Make Money with QR Codes - Ipex

24VALUE-ADD For PrintersMake Money with QR CodesBy Heidi Tolliver-NigroEVERYWHERE YOU turnthese days, it seems thatpeople are talking about QR(Quick Response) codes. These 2Dbarcodes connect people instantlyto the Web using free QR readerson their cell phones. They areshowing up on magazine advertisements,posters, billboards, CD cases,shelf talkers, packaging—justabout everything. But, are they afad? Or are they an important partof the marketing mix? If they’re animportant part of the mix, how doyou sell them?Technology leaders have recognizedfor some time that QR codeswill play an important role in printmarketing. They have long beenubiquitous in South Korea and Japanas a standard response mechanismto marketing campaigns. Justas you would add an 800 number,a tear-out form or a URL, you canadd a QR code as a way for peopleto respond. Because these codesare read by the cameras on mobilephones, people can respond to theoffer instantly.QR codes have been in use in theUnited States for some time, butthey are just now starting to hitcritical mass. Large brand marketersbegan embracing QR codes severalyears ago and the list of thoseusing them reads like a Who’s Whoof marketing: Best Buy, Time, CalvinKlein, Louis Vitton, Pepsi, You-Tube, Facebook, the NFL, TIAA-CRAF, Ford and the list goes on.Ready for Blastoff“Once QR readers become standardon smart phones, we’ll see QRcodes become ubiquitous,” predictsJeff Stewart, chief technical officerat Rockford, IL-based TrekkCross-Media, which has been usingQR codes in campaigns for years.Trekk adds QR codes “wheneverpossible” and was behind the ubiquitousQR-coded t-shirts worn byNewPage employees at the recentDscoop 2011 conference. “By theend of the year, more than 50 percentof all cell phone sales will besmart phones. That’s when QRcodes will really take off.”The benefit to printers and theirclients? Whether it’s a magazinead or a point-of-sale engagement,QR codes provide an instant wayfor people to find out more informationor take advantage of a specialoffer using the device that is mostlikely already in their hands. Forevent-based marketing (like tradeshows), the goal is often to get peopleengaged with the booth holderand start a conversation.When asked what percentage ofTrekk’s campaigns include QR codes,Stewart was at a loss for words. “Oh,wow, a very high percentage,” hesays. “Most of our campaigns arepromotional. With those, we arelooking to establish a call to actionfor a single person or group of people.If there is any way for us to takeadvantage of QR codes, we will.”QR codes can be static or personalized.An increasing number ofprinters are using them as a way tosend people to a personalized URL(PURL). Among them is Sir SpeedyPrinting & Marketing in Nashville,TN. “It is a great way to get thatinstant access on the go,” says KelliZane, marketing services coordinatorat the franchise location. “Wehave also made business card-sizedmagnets incorporating QR codes forsome of our clients that take [people]to the company’s Website. It isa great, inexpensive giveaway thata company can use to market to itsprospects and current clients.”Another benefit of QR codes isthat, once scanned, they stay in theuser’s phone for as long as the userkeeps them in the reader’s history.Indianapolis-based VDP Web, forexample, recently mailed a personalizedinvitation with a QR code asone of two response mechanisms toits self-promotion campaign: the QRcode or hand-typing a URL. TheQR code took viewers to their personalizedURLs, where they couldreceive a special discount on one ofVDP Web’s PURL packages.The signup form was prepopulatedwith the recipient’sname, company, address, phoneand e-mail address. Even if therecipient didn’t take advantage ofthe offer right away, the offer andpre-populated form stayed in thereader’s history to be retrieved atany time. It’s as simple as phone on,click i-Nigma [or other reader] >menu > history.A Long ShelfLifeThe value for marketersis enormous.Even if users scana QR code only forcuriosity’s sake, ifsomething triggerstheir interestlater, the offer is still withthem. Literally.Although most people associateQR codes with taking peopleto Websites, those codes actuallyhave a variety of functions:• They can take viewers to a Website(mobile or traditional);• They can hold business card information,automatically downloadingname, address, e-mail and otherinfo into the phone’s contacts;• They can store a date in thephone’s calendar (the user must assignthe desired reminder);• They can launch a pre-populatede-mail; or• They can deliver a text messageor coupon code.Static QR codes can be createdusing free online QR code generatorslike Kaywa, QR Stuff andinterlinkONE’s QReate & Track.Using proprietary software fromcompanies like interlinkONE andAmazingPrint, you can createpersonalized QR codes for sendingrecipients to personalized content,such as PURLs, prizes ordiscounts.In the mix, you may also hear theterm “dynamic QR codes.” In thesecases, the QR codes themselves arenot dynamic. The dynamics comeon the front or back end of the process.On the front end, this refers tosoftware that generates personalizedQR codes. On the back end,it refers to processes that—oncethe user hits the landing page—generate different content basedon data gathered from the user’sphone, such as geography, timezone, and details on the make andmodel of the phone or the browserit is using.Users in Hong Kong and London,for example, can receive differentoffers from those in NewYork City. Coding can even triggerthe language or dialect.interlinkONEcreated thisexample of abranded QRcode.Tracking Their UsageMonetizing QR codes is tricky.Because clients can create QRcodes for free, creating QR codesthemselves has little to no value.Monetizing the individual QR code(as opposed to the value of incorporatingthem into the overall campaign)won’t come through generatingthe codes themselves.“It comes by selling QR codes asa service, where you provide reportsto clients on QR code usage,branding, variances and tracking,”says Slava Apel, CEO of Amazing-Print, which has been offering QRcodes as part of its Web-to-printmodules for the past two years.“Some of our clients sell QR codeson a subscription basis; others as aone-time charge.”Breaking into this market startswith something as simple as testingand tracking. While testingis a simple process, it is a necessaryone, especially if the codesare created by the customer. Oneof the most basic mistakes clientsoften make is not properly coordinatingbetween production andproject management. As a result,the URLs to which the QR codespoint can change from conceptionto implementation—and nobodyremembered to update production.The result is QR codes linking tonon-existent pages. There can alsobe human error (like not capturingthe entire URL in order to createthe code) that makes the QR codenon-functional.“Especially if we’re doing somethingin a traditional print piece, wetest the artwork before it goes toPrinting Impressions • www.piworld.com

Beyond the BasicsAS QR codes gain traction, look for a variety of related tags and codes tobecome more prominent on the scene.Other 2D codes: QR codes are open source, but there are other2D barcodes such as Microsoft Tag, BeeTAG and Datamatrix that offer similar,but proprietary, functionality. Because they don’t have to be everything toeveryone, consistency and predictability are among the claims to fame forproprietary codes.Augmented Reality (AR) tags: Just as QR codes are twodimensional,AR tags are three-dimensional. These tags differ from QR orother 2D tags; they allow users to insert themselves into a virtual world byviewing and manipulating holographic objects, inserting themselves intogames and virtual worlds, and more. Many describe AR as “immersive technology.”The Ace Group is working on blending AR tags and QR codes sothat both can be readable on the same graphic using the appropriate reader.Invisible watermarks: Available from Digimarc (its Discover technology),these digital watermarks serve a similar function as QR codes, but theyare invisible. Hold the phone over the picture of the quarterback in a magazinearticle and view his season stats or see a video of the play. Or hold the cameraover a picture of a great new outfit and find local stores that carry it.print,” notes Stewart of Trekk Cross-Media. “We always have a handful ofpeople with different phones and differentQR readers scan the code tomake sure that it works.”The second basic value printerscan offer is tracking. In some cases,marketers will set up a specificpage just for QR code traffic. Moreoften, QR codes will send people toother traditional or mobile pages.In order to determine how manyof the hits came from the QR code(as opposed to people typing inthe URL or clicking through fromanother source), printers will usethe tracking functions of multichannelmarketing software (interlinkONE,XMPie) or free optionslike bit.ly or goo.gl. If choosing oneof the free options, printers mustbe savvy about their choices, especiallyfor long-term campaigns,since some URL shorteners (forinstance, tr.im) have terminatedservices in the past, thus breakinglinks for unlucky users.As QR codes gain traction, marketersare beginning to want tobrand them, as well. Adding brandingand logos is possible becauseQR codes can be read even whenthey are slightly degraded. Somecodes can be read even up to 30percent degradation (although youwon’t want to go this high).QR codes can be branded fairlysimply, so this is another value thatprinters can offer. It is a matterof importing the QR and the logointo Photoshop, and overlaying thelogo onto the QR code in a separatelayer. You then resize the imageand test the new code on differentphones and with different readers.The branding is easy, but creatingreadability across a broad range ofphones and browsers can be tricky.This is where the value comes in.The extra effort can be worthit. As reported by Val DiGiacinto,vice president of sales with NewYork-based The Ace Group, duringthe “Mobile Marketing with QRCodes” session at Dscoop in February,QR codes show a 25 percent to30 percent increase in usage whenthey are branded. Among wellknownmarketers branding theirQR codes are Louis Vitton, Timeand the NBA.Just One More ToolWhere QR codes really shine,however, are as part of an overallmarketing campaign. In this, theyare not monetized in the sense of“selling QR codes,” but they do providevalue as one more tool in themarketer’s toolbox. Their value isdetermined by the overall successof the campaign and, if the QR codeis tracked, the degree to which thecode contributed to that success.The Ace Group (just acquired byDG3) recently produced two campaignsthat illustrate the power ofQR codes to take campaigns in anentirely new kind of value to marketers’promotion and advertising.The first was a campaign for CalvinKlein. To promote a new line ofCalvin Klein jeans, The Ace Grouphung a QR code on a wallscape onNew York’s Houston Street withthe words “See It Uncensored”across the top. Passersby couldsnap the code to view nude photosof Calvin Klein model Lara Stone.The content could only be accessedby a mobile phone—viathe QR code—and once accessed,viewers could post predeterminedtext and a QR code to Facebookand predetermined text to Twitter.The goal was to promote the lineof jeans, but also to begin to builda mobile marketing list amongthe targeted group ofconsumers.As intended, the contentwent viral and the socialmedia component viewsgave the campaign a 36 percentlift. Total views toppedseven figures.In this case, it wasn’t justthe QR code that createdvalue. It was the overall campaignfor which the QR codeserved as the critical responsecapture device. Then it wasplain old good marketing, includingThe Ace Group’s tie-in tosocial media. “Social network integrationplayed a vital role in oursuccess,” notes DiGiacinto. “Wequickly hit our numbers once theFacebook and Twitter informationgot out.”The second campaign was forTime Out New York last October. Itwas the magazine’s annual “apartments”issue. Editorially, QR codeswere used throughout the coverarticle, “Apartments 2010,” whichfeatured 100 of the hottest rentalapartments in the five boroughs.The branded QR codes gave readersaccess to mobile-specific contentdesigned to appeal to the interestsof mobile New Yorkers.How toMonetizeQR CodesIF YOU are going to monetizeQR codes independently, outsideof the value of the larger campaign,there are several placesyou can start:Test—Test the functionality1 of the code. Use differentphones and different QR codereaders.Track—Using URL shortenerslike bit.ly or goo.gl, as 2well as proprietary software, youcan track which hits come toyour clients’ pages via QR codeas opposed to another source.Brand—Using Photoshop,3 you can brand your clients’QR codes with their companylogos.Vary functionality—4 Although there are free optionsfor varying QR code functionality(like embedding businesscard information, launching prepopulatede-mail and recordingevent dates in the phone’s calendar),these are lesser-knownfeatures and offer an opportunityto add value.ProPellingforwardToday and TomorrowToday, we’re manufacturing gearing forsome of the top manufacturers of windturbine gearboxes. In fact, we’re one of thefew companies in the United States with themachining and heat treat capabilities to meetthe close tolerances and high standards ofthis growing industry.(Use your smartphone for quick access to our site)Wherever the engineers of the future takeus next, Overton Chicago Gear will besupplying the gears that keep usmoving forward.ChiCago addison Lombard(630) 543-9570 | www.oc-gear.com | sales@oc-gear.com100% employee ownedTrekk Cross-Media boostsresponse ratesfor clientcampaigns byincorporatingQR codesinto differenttypes ofprintedpieces.This included video tours of fiveritzy apartments in three differentNew York neighborhoods, apartmentdesign tips, and a very funnyapartment broker faux pas keenlyappropriate and relevant to NewYork audiences. Advertisers wereoffered positions throughout theissue to enhance their printed adswith an online experience thatincluded videos, ticket sales, discountsand contests.As these examples illustrate, criticalmass for QR codes is buildingquickly. If you haven’t introducedthem to your clients as another toolfor their marketing toolboxes, it’stime to get it done.Leaders in QR code implementationcite 2010 as the tipping pointfor QR codes. Last year, The AceGroup saw its traction with QRcodes increase threefold over projections.Trekk Cross-Media noticeda dramatic change in the marketover the same period, as well.“QR codes are finally becominga tool that is very, very useful,”concludes Stewart of TrekkCross-Media. “A Nielsen surveyindicates that, at the end of 2010,nearly a third of U.S. mobile usershad smart phones. This is the firstyear where we will see real QRcode adoption, and the beginningsof what will become a pervasivetrend.”PIAbout the AuthorHeidi Tolliver-Nigro is a long-time industryanalyst specializing in digital, 1:1, personalizedURLs and other print marketingstrategies. She offers primers and brandablecontent through her Website, Digital PrintingReports (www.digitalprintingreports.com). E-mail her at htollvr@aol.com.Printing Impressions • www.piworld.com