Big in Japan
As some of you know I’ve just come back from a holiday in Japan. It is geek heaven, the mobile phones are incredible – they have large widescreens for viewing video, wallet functionality that works like an oyster card, credit card, ticket etc, they’re waterproof and have broadband connections that are faster than the majority of home broadband here.
However, what really caught my eye was the consumer use of “QR codes” (Quick Response). A QR code is a type of barcode that the weird devil thing is holding up on the right, the idea is that you point the camera of your mobile phone at it and software translates it into a message and (crucially) a web address. This saves the hassle of typing a url and allows the marketer to use a long address that directs the consumer to a specific page.
It can also include tracking to record exactly which QR code was used.
The codes are everywhere, on flyers for BMW cars, outside what seemed like every shop and restaurant, on posters, press ads, packs, business cards and bus stops – pretty much everywhere you would see a web address in the UK (and they don’t have to be as large as the devils version here).
There was talk a few years ago about using bluetooth and other radio technologies to send marketing messages to consumers phones as they pass a location.
This hasn’t taken off for various and fairly obvious reasons, however the QR codes allow a marketer to give an easy opt in way to send information, coupons, offers and drive to a website (and you can track which code drove to the website)
One of the novel uses I saw, was on bus stops. Because the code can have a custom web address, the user can be directed to a mobile web page for that bus stop which tells them where the bus is and how long it will take to arrive.
I would bet that this will come to the UK sooner or later, it’s a no brainer for the networks to install the software as standard in their phones, as it increases the use, and decreases the hassle, of mobile websites.
I’ve installed the software on my phone and have a bunch of test codes, so if anyone is interested in seeing how it works give me a shout. If you want to try it yourself this site has all the details.
9 Comments »
Leave a Reply
-
RSS subscribe
-
Web designer photos
More Photos -
Recent Comments
Giving in a digital world- Bannerblog
- Mashable
- Love-Seekers Beware: Online Dating Fraud Rose 150% Last YearLonely hearts seeking love this Valentine’s Day, be wary. Online dating fraud rose by 150% percent in 2011 as scammers and hucksters turne…
- Tesla Motors Unveils Model X Electric Minivan/SUV [PICS]Tesla Motors has introduced the Model X, its third electric car, and like its brandmates, this one is an all-electric vehicle. Built on the…
- Want People to Return Your Emails? Avoid These Words [INFOGRAPHIC]Next time you write an email subject line, think twice about the words you’re using. Loading your message with words such as “confirm,R…
- Love-Seekers Beware: Online Dating Fraud Rose 150% Last Year
- Engadget
It already arrived in the UK:)
http://www.robertprice.co.uk/robblog/archive/2006/11/Kerrang_Magazine_Now_Using_Mobile_Barcodes.shtml
Check out Neomedia Technologies and their NeoReader. IMO, they hold the key in the United States and the carriers are holding up the adoption.
Check out Mobile Code Consortium, MC2, for more information.
The Neomedia’s mobile platform will let the mobile user/consumer click on more than just the 2D code. What about logos, trademarks, keyword, slogans, RFID, 1D, etc.
Get there in one click, qode it.
Roger, thanks for the link, it’s interesting, however I don’t see that we’ll get major take up unless one of the network operators starts installing it as standard on their phones as DoCoMo did in Japan. This should be a no-brainer as it will increase data use for them. Have you any insight on whether this is going to happen in the near future?
Where can I go to download this NEOREADER? Oh its not available you say? If you are going to promote something as a shareholder in that company, shouldnt you make sure its available first?
brewskih – don’t worry about the neoreader, it’s just a proprietary version of the QR codes talked about in the article. The qr reader I use is kaywa reader – http://reader.kaywa.com/
I played with this concept with some clients back in 2000. The Gap in US used it also – but it was based upon watermarking so the image was only picked up if you had the software – I’ll be honest, we like web addresses and Google too much
Would suggest that this technology will take off when phone manufacturers / operators start adding it preinstalled (Check out what Google is up to)
[...] If you’re a regular reader of this blog you’ll know that I am a huge fan of QR codes and their ability to open up the mobile web (see the post big in japan) [...]
Pingback by QR codes in The Sun « Living in a digital world | December 7, 2007 |
[...] from one of our other planners at WWAV Rapp Collins, who had seen them all over the place during a trip to Japan back in August 2007 and predicted that we’d see them all over the place here in the near future. [...]
Pingback by Could QR Codes be big for online fundraising? « Giving in a digital world | May 18, 2008 |