As we’ve noticed, advertising has become a more interactive activity between customers and brands. Smartphones have provided that utility while having practically your whole life in a small gadget that fits in your hand (of course if only their battery lasted longer than half a day after vast use…).
QR codes haven’t been around for too long, but they are everywhere! On magazines, billboards, books, labels and now so it seems on sides of buildings and even stadiums. Audi’s Japanese marketing strategy included a video right at the beginning of QR codes popularity. This video was a short film of people lining up on the stadium’s field to form a huge QR code.
But what exactly is a QR code? For those of you who aren’t yet on the know (although it’s practically impossible to escape them now), QR codes are tiny squares which form an algorithm that only gadgets such as our smartphones can read. Once they are scanned with the phone’s camera, the machine interprets them and displays a message, a website, an image, a video, etc on whatever the brand wants you to see or look at.
This marketing strategy, more than just interactive, awakens people’s curiosity. Perhaps you weren’t even interested on the brand that’s displaying this, but that little itch to know what’s on the other side must be scratched. You can even find useful information on whatever product or service you are about to purchase.
Same goes with a special App called “Point & Find” for Nokia. You take a picture with your phone and upload the information to the net. The App automatically scans the picture and gives you information on the location. For instance, if you took a picture of a European Castle, an article on its history will show up on your screen. If you have a Nokia phone, you can download the app right here http://pointandfind.nokia.com/main_publisher before you purchase a Windows 7 Nokia phone that is. If you have another brand, there are plenty of other apps that work just the same.
So you see, mobile marketing is indeed, mobile.