QR Codes: When it doesn’t work

In my recent series of posts on QR Codes, I’ve dealt with how and why they are used, and what you need in order to join in. But what about when they don’t work .. or rather, when they don’t give the results you’re after?

I came across this blog post on the LinkMe Mobile blog; “FAIL: Accessing Barcode-Based Advertising Using a Mobile Phone“. It deals with the use of QR Codes in marketing, but the findings are equally important when dealing with these codes in a learning context.

“What’s the Return on Investment (ROI)? For an advertisement to be successful with the consumer, the end result had better be worth the effort! Unfortunately, both the Intel and Warner Bros campaigns missed the mark.  Intel’s ad ran in Wired Magazine, delivering up a YouTube video from the recent CES Las Vegas that showed how Intel technology could be used in the future … yawn.  Warner Bros did a bit better by delivering up some movie trailers via barcodes on pizza boxes during Super Bowl season.

“Today’s mobile consumer is savvy and sophisticated. If they’re going to engage with a new technology, they deserve a response that is tailored to them and pertinent to their needs.

“Japanese mobile campaigns regularly deliver up worthy promotional items to consumers — including valuable coupons & discounts, instant buying opportunities and often the opportunity to win even more prizes. In the U.S., after asking the consumer to engage, both the Intel and Warner Bros campaigns returned ho-hum responses of limited or no value — a negative ROI. Result: The campaigns failed.“

What the two campaigns had done (Warner Bros. and Intel) had just provided a link to an existing resource (web page, video, etc) that could be found by other means.

The rest of the article is the sales-talk about what LinkMe can do for you, but I’m interested in doing it for myself. Please feel free to read it yourself if you want.