QR Codes: Are They Feasible?

Last week a client told our marketing agency they wanted a QR code on the front of a promotional packet to divvy out to potential business partners. They wanted it big, across the front cover, so that it even out-shadowed their name. We were hesitant, but said sure and asked where they would like it to lead.

QR Tipping: Photo by Cream Global

"What do you mean lead?" they asked. "It goes somewhere?"

The misunderstanding above is just one example of how the QR code is way ahead of its tipping point of being feasible. The simple truth is the majority of people don't fully understand them. Most people recognize it as a symbol of the future--a scrambled barcode that if stamped on their company, equates to being cutting edge and tech-savvy. What they don't understand is how still in most cases, it makes more sense to list a website or possible even a phone number.

For a QR code to be successful, a marketer has to understand that people are accessing it from mobile devices and therefore, the website the code is being linked to must be mobile-friendly. By failing to understand this, marketers could send their client's customers to a faulty webpage with crappy formatting and barely legible links and text.

It should also be warned that a large number of the general population do not understand how to use QR codes. Many phones need an app to take advantage of them, and when used takes them to the app and then the webpage, hardly making it any more convenient than punching in a website.

Another point to consider is what exactly is the point of using a QR code. If a client wants to use it as a flashy demonstration of technology, fine, but they should not depend on their potential customer's knowledge of aptitude in technology to know their company's contact information.

None of this is to say that QR codes are useless. Unlike the barcode that just carries information in horizontal patterns, QR codes carry vast amounts of information through multiple directions. It is important to remember they were first invented in manufacturing for purposes not too different from barcodes and while their use is expanding, so is the website and mobile technology to catch up with it. It is no doubt that the tipping point of QR feasibility is fast approaching. It's just not here yet.