Long Island Pulse Magazine is now using 2D barcodes and gets it right from start to finish. First, look at the magazine’s home page (see top image below). On the top of the page, above the navigation bar, there is an image of a 2D code with the tag line “Do You 2D?” Plain and […]
Monthly Archives: August 2010
As much as I pay attention and focus on 2D barcode strategy and tactics, there is one thing that I have noticed lacking in most every single strategic campaign, if not all of them. Testing. Whether it’s testing calls to action, scan resolves, code size, code placement, code instructions, code types (e.g., QR, Tag, JAGTAG, […]
The September issue of Architectural Digest features a number of editorially placed Microsoft Tags. Similar to what has been seen in other publications, Tags have been placed next to certain products and articles throughout the magazine, and they resolve to provide readers with additional product information, product videos and how-to videos. As shown in the example to the […]
Space Adventures, the world’s premier private space exploration company and the only company currently providing opportunities for actual private spaceflight and space tourism today, recently launched (no pun intended) a campaign featuring a QR code. Scan the code and it resolves to a video about the company’s latest offering, a flight to circumnavigate the moon. […]
The Principal Financial Group is one of the first financial services companies I have seen to create a 2D barcode magazine advertisement and make use of a Microsoft Tag. While I give The Principal points for trying, unfortunately, I do not believe this campaign will produce the results that they hope to achieve and, if […]
OMG Android, a website focused on providing a variety of Android apps, enables people to download apps by scanning a QR code. For example, when you click on the Applications tab on the main navigation bar, and scroll down to Finance, you will come to a page that lists an app for PayPal. Displayed on the page is a […]
It only took about three months, but I finally found one, a print advertisement from Microsoft which features one of their own Tags. When I first read the ad, it seemed well-designed and thought out, branded Tag and all, but then it dawned on me, the ad’s call to action is extremely weak, especially as […]
In the September issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, there is a two-page advertisement, which features nine different products, each with a corresponding ScanLife barcode. At the beginning of the ad (the upper left-hand corner of the top page below), there is full disclosure as to what the codes are, how to scan them and what they offer. […]
Garnier, the haircare products company, has launched a new print campaign, which features a Microsoft Tag. When scanned, the Tag resolves to a video which demonstrates how women can use the company’s new Blow Dry Perfector product. The Tag and its instructions are placed prominently in the ad and hard to miss, and Garnier does the right […]
Toothbrush manufacturer, Reach, recently launched an advertisement in Details magazine to promote their new line of “By Design” toothbrushes. The ad features a QR code. For the most part, from a strategic and creative standpoint, the ad works, as the company marries the main premise of the ad (i.e., promoting a new line of toothbrushes) […]
The Italian children clothes designer, Il Gufo, launched a new magazine ad campaign featuring a QR code, and I’ll be darn to know how, if at all, this campaign succeeds. Here’s why. First, the ad is placed on the right-hand side of the magazine, which puts the QR code up against the spine of the book…not the […]
Back in July, Calvin Klein launched a billboard ad in Manhattan, which featured a QR code (see below). As soon as the billboard went live, so did the comments on Twitter. For days, the CK code dominated the “conversation” on Twitter among 2D barcode followers, enthusiasts, marketers, advertisers, etc. But as all of this was taking […]
Okay, here’s the plan, let’s buy a full-page, four-color ad in a national consumer magazine, place a 2D barcode in the ad and then have the barcode resolve to a promotional video that doesn’t work. Or, have the ad’s call-to-action be of little or no interest to the magazine’s audience. Or, don’t provide enough information […]
The Port Townsend Food Coop, located in Port Townsend, Washington, launched what is believed to be the first QR code video “shelf talker” program in the country with Olympic Peninsula cheese maker Mt. Townsend Creamery. When the shelf codes are scanned they resolve to videos, which feature the Mt. Townsend Creamery’s head cheese maker talking […]
Jessica Simpson, the women’s fashion clothing and accessories company, recently launched a print advertisement, which displays a customized Microsoft Tag. Scanning the Tag resolves to a video which shows behind-the-scenes footage of Jessica’s fall photo shoot. No doubt the company earns points for making use of a 2D barcode in its advertising, but I believe […]
The September issue of Lucky magazine features a new Macy’s advertisement, which displays a JAGTAG barcode. This is one of the first retail department stores that I have seen, other than Nordstrom, to make use of a 2D barcode. While the ad is nicely laid out and the JAGTAG is well-positioned and explained, and the […]
In mid-July, the New York City Department of Sanitation started to display QR codes on the sides of their 2,200 sanitation trucks and, since the story first broke, a number of people have written about it in marketing/technology blogs and on-line magazine articles, as well as on Twitter. While a story like this certainly helps […]
Clikbrix is a newly formed Toronto-based company that focuses on providing 2D barcode and mobile website solutions for the real estate industry. From creating a professional profile page (desktop and mobile) and corresponding QR code to developing detailed property listing pages to reporting metrics, Clikbrix offers this turn-key service to real estate agents for a […]
Time Warner Cable’s monthly entertainment magazine, delight, has gone interactive with the help of a new service called Crickit, which is powered by Microsoft Tags. In the August issue, readers will find a full-page promotion for Crickit, which explains step-by-step what Crickit Tags are and how to use them (see top image below). Throughout the […]
Customized Microsoft Tags (see below) can be found in the August issue of Road & Track magazine. The Tags have been placed next to certain articles throughout the magazine and, when they are scanned with a smartphone, they bring the reader to a high quality video, which is related to the subject of the article. […]
Marquis on Marketing 