It may sound sexy and if all you want is PR then things like QR codes or Bluetooth are excellent ways of getting it. But if you are looking for a successful way to engage people using mobile, look elsewhere. For now. Unless you want to be a pioneer for a relatively new mobile technology. But that isn’t what brands are supposed to do, they are supposed to work out new ways to sell their product.
QR codes = QR woes
Ralph Lauren did a QR code execution that went like this:
- SMS a word to a number
- Get sent back a link
- Install the QR code reader
- Take a picture with the reader
- get the offer or go to the site or whatever
We tried it in the office here in NY with the iPhone, Blackberry, LG Shine, and Nokia N95 and it didn’t work on any of them. Something must have been up, cause it can’t be that bad. And we know what we are doing!
Another execution was QR codes on Papa Johns to get free Pizza. Apparently this was a “success”, but they are giving away free Pizza… free stuff to students isn’t ever going to unsuccessful is it?
The bottom line is that there aren’t enough handsets with QR code readers on them to make this effective for brands. Some are blazing the trail, and if it goes off like in Japan then it will be good. But handset churn is 18 months. So wait 18 months. Minimum.
Matt Turnbull went to a conference here and someone was pushing QR codes, and of the 100+ tech savvy people in the audience who were hand held through how to do it, 2 of them actually managed to. 2!. Seriously!
Blue-untruth
My friend Kristy Manson from m.Net and I frequently chat about this. She tried a bluetooth execution on 3 different phones and it didn’t work on any of them. Bluetooth should never be the central concept unless there is some sort of proximity objective. Remember this, and I quote (Alex Hall is sitting next to me) “Bluetooth is just a delivery enabling technology, Firstly there are better delivery technologies out there with wider reach where less customer interaction is required, and secondly, the more importnat thing is the content. Not how it is delivered. Its like saying “hey I went to a Muse concert the other day, and it was so cool! they arrived in a blue bus!”
That sounds a bit crap? is there anything good about them?
What I do like about Bluetooth is that it can get people interested in a specific location at an event or in a store, and that interaction forces engagement with the brand, and QR codes have great consumer information, but they are both (especially QR codes) early days, and I would never recommend a brand pioneers them. Why not wait 12 months until (and IF) they are more widespread, and then do it?
And yes yes, I know they work in Japan… but Japanese toilet technology hasn’t found its way to the rest of the world despite being way ahead of global toilet technology, and so we shouldn’t assume that their tech will either. Some will. Most won’t. It is about behaviour, not tech. More about this later…
