QR Codes are gaining in popularity and the numbers of people scanning worldwide has increased (5.3 million scans recorded by ScanLife in June 2012 alone). In Ireland there is a notable proliferation of QR Codes on products, posters, flyers and print media.
“It also took time for people to realise why advertisements contained mutant crosswords” (The Economist 2012).
With the augmentation of smartphone ownership and the government plans of improved broadband there is potential for QR Code scanning to rise significantly.
According to the latest EConsultancy report (based on a survey of more than 650 US companies and agencies carried out in April and May 2012) “1 in 2 marketers are using QR codes to encourage their customers to interact with their brand“, up from just 8% a year ago.
This positions QR Codes as the most used mobile channel for engaging customers, surpassing other mobile channels such as mobile applications (35%), mobile commerce (29%), mobile optimized emails (29%), short message service (SMS) marketing (26%), location-based marketing (17%), multi-media messaging service (MMS) (7%) and Near Field Communication (NFC) (2%).
What is intriguing about this statistic is that much of the other methods (such as mobile optimised emails, SMS and MMS) content is pushed first by the company, where you have no control when you receive the message or even if you want it. With QR Codes you are in control, you are only scanning it because you want to and in the time and situation that is appropriate for you to do so.
Overall, there is huge growth potential for mobile marketing. The figures below shows consumers (U.S) are spending 10% of their media attention on their mobile devices while the medium only commands a mere 1% of total ad-spend. Comparatively, the quickly "dying" print medium attracts only about 7% of media-time, but still captures an astonishing 25% of the total U.S. ad-spend, with print receiving 25-times more ad money than mobile. The disparity between the two mediums gives a strong indication as to how much room mobile still has to grow.
Mobile Marketing is fast becoming the most powerful marketing platform for marketing.
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