QR Code – the big comeback??

If both Forbes and The Economist call forgotten QR Codes a comeback of 2018, we must pay attention.

Do you remember the QR codes? The black-and-white grids that represent data in a form of a hyperlink or piece of text, which can be read by scanning the code—for example with a mobile phone?

In Japan (where the codes were first invented) and China, QR codes have almost become a second language. They are on all billboards, banners, in every shop window, on products – generally in all printed marketing, not just large format. Online, Facebook is testing them as one of the ways of logging into their services, Pinterest is encouraging e-commerce owners to use them to pin the images easily on its app and Danske Bank has implemented the QR codes into their payment method.

One of the biggest news to the QR code changing universe is probably Apple’s quiet addition of QR code scanner to its built-in camera app.

What about QR Codes in large format printing? Using well-designed QR Codes on banners brings together traditional, more visible advertising with online marketing, letting customers interact with businesses and products.

If both Forbes and The Economist call QR Codes a comeback of 2018, we must pay attention.

Outdoor hanging banners and shop banners are constantly visible, providing a permanent audience interaction rather than the fleeting impact of a TV or radio ad. This active engagement between audience and business is hugely increased when targeted QR Codes are added to banners.

As one of the industry’s specialist has said: “If these dumb codes do take off in 2018 – really, we’ll just be realising what Asia has known since the mid-1990s, when they started placing these hyperlinks and bookmarks in the real world.