(jumps to ABC News video)
As the cell phone becomes the de facto technology of the masses, companies will begin to market to the mobile crowd using QR codes, dubbed the new bar codes (also known as Matrix or 2D codes). By scanning these codes with camera phones, consumers will be connected to website pages, where they can buy goods and services and interact with companies.
QR codes will bring back print advertising and blend the offline world with the online world. You will soon see QR codes in newspaper and magazine ads, posters and “For Sale” signs.
The first major US retailer to adopt the QR codes in its print marketing is Ralph Lauren. The fashionista is placing the QR codes in its magazine ads, mailings and store window advertising. You will also see them used in Lauren’s sponsorship of the US Open tennis tournament.
Consumers must download QR code reading software to their camera-phones. (Cell phones with preinstalled code-readers are expected to come to market within a year). Then they can scan the codes and be taken to a mobile version of a Ralph Lauren website, where they can shop, watch videos and access other company content.
Lauren declined to say how much the company invested in the new technology or its anticipated sales impact.
Source: Reuters.
How far can this go? Well, in Japan they are so popular some folks are tattooing the QR codes on their bodies. The girls from a Tokyo conference display their temporary QR code tattoos while this one guy went for the real thing:
Related Posts and Further Reading (courtesy of Apture):
Print is Not Dead: 2D Codes Will Lead to More Print Advertising.
Technorati Tags: qr codes, matrix code, 2d codes, ralph lauren, mobile marketing, sellsius
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