Lady Gaga wore a dress made of meat when she appeared at MTV’s Music Video Awards last year.
That was so yesterday.
Icelandic pop sensation Kali one upped Gaga when she donned a dress made of QR Codes recently.
Fans could photograph Kali and scan the dress with their smartphones, leading them to videos of her band, Steed Lord. The designer called it a “super self-promotional dress.”
QR’s, short for quick response codes, are those odd, jumbo stamp-like boxes that are a cross between grocery bar codes, a miniature maze and modern art.
Consumers with smartphones or tablet computers use apps to scan these codes to open a web page, capture video, get detailed product information or grab coupons. They are an advertiser’s dream, and they’re popping up everywhere – restaurants, real estate signs, department stores, billboards and in publication ads. Miller Beer is using them for a summer promotion.
The Japanese developed QR’s in the mid-1990s, but they have been slow to catch on here. Many remain clueless, even tech-savvy youngsters.
Ignorance, however, is no reason to ignore what many observers say is a coming boon for small businesses, especially as more and more people get smartphones and tablet computers. QR scanning traffic has increased 49 percent since the first quarter of 2010.
So, businesses would be wise to look forward and embrace this trend. Should your company choose to adopt QR codes, follow some basic rules:
· Define the target audience and your goals
· Remember scans will mostly be seen on small, mobile screens
· Give easy instructions on which QR app is needed for download
· When possible, provide rewards to viewers
· Test it before releasing it
· Measure you analytics
You can be sure QRs are here to stay. These days, you can even eat them. The worlds’ first QR wedding cake was created in Manitoba, Canada this year. Last year, someone built a QR code from a 56-ounce bag of M&Ms that took viewers to the company’s website. Yum!
And though Lady Gaga has not slipped into a QR dress, she gets it. Gaga partnered with Starbucks in May to promote her new album, letting fans scan QR codes provided by the coffee shop for clues to a puzzle involving a two week digital scavenger hunt.
Recently, a whiskey company hired a Paris-based tattoo artist to ink a QR code on someone that led to an animated live stream on the company’s Facebook page. Here’s the story: http://mashable.com/2011/07/08/qr-code-tattoo/
How creative can your company get?
TC Brown is a partner at Web Face, a communications and marketing company helping businesses stand out.
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