If you’ve been out and about and see a multitude of boxes that appear to be ‘tech hieroglyphics’ to you, you are most likely viewing a QR code. But don’t be fooled – there is a lot to be seen behind these seemingly random patterned graphics.

A QR code (Quick Response) is a specific matrix barcode (or 2D code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones. Consider it a modern day Seurat version of Pointillism – consisting of a small square of black and white blocks (which can now be customized in different colors) arranged in a square pattern that allows text, URL or other information to be encoded. In most uses, each can contain over 7,000 pieces of data, with the primary content generally linked to a mobile website/experience.

For those of you that have a QR reader, please have my ‘get out of jail free’ card for this next paragraph – if you don’t – read on. In order to access the content within a QR code, you need a QR reader on your mobile device (simple, right?). One of the most common QR code reader that works well is i-nigma, which claims to be the most widely used reader in the world. Another option (specifically for Android devices) is Barcode Scanner. Once you’ve got your app downloaded on your phone, start finding some QR codes and unleash the world around you.

Although initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing (they originated in Japan), QR codes are finding a new home in new mediums and contexts. Given the popularity and ease of use, the QR code experience is not only increasing commercial tracking but is driving more and more convenience-oriented applications within the mobile environment.

Now, if you’re like me, you see an amazing opportunity to streamline how to interact, send data and engage beyond a typical website (or desktop experience for that matter). Since the prevalence has been increasing, the integration within marketing has continued to rise, and with that – further engagement, creative exploration and most importantly, ROI. For greatest success, the QR experience needs to be seamless among all brand mediums (yes, we’re talking traditional and interactive campaigns alike – billboards, print, tradeshow experiences (in-booth and out-of-booth), etc).

When deciding to us a QR code, most of the importance (outside of ease of integration and use) is the ability to measure response rates, interaction and downloads. With these key criteria in hand, marketers can see a clearer value with their investment and ROI. Who doesn’t like real-time targeting with a measurable ROI?

1. Some key areas of measurement include:
   1. Total number of scans for each code (and does any particular type of content get scanned more than others? If so, is there any particular reason – location, ad integration)
   2. Average number of scans per user (utilizing cookies on browsers)
   3. Number of unique users who attempt a scan
   4. Mobile device OS distribution (fueling better engagement within all potential users/platforms)

All things aside, I could go on and on about QR codes and where they’ve been, and where I think they will go – but to be honest, I think its potential is limitless. The current QR codes usage is only scratching the surface of what can happen in social environments and what is currently used in a mobile environment. So go out there, create some QR codes and unleash some creativity on the world.

Every so often, and more and more with each passing day, there is some innovation or revelation of a new channel or medium by which brands can engage customers.

Naturally, people in our business immediately consider the possibilities afforded by these new opportunities for expanding the reach of a brand.

Recently, one of our teams was discussing the use of QR tags and scanning software for a client trade show experience. QR Codes could be used to streamline and “modernize” the trade show experience for the client’s customers.

However, questions arose, like: “what’s the customer’s motivation for capturing that code and/or going to that web-site?”

And that’s really the age-old question, isn’t it? What’s in it for the customer?

Dating myself here, I go back to the mid-to-late 90’s (well, long before then actually) when every client and every agency echoed the same mantra: “we have to have a web-site.”

Which (sometimes, though not often enough) begged the question: “what kind of web-site?” To which, the answer was often: “I don’t know . . . a cool one!”

Today, we understand the difference between an e-commerce site or a branded web-community or myriad other kinds of web presences with myriad brand functions.

Which leads to the larger point: new channels, mediums, technologies, what have you—are all tools. A means to a hopefully better end for the brand.

Sometimes, in the mad rush to get hip to the latest innovation in channels and vehicles, we might lose sight of the challenge at hand—which might, or might not, require use of said channels. And, always, will require thinking around the broader context of the customer experience we’re trying to create.

New channels and vehicles can enhance the message. They can perhaps call for some subtle alteration of the message. But, in and of themselves, they’re not the message. And therefore not the sum total of the experience or anything close to it.

Much of the professional pharma advertising business has been built on and around the dynamics of the old school pharma rep sales call.

With the advent of the Tablet PC and iPads, PDAs and data that’s accessible online, that’s all changed.

Or has it?

Physicians still see much the same patients and deal with many of the same issues day after day.

The healthcare professional is still time-poor, skeptical and often unwilling to give the rep (or the company they represent) a “seat at the table” in terms of real clinical partnership.

What the customer wants and needs from a brand interaction—regardless of the channel—remains essentially the same: new information, surprise and delight, an “Aha!” Moment.

One of the beauties of new(er) technologies like digital sales assets is that their novelty—for a while at least—can be engaging in and of itself, and break the inertia of “been there, done that.”

And that’s good. Because in the highly-regulated, science-based world of pharma, new content is hard to come by.

A new medium can greatly enhance the message.

The key, then, to integrating new technologies, channels and vehicles is to never lose sight of the customer and what they want from brands—and choose the vehicle or channel, not because it’s new or old, but because it’s optimal for positively and memorably shaping that experience.

Time and technology march on. But customers still march to the beat of their own wants and needs.

And the brass ring is making all three seamlessly serve each other.