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Monthly Archives: March 2011

Do QRCodes still have a future?

I read with interest Google’s recent discontinuation of QRCode within Google’s Places. It would seem that Google has ruled its verdict on QR codes: a failure. Does this mean that QRCodes have no future? After all QRCode has been around now for almost 10 years! This is not a new technology, but people are still struggling to find the right use for it.

I am a firm believer that QRCodes present a great opportunity for marketing purposes, it’s just that the desire to use and interact with a QRCode, on a mass scale has not been identified. Sure, there have been a lot of successes with QRCodes over the years, but within niche and relatively small groups.

As a consumer there needs to be a real desire to interact with a QRCode. Without that desire why would I purposely download an app in order to use them. The vast majority of QRCode still seem to encode a static URL, and that creates very little value in my opinion. It would take me less time to simply type into my browser and visit the company’s website, opposed to downloading an app, scanning the app and then being taken to the company’s website.

Personally, I think that the opportunity with advertising is stronger. Imagine me receiving my monthly tech magazine (which I subscribe to) and then within the pages are QRCodes alongside articles and advertisements. If I were then to scan a QRCode against the latest DELL laptop, lets say, I would be taken to a personalized microsite which welcomes me; knowing that I have visited that site only because of me scanning my personalized QRCode. It then either present more information about the product in question, or stores that as a ‘favorite’ and allows me […]

By |March 31st, 2011|Personalised Communications, Social Media|1 Comment
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Leveraging social media for more effective cross-media campaigns

Yesterday I had the pleasure of participating in an online conference with over 230 people from all over the world. I was there presenting about how leveraging social media with a cross-media campaign can really be very effective.

Unfortunately we had some issues in the call logistics, which meant that some people were not able to attend – but we also had a number of groups sharing connections to listen. So the final number will be a lot higher I think. Either way, it was a pleasure to present this topic to our customers and business partners.

For those that were not able to attend the call, we will be communicating out the recording so there’s always a chance to watch it.

During the presentation I didn’t focus on what social media is, more on the opportunities that it presents when used creatively within a cross-media campaign. I focussed briefly on why this is such an important topic from the marketer’s perspective, and I referenced in several places an interesting report by Forresters.

In my mind there are three distinct areas in which social media can be used:

Using social media as a broadcast medium to extend the reach of a cross-media campaign;
Using social media as a way of actually acquiring new customers directly into a cross-media campaign;
and integrating social media and cross-media campaigns together so they both add value.

Each level offers different advantages and opportunities for both the providers and the marketers. Each level demands an increase in the skills that you need to build these campaigns. However the higher the level of integration, […]

By |March 2nd, 2011|Personalised Communications, Social Media, XMPie|0 Comments
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