Not the scan i thought i was getting!

Noticed a competition on a carton of milk (right image). Green section tells you how to enter the competition then below this it says to learn more scan here or visit or website.

I thought to learn more would bring me to more information about the competition or better still a direct link to the entry site. However, this was not the scan i got. It was to learn more about the product (peak fresh story).  Even though the site was user friendly and mobile optimised, i think it was a missed opportunity to bring the user from the offline world into the online world in a fun way (competition). It was not the scan i thought i was getting and exited soon after.

To conclude, i feel it is better to let the customer know what they are getting when they scan the code especially if is not what i think the customer was maybe led to believe. To learn more.. is too vague especially when QR codes are not widely used at present.

Increase your email database with QR Codes!

Email Sign up with QR Codes:

This clever idea i noted from Tiger Stores which is part of a Danish chain store network of retail shops. They have sign up cards next to the cash register. Here a customer can fill it in right away or take the flyer with them and sign up via scanning the QR Code. It then opens onto a Tiger Danish page where the user is offered the English translation. (location specific). Here the user clicks yes.
Then they pop in their email address and are then registered for news from Tiger stores.

They have the QR code bug in Lanzarote!

From a recent trip to Lanzarote and Fuerteventura plus from recollection of Tenerife, i have noticed a huge difference in the uptake of QR codes in these islands compared with Ireland.

There are everywhere! Bottles, pubs, shops, advertising, menus.
Though the QR codes were prolific in terms of visibility it did not mean that they all had effective outcomes. Some did lead to mobile web sites, some to non mobile websites, others led a web page virtually containing nothing while one should have been a data matrix code. (just a reference number)
To sum up, it was definitely quantity over quality but nonetheless they must be popular and understood by users for them to be ubiquitous?

It is also worth pointing out that some of QR code images have big international brands behind them. Their marketing is these cases must be country specific as their QR Codes are not visible on Irish brand products. E.G: Pepsi & Heineken.


Here are some examples below:

Something different with a QR Code!

Yikes, €2.65! I only bought it cause it had a QR Code on it!
Well, it was a nice tasty drink with real Aloe Vera inside. This drink from 'alo' had a good size QR Code on the side label. Next to it read the words SCAN TO UNLOCK. This in itself is a good marketing tool and instead makes the result more secretive. This code scanned well and once opened linked to a Sound Cloud link where a piece of music was ready waiting for me to press play.
I can't really remember seeing this done before so first of all it was inventive, it was unique and it was definitely different. In terms of brand association there wasn't anything when scanned that linked me back to the product or offered more information on the product. I guess this isn't that important if you have created a new transaction with the QR Code.... ALOtones!

It completes its function but i was expecting more!

Supermac's have a QR code on the back of their fries holder pack. Maybe you will be compelled after your nice meal to want to scan the code or just get rid of your litter.  Either way, the QR code scans effectively and brings you to a mobile optimised website. They fulfil the 2 most important conditions. In this case, you cannot say much negative about it.

But i think the consumer would like more. The code could bring the user to an online world full of imagination, a competition, a fun video but it's just the web address that is written just below the QR Code. Remember when you design a QR Code it doesn't have to be so bland. You can incorporate a logo, picture or design giving it a more attractive appearance.

Good job, Supermac's : )

Nobody ever asked me could they scan my t-shirt before!

I was getting my car washed for the NCT and couldn't believe when i seen the QR Code on the back of the car washers t-shirt.

First of all, it's an awkward wet place to take out a mobile phone to scan the t-shirt. After the car wash, i asked can i scan your QR Code to which his reply was. Yes, no problem but nobody ever asked me could they scan my t-shirt before. I'm not really surprised as a QR code in this way within this service is too invasive. Additionally, this shows low recognition of a QR code/low scanning of a QR code in 2015.

So after my car wash, i got out of the car and attempted to scan the t-shirt. He was kind enough to pull the t-shirt straight to give me a chance at getting a scan. It would not work if creased. I tried for approximately one minute to get the code to scan and it wouldn't. I was conscious of another car waiting on a wash and they were probably wondering what is this girl doing.  I thanked him for his help but i did not get this code to scan at all.

Conclusion:
The QR Code is probably too big and makes it difficult to capture the full square in the scanning grid. The QR Code around an unsafe area (wet ground) could cause potential problems.
A QR code on a t-shirt can be successful in the right environment. (see earlier post entry)
A QR code must be tested before and after production bearing in mind surface quality. Remember t-shirts fade wash after wash. Don't let your campaign vanish!

Bit of a mixed 'bag'.

Seen this code on my friends shopping bag and said i gotta have that!
I tried to scan the code but had great difficulty. I think a combination of the creases and also the bag material delayed my scan read out.  Eventually i got it scanned and it lead to a website that wasn't fully mobile optimised and looked too cumbersome to navigate from a mobile device.  I clicked on the offers section and it automatically downloaded a pdf to my phone files. When opened it displayed very effectively on the phone.

Conclusion: QR codes need to be printed on a surface that cannot become compromised. This bag will be folded away in a press for it's next use and therefore time after time the QR code becomes difficult to access. Also the material was reflective which perhaps also inhibited a perfect scan.
All in all, a bit of a mixed bag!