Oh RBS! Is there anything you touch that doesn't turn to shit? You take our money, lose it, then pay it out to yourself. Still, at least your latest advert contains a QR code. Bet you haven't managed to screw that up. Oh... On the back page of the 25 February 2011 edition of the City AM newspaper, is this lovely specimen. Thankfully, City AM have placed their paper under CC BY NC. Let's take a zoom in on the code and the instructions that accompany it. You Know What's Coming Next,…
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The Metro have been on quite a QR splurge recently - this is their latest effort encouraging people to write in to the paper. On the surface, it's quite a simple idea - yet Metro have needlessly complicated it. The Process The simplest process would be Scan Code Send Email That's not what Metro have done. By using Scanlife as an intermediary, they change the process to Scan Code Connect to web Get redirected Get redirected again Load web page Click on…
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I get a lot of positive comments about my Moo Cards with QR codes. As I prepare to go off to Mobile World Congress, I thought I'd add a couple of extra designs into the mix. Feel free to use these as templates - but please remember to change the QR Code! (more…) …
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Seen in the latest issue of Sport Magazine - this rather interesting QR advert for Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. This is a really well executed campaign which should serve as a template to other advertisers. There are, of course, one or two issues that I have with it. Let's start by zooming in to the QR Code. Explanatory Text It's great to have a little note to explain to people what to do with a QR code. A couple of interesting points. It recommends get.beettagg.com - this is…
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Tom Morris pointed me to this interesting discussion about using Wikipedia QR codes in museums. I think it's an excellent idea. It's something I've briefly discussed with Cristianno Betta for his 100 Objects project. There are five key points to the success of such a scheme. 100% of visitors will be scanning these codes on their mobile phones. The code must point to the mobile version of Wikipedia. <100% of visitors will speak the language of the country where the museum is located …
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Last year I gave a presentation at PayPal to show how charities could harness QR codes. I'm not sure if Oxfam were in the audience that day. But if they were, they missed the point. QR codes are a solution for quick interactions with mobile phones. Let's investigate the Oxfam QR code seen in Metro. The Advert So, can donate by scanning the code? Well, it's not really made clear what the QR code is for. There's no text associated with it. The Code Let's take a closer look at the code. …
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Congratulations to rawedge for this QR campaign for Sky Atlantic. A simple QR code, pointing to a URL (with source=qr for analytics), a mobile website, and a 3gp video. Almost perfect. Why Almost? I'm a nit-picker - but here are a few suggestions to make the campaign better. Make the code bigger. When dealing with newsprint and its fuzzy images, it's always better to make the QR as large as possible - or as large as your advertising team will allows. Larger images are easier to scan. …
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Another day in London - another sighting of a QR code! This time, on a poster for high-brow art-house flick The Mechanic. Quite close to the bottom of the poster - so low, I had to kneel to scan it - is a QR code. Scan it and it takes you a mobile friendly trailer on YouTube. Issues It wouldn't be a Terence Eden blog post if I didn't criticise the approach taken by the advertisers. QR code is far too low down - who wants to stoop to scan (other than nerds like me)? No call to…
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Updated! 2011-01-11 20:00 - see the response from the Metro. The Metro is a London-based UK newspaper national newspaper which is distributed in 33 cities across the UK. Around a year ago, I reviewed the Metro's mobile website. It wass a perfectly fine mobile site and I'm pleased to see that over the last 12 months it has undergone substantial improvements. You can visit it at http://metro.mobi/ This morning, I spotted this prominent QR code - placed on page 2 of the paper. Photo by…
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After the derisory efforts of Waitrose to properly utilise QR codes, it's disheartening to see Debenhams make a brand new mistake. At the bottom of tonight's Evening Standard is this advert from Debenhams. Debenhams QR Advert The QR code immediately caught my eye and - being the saddo that I am - I immediatley whipped out ZXing and scanned it in. Debenhams QR Code What goodies would it net me? A URL to visit their mobile site? Contact details for a Christmas order line? …
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What a joy for fans of 2D codes. London's freesheet "Metro" has adverts with two different styles of 2D codes on pages 14 and 15. In the left corner - John Lewis sporting a QR Code. In the right corner - the Donkey from Shrek going into battle with an MS Tag. FIGHT! QR Code This use of QR code leaves me a little conflicted. On the one hand, the code is too small and, either in resizing or printing, has become distorted. On the other hand, the code resolves to a great mobile site. …
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What's this I spy from across Woking Station? Why! An advert for the Olympus PEN - complete with a QR code! The QR code is near the bottom, and has some explanatory text letting you know how to use it. There's even a shortcode to get a reader. The URL that's sent back from the SMS is http://www.isitetv.com/mobile/reader.html which redirects to the popular i-nigma reader. A clearer shot of the QR card The QR resolves to http://www.isitetv.com/pen-m1.htm?INGUID=17662. The Mobile Site …
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