Digital Diva • Can QR codes bring life to stale print?

Can QR codes bring life to stale print?

QR codes are the funny-looking squares on pretty much everything these days.

Haven’t noticed them? Take a look at the packaging with your new skincream, your new trainers or many other items. They might be small and hidden away, but they will be there.

QR codes have been around for a while now, digital agency Swamp (now called Brass), was one of the first agencies to make a big splash with QR codes. We added a QR code on every single England Football Kit, for our client Umbro. The QR code linked to exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the England team.

However, most other marketers, despite saying that they are going to set the world of advertising alight for many years, haven’t found many creative ways to use QR codes.

In a recent blog post, mydigitalsoapbox had a nice little idea for using them:

Savvy marketers have been talking about the impact that QR codes are going to have on advertising for a long time, but I’m more intrigued by the impact they are going to have on the medium of print in general.

A couple of days ago, I was reading an article about Cee Lo’s new “F*ck You” video in the print version of the New York Times.

It wasn’t alive at all. It was black and white. It was print.

Now, imagine if there was a QR code on the NY Times page that I could scanned with a QR code app on my iPhone. Upon scanning, my iPhone would “link” to a blog post on NYTimes.com with Cee Lo’s video. I’d be engaged and my experience would have been thoughtfully enhanced. As a not-so-insignificant side effect, page views on the NY Times blog are increased and ad revenue increases.

Doesn’t this seem like a no brainer?

Yep, seems like a no brainer to me too!

I don’t always want to read newspapers online, I like the feel of paper. However, sometimes you need a moving picture or some interactivity to really bring it alive.

Adding a QR code would be a nice solution for those with any kind of phone (not just those with iPhones) to get to the online content add-on quickly and easily.

One step closer to the newspapers in Harry Potter? ;-)

mydigitalsoapbox