USIncomeReport
Saturday, July 2, 2022
  • Economy Indicators
  • Business Insiders
  • Stock Analysis
  • Politics
  • Technology & Science
  • Editor’s Choice
Subscribe
USIncomeReport
  • Economy Indicators
  • Business Insiders
  • Stock Analysis
  • Politics
  • Technology & Science
  • Editor’s Choice
No Result
View All Result
USIncomeReport
No Result
View All Result
Home Economy Indicators

QR codes are everywhere, and are also making a comeback in advertising with marketers like Burger King and L’Oreal

October 6, 2020
in Economy Indicators
0
QR codes are everywhere, and are also making a comeback in advertising with marketers like Burger King and L’Oreal
152
SHARES
1.9k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • QR codes are making a comeback in the pandemic era, adopted by bars and restaurants and in marketing, retail, technology and payments.
  • Burger King, CVS, L’Oreal, 1-800-Flowers, and Walmart are among brands that have used QR codes in marketing or retail in recent months, for things like coupons and contactless payments that are considered more sanitary during the pandemic.
  • QR codes’ momentum has been helped by tech platforms including Snapchat and Pinterest rolling out their own versions and Chinese apps like Tencent and Alibaba popularizing their usage and standardizing their technology.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

At the peak of the pandemic in April, Burger King launched a marketing stunt offering people free Whoppers through its app. Instead of using augmented reality or geotargeting as it’s done in the past, it deployed the humble QR code to get people to snap a photo of a black and white square on their TV screens to win a burger.

QR codes — quickly heralded by marketers in the early 2010s, only to be dismissed as gimmicky — are making a comeback in the pandemic era. The boxy, geometric codes have been adopted by bars and restaurants and are also showing up in marketing, retail, technology and payments.

For instance: Instagram recently incorporated QR codes in its app, while PayPal has bet on QR codes with shoppers. CVS has integrated PayPal and Venmo QR codes at its checkouts, while Starbucks is using them for contact-tracing in the UK. And L’Oreal, 1-800-Flowers, and Walmart have used QR codes in their marketing in recent months.

“People have been reticent and skeptical of them in the past, but it feels like QR codes are going through a renaissance,” said Simon Gill, chief creative officer at Isobar UK and chief experience officer at Dentsu Aegis Network EMEA.

QR codes have waxed and waned in popularity over the years

QR codes, short for quick response, have been around since the 1990s, when they were invented by Masahiro Hara to track automobile parts in Japan. With their ease in scanning objects in the real world and smartphones, they seemed poised to take off.

But that never happened. Adoption was limited, with only 6.2% of mobile users in the US having scanned a QR code, according to a 2011 comScore report. Marketers ended up trying to force them into campaigns without providing much value to consumers or leading to embarrassing gaffes like Heinz ketchup bottles leading people to porn sites. The likes of ad executive Gary Vaynerchuk and publications like Forbes criticized them for being used in lazy and spammy ways.

But in recent years, tech platforms including Snapchat and Pinterest have pushed adoption by rolling out their own versions. IOS and Android have enabled people to scan QR codes without having to download an app. Plus, Chinese apps like Tencent and Alibaba have been using QR codes to enable monetary transactions for years.

These developments, coupled with the coronavirus pandemic, have helped QR codes go from being experimental add-ons for advertisers to something ubiquitous in daily life, said Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis.

“The pandemic has dramatically accelerated trends that we were already seeing at a time when adoption is also peaking,” he said. “QR codes allow you to put a digital experience on a physical surface, and become pretty important tools in a world where more consumers are going digital and contactless.”

The pandemic has been a tipping point for the adoption of QR codes

As brands and retailers reopen, many are adapting their marketing and retail experiences for a no-touch world. QR codes, driven by the rise of contactless payments and e-commerce in general, are regarded as more sanitary and safe.

“We do see this as an inflection point, a moment in time where perhaps real change can be driven,” PayPal’s CFO John Rainey told Business Insider recently.

L’Oreal replaced physical testers of its products with QR codes at retail outposts like Sephora, letting people virtually try on products using their smartphones, said Camille Kroely, global head of digital services and open innovation at L’Oreal.

“We realized that when people come back to stores, there’s no way they’d want to touch the products anymore,” she said. “So we needed to make sure that we offered them an omnichannel ‘phygital’ experience, which merged the physical and digital worlds together.”

Companies are seeing other uses for QR codes beyond pandemic-driven ones. A retailer like Walmart could use them to provide product information in stores, while a chain like Starbucks could use them to enable transactions through its app, said Goldberg. A fast-food chain could use them to promote app downloads or coupons, and a CPG brand could use them to promote content like recipes.

1-800-Flowers, for example, used QR codes to promote a bouquet collaboration with fashion designer Jason Wu. Each bouquet had QR-coded tags that when scanned, showed behind-the-scenes footage of the designer’s runway show at New York Fashion Week and sent digital thank-you notes to senders.

Being connected to smartphones makes QR code campaigns easy for brands to measure. 1-800-Flowers president Amit Shah said that the brand’s recent QR campaign had positive engagement from consumers, while L’Oreal’s Kroely said that the makeup company was extending the QR code try-on functionality to retailers in other countries. Chick-Fil-A said it boosted its app downloads 14% using QR codes.

Jason Vincent, CEO at Aeguana, a company that produces QR code-operated vending machines for retailers, said he expected QR adoption to grow because of all the data and marketing possibilities they bring.

“With digital campaigns, they know how to track you and remarket to you when you’re going to different websites. But when you go into the store, it’s a blind spot,” he said. “As soon as you get them to scan one of these QR codes, you’re bringing them back into that online ecosystem.”

Demand is catching on, but will it last?

To be sure, QR codes aren’t the only options out there. Some retailers are going with near-field communication (NFC) technology for their contactless initiatives, which allows electronic devices to communicate over short distances. Kroger, for example, recently announced a pilot program where people will be able to use NFC to pay using Apple Pay, Google Pay and mobile banking apps.

And outside of enabling payments, QR codes’ other marketing uses may be limited because people’s increased sensitivity around touching things will fade, said Zach Goldstein, CEO of Thanx, a customer engagement company that’s been helping restaurants digitize their menus using QR codes.

But for now, demand seems to be catching on. A recent study by B2B publisher Paymnts.com found that one-third of consumers that shop using digital payments said that they would not even consider making purchases in a physical store without them. And Seek, a company that makes QR code technology, said that it has seen a 600% increase in demand since March for its augmented reality and QR code solutions, according to Modern Retail.

“Compared to historical data, there’s certainly a huge uptick,” said Aeguana’s Vincent. “The behavior that’s being instilled in people to be able to just turn the camera on and scan something, I reckon there’ll be a lot of really interesting use cases for that to come out of this.”

Previous Post

How to cancel a Hulu subscription or trial on your iPhone in 5 simple steps

Next Post

The pandemic hits the advertising account review

Next Post
The pandemic hits the advertising account review

The pandemic hits the advertising account review

Start receiving your daily email that makes reading the news actually enjoyable. Stay informed and entertained, for free.

Email: 

Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us, our partners and affiliates. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Exports to EU almost back to pre-Brexit levels

Exports to EU almost back to pre-Brexit levels

May 13, 2021
The Covid-19 Economic Slump Is Closing Down Coal Plants

The Covid-19 Economic Slump Is Closing Down Coal Plants

June 12, 2020
The October bar exam in major jurisdictions like New York and California saw technical glitches for some test-takers — but the exam provider said 98% of users logged in successfully

The October bar exam in major jurisdictions like New York and California saw technical glitches for some test-takers — but the exam provider said 98% of users logged in successfully

October 5, 2020
Japan Airlines will swap ‘ladies and gentlemen’ for gender-neutral terms on its in-flight announcements

Japan Airlines will swap ‘ladies and gentlemen’ for gender-neutral terms on its in-flight announcements

September 30, 2020
Thousands of post Office collection and cash delivery workers to strike on 14 July

Thousands of post Office collection and cash delivery workers to strike on 14 July

0

Post Title

0

Post Title

0
Stocks – Europe Slumps Despite Fed Moves; Autos, Airlines Hit Hard

Stocks – Europe Slumps Despite Fed Moves; Autos, Airlines Hit Hard

0
Thousands of post Office collection and cash delivery workers to strike on 14 July

Thousands of post Office collection and cash delivery workers to strike on 14 July

July 1, 2022
Credit card borrowing falls as consumers feel squeeze

Credit card borrowing falls as consumers feel squeeze

July 1, 2022
Barclays speeds up pay rise to ease staff money worries

Barclays speeds up pay rise to ease staff money worries

July 1, 2022

Post Office scandal victims get £19m interim payout but ‘still in dark over compensation deal’

July 1, 2022

Categories

  • Business Insiders
  • Economy Indicators
  • Editor's Choice
  • Politics
  • Stock Analysis
  • Technology & Science
  • Uncategorized
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Email Whitelisting

Disclaimer: USIncomeReport.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

© Copyright 2022, USIncomeReport.com All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Business Insiders
  • Economy Indicators
  • Editor’s Choice
  • Politics
  • Stock Analysis
  • Technology & Science

Disclaimer: USIncomeReport.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

© Copyright 2022, USIncomeReport.com All Rights Reserved