Monday, May 16, 2011

QR Codes: Getting it Wrong Again

I've noticed that QR codes are popping up again. They're starting to appear in consumer advertisements again. Pundits who see the potential value to consumers and markers are lauding them again. Marketers who are desperately grasping at the latest fan are trying to use them to appear forward-thinking again. And my prediction is that they're going to fail again.

I try to avoid making definitive statements - as human behavior is not entirely predictable and saying that something will succeed or fail comes with considerable risk to appearing foolish and losing credibility when reality bears out in the opposite direction ... but in this instance, I don't think I'm taking much of a risk.


What is a QR Code?

The article in Wikipedia provides a thorough explanation of QR Codes, but to quickly summaries: A QR code is fundamentally, a two-dimensional barcode that can be scanned to reveal a moderate amount of information - around 4,000 characters - which can be read by software when the code is input via a scanner or camera. The data can be used for various purposes, the most common being passing data to an inventory management system, but the most germane to the present consideration is using the data to pass an URL to be viewed with a Web browser.


Are QR codes new?

Most disappointing about the Wikipedia article is that it presently provides a history of their use in marketing that begins in 2009 - which is over a decade since they were originally introduced to the market (and failed horribly for the first time).

The present incarnation of the QR code was developed in the early 1990's for use in logistics systems, where they enjoyed great success. Presently, there's hardly a package delivered without a shipping label containing a QR Code or a close cousin of it (such as the Aztec code, EZcode, MaxiCode, ShotCode, or the like) and they are extensively used to track materials though the manufacturing process.

The history should probably be traced back to the 1970's and the introduction of machine-scannable bar codes - though I think it would be a stretch to suggest they go back to punchcard tickets that date back to the 1930's (though it might be reasonable to do so in the context of a discussion on logistics). However, consumer use of barcodes didn't really begin until the late 1990's when barcode readers (such as the Cue Cat) were promoted to the general public (and failed) and, more recently, when mobile phones came equipped with barcode scanners.

The first attempt to use QR codes for marketing began about a decade ago, but never really caught on due to the difficulty of using them: the user had to carry a physical object (such as a direct-mail postcard or a magazine) to their computer, scan it, launch software to interpret it, then copy-and-paste the decoded URL to a Web browser, and then have a thoroughly disappointing user experience.

I'll get into a bit more detail later, but for now, the point is that the QR code is not an entirely new technology, nor a particularly "innovative" use of technology as it's being used in exactly the same way as it was used in the past.


What is the potential of QR Codes?

In spite of the decidedly negative bent of the present meditation, it's undeniable that QR Codes could be quite useful - and those who are presently enthusiastic at the return to QR Codes, or perhaps only the small fraction of them that are acting intelligently rather than imitatively, are not to be summarily dismissed for making the same mistake twice. There is excellent potential for success.

As a marketing device, QR Codes are clearly good for one thing: to give a prospect who has seen a brief advertisement and is interested in getting more information a quick and simple way to do so. This removes a significant inconvenience to channel-switching - specifically, transitioning a prospect from a physical medium (such as a poster, billboard, or magazine article) to the digital medium (Internet).

Showing a URL in an advertisement requires the prospect to immediately act upon it, or to remember or record it for future use. In the vast majority of instances, this is not possible (the prospect may be driving or walking when they see display advertising) or convenient (the prospect is reading a magazine and is not likely to stop immediately and go to their computer).

From the marketers' perspective, it also enables them to pass a longer URL, so that response to a very specific code can be tracked either via a unique URL or information passed on the query-string: to tell not only that a Web site visitor was referred by a poster, but a specific poster, at a specific physical location.

Given the inconvenience to the consumer, QR codes didn't go over very well. I don't think that "failed miserably" would be an overstatement.


What are the shortcomings of QR Codes?

With the ubiquity of mobile devices that are equipped with cameras, the inconvenience of channel switching is greatly decreased - and with that in mind, I see why many marketers thing it's worth trying again.

In theory, a person who sees a display advertisement can simply take a picture of it with the mobile device that's always at hand and get instant gratification with minimal effort.

In practice, it's really not that easy. A few obstacles to consider:
  1. The notion that it can be done at a whim is not entirely correct. The user has to retrieve the device from purse or pocket, wake it, unlock it, launch an application ... and only then is it as easy as snap-and-go. It's much less trouble than porting a physical artifact to their home computer and powering up the scanner, but still something that requires several seconds and a fair amount of interest.
  2. There's still the issue of the user's situation. If the user is driving a vehicle or walking down a sidewalk, they're unlikely to be willing or able to use a mobile device - it's presently inadvisable and in some locations even illegal to do so. Even if the user is sitting quietly, perusing a magazine, when they see the code, it's still an interruption of their present activity to do so.
  3. In order to use a QR Code, the prospect must download and install the software to do so. In time, QR Codes may become so widespread and popular that most users have the required software, or that an application becomes part of the default software package (from which few users ever vary)
My sense is that marketers are still in the "theory" mindset, the belief that mobile devices are always on, always in hand, and the hand that holds them is attached to a person with a curious mind and a great deal of spare time to investigate things that stray through their field of vision. That's no the case, and likely never will be, regardless of technology.

However, the factors that doomed the original round of experimentation with QR Codes have been to some degree addressed, and a savvy marketer will be able to identify situations in which a QR code would be better received - for example, a poster at a bus stop or rail station (where users are not otherwise engaged and are generally looking to use their mobile devices as an excuse for avoiding social contact) would likely be an excellent opportunity where a QR code would perform very well, compared to a QR code on poster on a busy sidewalk.


What is the main reason that QR Codes will fail for marketing?

This far, consideration of QR codes has been largely technical - what they are and how they work. The technical aspects of the solution has been a contributing cause of failure - but it has not been the prime reason that they failed in the past, and will fail in the future. The primary reason is bad strategy, bad tactics, and bad practice: the very best tool, poorly used, will inexorably result in failure.

My experience as a consumer has been a disappointment in the value of information retrieved by QR Codes.
  • A code in a magazine article often leads me to the mobile home page of the magazine, where I have to hunt for the article I was just reading. Often, it isn't there at all. When it is, I see the very same content in digital format that I had just read on paper, sometimes with a smidgeon of ancillary content.
  • A code on a poster, billboard, or print advert likewise dumps me on the company's home page. There is no clear indication of where to go for more information of the specific message of the advertisement. Often, it can't be found at all.
  • A code on a menu posted outside of a restaurant brought up the very same menu on my cell phone. (Bonus gaff: the prices I saw on the phone were lower than the ones on the menu, and the restaurant refused to honor the advertised price, stating the Web site was "out of date".)
In each of these instances, I got no value at all from taking the time to do further investigation. Granted, this is my own personal experience, but I doubt that this is unique. In fact, I tend to be a bit more steadfast an patient in my approach to marketing techniques out of my own professional interest, and will give greater attention for a longer period of time in hopes of learning more about my craft. The "average" consumer will likely give up more quickly.

But to make matters worse, I can speak to my experience on the other side of the code, working for the companies and advertising personnel who felt it was important to include a code in their advertising, but had no clue as to what they were doing. My question of "so what should a person see once they've scanned the code" was answered with some version of "I don't know," followed by a suggestion that involved no thought at all of the user's desire for information: show them a copy of what they just saw, take them to our home page, etc. Suggestions to provide value-added content met with apathy or even resistance.

And that, more so than any technical limitation, is the reason that QR Codes failed in the past, and will fail again. From what I've seen thus far, marketers are doing no better now than they did back then - which is what leads me to the prediction that they will fail yet again. And likely marketers will blame the technology rather than their own bad practices.


Will QR Codes ever succeed for marketing?

There is great potential for QR Codes to be used in marketing, especially for the mobile channel, where an prospect (and ultimately, a supplier) would benefit from a convenient way to get additional information on a specific topic of interest. To my way of thinking, it's far preferable to push-based methods of mobile marketing, in which advertisers want to use mobile devices invasively to push unwanted messaging, both to the consumer who doesn't want to be pestered and to the marketer who realizes that they will get better results by seeking an audience with some level of interest.

However, in order to realize this potential, marketers must approach QR Codes strategically. It can't simply be a "me too" impulse without a sense of what value they will deliver to the interested prospect - but instead, the placement of a QR Code in an instance where a prospect is likely to be interested in receiving more information, and then to deliver information of immediate value. Done that way, I see excellent potential.

But there is one final drawback worth mentioning: the tragedy of the commons. Consumers are unlikely to differentiate the campaign of one company from the campaign of any other. Once they have had two or three unsatisfactory experiences after scanning QR Codes, they will give up on them, just as they have done before. So even if a few advertisers take pains to get it "right," all the others who get it wrong will poison the well.

The same is true, and has historically proven true, of virtually every advertising medium: inappropriate, intrusive, and ill-concerived advertising practices have either turned people away from channels or has led them to seek ways to avoid commercial messaging - and with QR Codes, avoiding a bad experience is very simple: just don't scan them. And my sense is that this is exactly the road we're on when it comes to the use of QR codes in advertising.

In the end, I wouldn't go so far as to say that QR Codes (or some similar phenomenon) won't eventually get it right - to the point where they are used well by a sufficient majority of advertisers, and so gain acceptance and even favor in consumer advertising. But I don't have much hope that the marketing industry will get it right this time around.


No comments:

Post a Comment