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QR Codes, are they a failed tool?

QR (quick response) codes; you’ve probably seen them around and wondered if anyone has even used them. If you’re one of the rare few that have, you would’ve had to have searched for and downloaded an app first which looked really sketchy and unflattering. Then carefully lined up the barcode which sent you to a website where you were horribly disappointed. You then uninstall the app and haven’t scanned a QR code again. Well at least that was my experience and the feel that I’ve been getting when researching for this post.

(source: J6design.com.au)
(source: J6design.com.au)

So why do marketers use QR codes? Well the logical answer is because everyone has a smart phone and it’s easy to take it out and use. Plus it’s interactive which can be fun but mainly because it takes the consumer to the exact place the marketer wants.

It then leads to the question; do marketers put too much emphasis on the way a QR code works and its ability rather than getting the QR code to work as an effective tool? I say this because the time it took me to go through that annoying process to scan one, I was left so dissatisfied with it and the end product that I chose to ignore them from then on. What marketers should focus on is the ease of the user experience when scanning the codes and ensuring that the content is interesting, entertaining and worth their time. But for this to even be possible, the main smart phone software manufactures need to integrate a QR scanner into their stock camera app.

A friend of mine told me about one positive experience he had with a QR code a couple of years ago. He scanned a Halo poster on a bus shelter ad and won that poster and was ecstatic with the result. While he was happy with the product and experience, he hasn’t scanned a QR code since. Why? Because they’re “too annoying”.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvIJfUySmY0[/embed]

When searching for statistics for this post, there were a lot of positive stats in the 2011-2012 range though none in 2014 which showed a critical evaluation. The general feel was that QR codes are on the decline but marketers are still trying to hold them up as a successful tool for their potential.

Has the era of QR codes gone, or is it up to OS manufacturers to integrate a scanner to bring a revival or maybe technology has simply moved on to things like NFC (near field communication).

In any case, what has your experience with QR codes been?