidelines and examples Lisa. I really appreciate the creativity of the Red Cross example, but it seems to me that the code kind of gets lost in the design.
I saw one the other day on one of those separation sticks at the grocery store that you place between your stuff and the guy checking out in front of you so the checker doesn’t accidentally ring up your beer. The code was directed to a heating and cooling website (and it was not a mobile website either). I don’t know, I just didn’t get the relevance.
But I totally agree that there are tons of ways to integrate QR Codes into creative campaigns and merging channels.

By: Nikolas Allen

Nikolas Allen — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:15:29 +0000

Thanks for the great tips, Lisa! I've been just as excited as any marketer about the idea of QR codes, but I'm holding out on any implementation until I'm able to create a valuable experience surrounding them. Some of the usage described above is simply ridiculous. And, I can't count the number of magazine ads featuring QR codes that say, "Scan the code to go directly to our website!" Um, no thanks.

By: janwong

janwong — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:12:52 +0000

I agree that QR codes are everywhere today and it has come to a point where it is difficult to find one that actually brings value to the consumer. There are tons of them redirecting consumers to their Facebook pages and non-mobile websites (the horror!). It’s great to see how people can make use of QR codes creatively. It has so much unexplored potential. Great post :)

By: Nikolai

Nikolai — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:58:44 +0000

also, you should know that your article last week is the one that finally convinced me to get a pinterest account!

By: Nikolai

Nikolai — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:56:21 +0000

As far as social networks go, they can only like a fb page or follow a twitter by scanning, and never both at the same time. we removed multiple-follow functionality, bc it seems a little spammy.

We just saw a lot of businesses linking their social profiles on qr codes. but usually one of those codes just takes you to a login page…. and logging in isn’t the most fun. with our app, you enter your login once, then never again.

Then we push our clients to offer motivating reasons to scan their code, let alone join their social networks. We’re making a new video this week that explains the whole process a little better.

Thanks for taking the time to check our site!