QR Codes Which You Can Eat - Who'da Thought

Taco Bell comes out with eatable QR Codes

We have all seen QR Codes in our travels to the store or in magazines or on web sites. These funny looking square boxes seem to be growing and showing up just about everywhere. It seems that there was no end to where they were able to put them and that now extends to food. Taco Bell has come up with an editable QR Code and you can watch the video below where they talk about it. But they are not the only one who has taken QR Codes to a whole new level.

A German food company has been able to print QR Codes on editible paper which they then put on the top of cookies. They call them Qkie's. Novel idea and one that you may see in the near future which is in Europe right now. This has turned into a product brand for them. Another company using the editable paper is Clever Cupcakes in Montreal.

Most of the other editable QR Codes are a collection of things, such as cup cakes or M&M's, to then form a QR Code. The idea of a single item, such as the Qkie, is one that could well show up more in the future. The idea of using editable paper makes a lot of sense. Otherwise, you are creating the QR Code by hand which would take quite a bit of time.

So for now, we can talk about these few and wonder about what might come in the future. If you know of others, please add them in the comments so that they can be shared with everyone.

Making Of The Cantina Bell QR Code

TecTile Tags May Be QR Code Alternative For NFC phones

TecTiles can do far more than QR Codes

With the expected proliferation of NFC enabled phones this year and much wider adoption next year, Samsung has released TecTiles. What are TecTiles, you might ask. The simple answer is that they are small squares (TecTile Tags) which can be programmed to perform tasks on a smart phone when they are read by an NFC enabled phone. They contain a small chip which can be programmed to perform a function, such as opening your mobile browser and taking you to a web site. And it is on that simplicity that they threaten the existing usage of QR Codes. QR Codes have been around for a few years and are just now starting to see a growing usage. With Samsung's TecTiles, the future for QR Codes may well be threatened.

Samsung has chosen to include the feature on the Galaxy S3 when they ship here in the US. Other NFC enabled phones will be able to download an app (TecTile) to handle the process when an NFC phone clicks on the TecTile. For those NFC enabled phones, you can go out to Google Play and download the TecTile app when Samsung puts it up.

For QR Codes, this is going to present a growing problem. While NFC enable devices are few right now, QR Codes are not threatened. But as they expand, the usage of TecTiles, and their competitors, is going to grow. And it is the simplicity of the TecTiles which poses the biggest threat to QR Codes and their future. With QR Codes, you have to scan the QR Code whcih requires you to take a picture of the QR Code and then it is read and takes you to the web site embedded in the QR Code.

For TecTiles, you do not have to go to the trouble of taking a picture. You only have to tap the TecTile with your NFC enabled smart phone and the NFC process takes over and processes the commands embedded in the TecTile. That removes the need to take a picture which may see QR Codes lose their growing usage. The growth of TecTiles is not currently understood as it is not in use, but based on what we are seeing from Samsung and various reports, this is going to be huge. It is the flexibility of them which is going to create interest and usage.

The TecTiles are programmable to do just about anything beyond taking you to a mobile web site. They can be programmed to do things like take you to Facebook and log you on. But those are specific to an individual phone. Since these can be reprogrammed, you can reuse them over and over. You can also lock them so that they cannot be reprogrammed. For technology, these could be great for things like checking in to a technology conference. The variations on what they can do almost seems unlimited.

One area where TecTiles are not going to take over is in public where QR Codes are used today. A TecTile contains a chip which can be damaged easily where a QR Code is just a picture. There is no technology embedded in it. And it is that simplicity for QR Codes which may have them survive in many situations. Things like movie posters are not going to benefit from TecTiles, but QR Codes can be used for that. The reality looks like QR Codes are going to be around, but potentially a lessor growth than was expected a few months ago. We are going to have need for both of these communication mechanisms for the future.

QR Codes Continuing Expansion To All Age Groups

Recent campaign targets game players with mobile devices

The primary purpose of QR Codes is to encourage people to scan the code and take them to a mobile web site where they are rewarded with something of value. That something could be useful information, a special price on a product, coupons, insider information about future products or even a game. In the case of the QR Code here, the person who scanned it in is taken a site where they are able to then download a game associated with the Madagascar 3 movie which came out last week.

This is something new because it is going after a younger audience which will be seeing the movie. The Dole QR Code site shows you a picture of what a mobile device would see and the ability to download a game which is targeting those who either have seen the movie or are likely to see the movie. Since people of younger ages are a growing segment of mobile devices, this make good sense to us QR Codes with a group which feels comfortable with scanning them and going to a mobile web site.

There is a growing use of QR Codes associated with the movie going public. Another one spotted is associated with Regal Cinemas where they have you like them on Facebook and you can enter your mobile phone number and they will send you a QR Code. When you show that QR Code at the concession stand, you will get a discount of some kind. The most recent one is for a $2 Zap Pack.

Last year, they were using QR Codes to show movie trailers exclusively to those who scanned the QR Codes on movie posters. This was going after a teenager/young adult market with what they were presenting in that situation. As you can see, there are various ways of utilizing QR Codes and what has been described here is focused on the movie industry.

The use of QR Codes associated with movies has been going on since at least 2009 and has been steadily increasing and studios find that they can target their markets much better than standard methods of advertising over the past 20 years. QR Codes and mobile devices are going to continue to grow in their usage mainly because of the interest being shown by the public.

Watch for QR Codes the next time you are out and looking at posters for movies. You may be surprised by what you see. Take the time to scan the QR Code with your smart phone and see what you get by doing so. You might just find something of real value for yourself.

QR Codes Expanding Into Emergency Services

Another usage of QR Codes emerges with medical information

 
QR Codes have been seeing a growing usage over the past year as they have expanded from some of the beginnings for them. We have seen the expected usage in stores where someone scans a QR Code and they are taken to a mobile web site where they are given some coupon discount or other valuable information. That was seen as having the most promise for QR Codes and their interaction with mobile customers. As we have seen this year, they are expanding to many other options, some rather strange, but none the less expanding. We have seen QR codes used on grave markers so that people could get more information about the person who is buried there. So, what other usages can there be for QR Codes?

With new ideas popping up, a new one involving Emergency Services has shown up recently and is being undertaken in Northern California. Just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County, a Pilot Program with a Silicon Valley start called Lifesquare is underway and QR Codes are at the heart of the 1 year program. The goal is to get residents to put their information into a web site which would include personal and medical information. The process starts by picking up Lifesquare stickers at the CVS pharmacy in Marin County which gives them a unique QR Code. They would then enter their information on the web site and when an emergency responder sees the QR Code for Lifesquare, they could scan the code and immediately get all the relevant information about the patient.

Lifesquare is providing 50 iPhones to responders to use for this purpose, which is expected to go live by the end of the year if everything gets set up correctly and tests prove how valuable it will be. Between now and then, they are facing a number of challenges for the pilot program. The biggest hurdle is getting a sufficient number of people signed up through the program and getting them to enter all their medical information. That is going to be a challenge at best because of the primary age group they may be dealing with. Those over 50 are often not as comfortable using technology as those under 50 and thus the challenge. Privacy concerns are another challenge they are going to have to deal with as those over 50 are not as trusting of technology when sharing personal and medical information.

If they are able to overcome those issues, there becomes an even bigger one where keeping the information current and updated will be critical to the emergency responders. Without up to date information, they may take actions which are not the correct ones. The key to this program is going to be doctors and hospitals keeping the information up to date for their patients so first responders know they have all the necessary information. With that in place, this pilot program could lay the ground work for rolling this out on a much broader scale. This kind of a program will provide first responders with information very quickly after scanning a QR Code rather than playing 50 questions with the patient or family members. Time is of the essence in these kinds of situations.

If Lifesquare can get all the avenues of communication working effectively and participation by a large enough group of people, they will have the potential for a very valid study which will have broad implications. Just how willing different age groups are to participate in this kind of a study is the obvious first question to be answered out of it. There are many others which will help gauge the effectiveness of using QR Codes as a method to assist first responders. It will be some time in 2014 before there are any meaningful results from this which can indicate the viability of such a program.

With this pilot project, you start to see that QR Codes can be expanded to far more if you just use your imagination.

Small Business Needs To Look Beyond Print Media

Decline of print advertising requires other options

 
There are changes ahead which small businesses must pay attention to in order to keep up with a changing market. The communication methods of the past are not the ones that a small business owner should be focusing on in the future. While they will be around for a while, they will eventually fade out as newer technologies replace them. That does not necessarily mean that the newer technologies are better, but just changed. There are many signs of the coming changes and these should be obvious to everyone.

We have been observing a shift for years away from print media to electronic. While some seem to transition themselves others do not. Take for example the Yellow Pages which have seen declining revenue for years. Some cities are now requiring them to only be delivered to households which specifically request a printed version. Since there is always going to be an electronic version of the Yellow Pages, it can continue to be considered as a way to communicate your business.

One of the ways to share information about your business was newspapers from 20 years ago. But that is becoming a dying art and is slowly being reduced as a way to get the word out about your business. Small home town newspapers are becoming a thing of the past because of rising costs and dwindling readership. Consolidation of newspapers large and small as been going on for the last 20 years and probably longer. Costs associated with printing and delivery of printed media are forcing a change in the industry to try and stay alive. One of those changes has been the attempt at using paywalls as a way to prop up dying revenue from printed copies. The electronic versions of printed newspapers has not been going as well as expected because there are too many other free sources for news.

Even many of the larger newspapers provide their electronic version for free, so attempting to change to a paywall will drive people away. So, what are you as a small business owner to do when the historical methods you have used in the past no longer are working? Even the US Post Office is looking to down size because of slowing mail delivery revenues. By now, you should have been thinking about other methods to get the word about your business or products. Just reading this articles shows that you are aware of how technology is shaping the future. There are a number of things which you can do and here are a few.

Social Media - With the huge popularity of Facebook, you now have the ability to use Facebook Brand pages to promote your product. The whole idea of Facebook is to create a following of your brand and with that there is a sense of loyalty to those who may be following you. These can be used by both small and large business alike. Even with the recent Facebook Timeline changes, you can leverage them to promote your business. There are many methods and strategies described to leverage Facebook for your small business. And Facebook is not the only Social Media game in town. Google+ is another one of the avenues out there to be explored.

Google Places - Here is another opportunity for you to explore as a way to drive traffic and people to your location. There is even a Google Places for Business which you can take a look at. With this, your business will show up on local searches and puts you in the public's eye. Take a look at the link for a slide show presentation on this topic.

QR Codes - Another option for some small businesses is the idea of utilizing QR Codes in the promotion of your product is a possibility if it fits. Not all businesses can leverage the growing popularity of these little square boxes. If you are not familiar with them, here is a QR Codes for Small Business 101 article to help you. These should be part of your Mobile Marketing Strategy going forward. At the link, there is a white paper which can help you understand the move towards mobile. With the fast growth of smart phones, this is another opportunity you should be considering.

As you can see, there are a number of technology related areas where you can promote your business outside of trying to use AdWords advertising. The future is going to be ever changing and you need to leverage both the past and the future to grow your small business.

QR Code Usage Seeing Increasing Acceptance

Acceptance of QR Code is growing must faster outside US.

 
QR Codes have not really taken off here in the US as much as they have in other countries. Part of that may be due to misconceptions about how they work. The primary consideration is to develop a web site that is specifically for mobile devices so that when a QR Code is scanned, the mobile device gets directed to a web site designed for mobile devices. Then you have to provide content that is desirable. For QR Codes, we are in the early days of usage and it is going to grow significantly. Given the predictions of mobile phone growth in this country and around the world, you can see the potential which QR Codes hold.

Singapore is one of those countries where QR Code usage has been taking off. As an example, PayPal has launched an effort which targets people in 15 subway stations. Since there is wireless connectivity in all the subway stations, this makes it a great opportunity. For PayPal, they are using the QR Codes for making purchase transactions which shows just how useful QR Codes can actually be.

Linking-Mobile in the UK, has chosen to sell advertising on the CPA model, which means advertisers receiving revenue when people fill out a form. In this case, a mobile device would scan a QR Code and be directed to a mobile web site. Here they would be asked to fill out a form. For companies, this is a way to create contact or mailing lists to then follow up with those who followed through and entered information.

One of the best examples of the potential for QR Codes is from South Korea. For retailer Home Plus, they looked at the problem of people having to do grocery shopping and came up with a QR Code solution in the subway system. With busy lives, going to the grocery store is not something people want to do. So the company brought the store to the subway stations with pictures of the products. Each product had a QR Code on it which would could be scanned to purchase the item. Once you were done with selecting all the items for yourself, you could then pay for them. They would then be delivered to your home some time later. This is a fantastic example of what QR Codes can do for you.

While Asia has embraced QR Codes much faster than the reset of the world, other locations, such as Europe are becoming engaged with using QR Codes. There are examples in Europe where scanning a QR code associated with a product will take you to a mobile web site where you might win a prize or get a future discount for the product. The London underground system has geared up to use QR Codes for getting real time information about the tube and arriving trains. This will be a big help during the Olympics and the huge crowds which will be attending.

There are other examples of successful QR Code campaigns which have been successful. You can probably find some yourself for those around the world and here in the US. But, here in the US, we are trailing much of the rest of the world, similar to the NFC usage where we are trailing as well. There are great opportunities out there for you to take advantage of right now as things are still growing in this area. If you have not considered QR Codes for your business strategy, now be a great time to see if it will work for you. Not every business can take advantage of them.

It could be you could use them to collect information from people as in the CPA model, or you could use it to give away a prize as part of a contest. It could be as part of a display in a store where people want to know more about your product and scan the QR Code. It is beginning to look positive for the use of QR Codes and the success is going to be the placement of the QR Code and the site which people come to after scanning the QR Code.

If you have not taken a look at QR Codes yet, now is a great time to do so. We have a number of articles available on the topic and even a QR Code generator you might want to take a look at. Now is the time to take a serious look at QR Codes.

Incorrect Usage Of QR Codes

QR codes can go very wrong and hurt your business.

 
QR codes are a wonderful thing when used correctly and can generate addition business or sales which you might not otherwise have had. They are something new which only requires a smart phone with a camera and an app installed to interpret the scanned QR code. That is the consumer side of things. On the business side of things, you need to have a web site set up to receive those people who scan your QR code. That is the two sides of the process for using QR codes for your business. You want that web site to be optimized for mobile devices so that they have an excellent experience. But, there are a number of incorrect usages of QR codes which can hurt your business or the customer experience. Here are some of them.

QR Codes on billboards This is a highly visible way to get your message out to customers, but the lack of ability to actually take a usable picture of the QR code makes this form of usage worthless.

QR codes on subways or buses So, you are on the subway and there is a banner ad with a QR code. What are the odds you are going to stand up and take a picture of the QR code and get more details. Not very likely. If the ads are on the outside of a bus, there is no way you are going to be able to snap a picture as it is going by. The same applies to a QR Code on an ad on the outside of a taxis.

QR codes in magazines on airplanes You are on a plane and there is a QR code in a magazine. This is a mistake to put a QR code here. For now, you cannot have your smart phone operating in a wireless mode while the plane is in the air, making the investment a very poor one. People are not going to snap a picture.

QR Codes on headstones This is a great one to get people to pause and think about what is going on here. Where is this one going to take you? Down under? The only valid reason for QR codes on headstones is to give you information about the person who is buried there.

QR Codes sent in email So, you decide to send a QR code in an email to your clients or potential clients. The purpose of a QR code is to be snapped in a picture as part of the scan process. When the person opens the email on their smart phone, it is inside the smart phone and the camera is on the outside. Not a good combination.

QR Code takes you to a web site using flash This is another problem with QR codes when someone scans the QR code which takes them to a site using Adobe Flash. Not all phones are capable of viewing flash and if not, you just lost that person.

QR code takes you to a site not optimized for mobile devices This is the single biggest problem with web sites which are the end point for scanned QR codes. You have gotten the person to start the process and come to your site only to reach a web page which is difficult to view on a smart phone. You need to have your pages viewable on a smart phone and usable.

These are just some of the incorrect usages which can cause your QR campaign to self destruct very quickly. There are others, but you get the idea as to some of the potential problems with using QR Code incorrectly. It is very important to think through your usage of QR codes from the point of being scanned through and including the landing on a mobile enable site. That mobile enabled site must adhere to the same principles as a regular web site. If the person landing there does not see what they are looking for in a few seconds, they will be gone. Getting them to the site is half the battle. Keeping them there and engaged is the other half.

QR codes can be a great part of your business if the idea of using them is thought out and planned correctly. The usage of QR codes continues to grow. Make sure that you do not make the same type of mistakes as listed here.

QR Codes Finding More Uses

It seems that QR Codes are showing up everywhere and some of the usages of QR Codes are pretty creative. The QR Code pictured here is from Starbucks in a game they had back in May of 2011. This was part of a clue type game called SRCH from Starbucks which had 6 rounds of play and then a final round. The QR Code was part of Round 1 in their game and had to be scanned as part of the game.

We have seen heavy usage of QR Codes by companies to promote products in stores and to provide consumers special deals when they scan the QR Code with a smart phone. But there are many other usages for QR Codes than one might imagine. It seems the idea has been around for years as a way to communicate with individuals. Take for example Nintendo, who used the QR Codes as a way to share Avatars. It would seem that it did not catch on, but the idea is notable. There is even Custom QR Codes where a customized QR Code gets created and it reminds one of the company behind it. One of their examples is for Angry Birds and if you scan the code, it will download the game to your iPhone. There are examples of Instgram and Shazam also contained at the link.

Jacked Up card games is another one where you can play games which are well known, but with a new twist where the deck of cards has a few individual cards which have QR Codes on them. This is a new twist on an old game and is expected to be released beginning in April. The idea is to have a Joker in the deck with a QR Code on it and if drawn, you would scan the QR Code with your iPhone or Android phone and get information back. That returned information could change the rules of the game on the fly and completely alter who might win. Here is a promotion video from Bicycle Cards.

Another usage which is starting to catch on in some parts of the world is the use of QR Codes in education. In Beatrice, Nebraska they are allowing the use of smart phones by 8th grade students in an effort to further their education. This is part of an effort to have students extending their interest and knowledge outside the classroom. Students scan QR Codes with their smart phones and can then be provided with a link to a YouTube video or an article that is relevant to current school teaching which is going on. This is an excellent way to extend education beyond the traditional textbooks to utilize something which students are doing outside the classroom. This is a unique example of how QR codes are for far more then company products.

In the world of QR Codes, there are more and more opportunities to take advantage of the technology in an ever expanding digital world.