In case you have not noticed, we at CustomXM have been pushing QR codes for about a year now. We really like them, more than cupcakes even. Mostly we think they have the potential to change the face of marketing and advertising. We have been very impressed with how far QR codes have come in the last year, this time in 09 it was a novelty, now it is beginning to get serious attention.
As a marketer and advertiser I feel like there are few directions that QR codes need to go from here to be successful.
Mobile Websites – The largest problem I have seen so far with the use of QR codes in marketing and advertising is that more times than not the code takes you to a non-mobile optimized website. For example NYC released an awesome QR code campaign a couple of weeks ago. The problem with this however is that when you scanned the code it took you to the NYC website which is designed for computer viewing.
QR codes are scanned using smart phones, they are going to be viewed on these smart phones, why then would you take someone to a website that is not optimized for mobile viewing? Give people larger text, bigger links, and html 5 interactive elements.
Creative Placement – More often than not a QR code is just shoved in as an afterthought. Designers need to make the code part of the creative rather than a separate item. By making the QR code more appealing it begins to bring the focal point of the ad to the QR code, increasing the possibility for action.
Higher Usage – As is always the case with emerging technology, the question of adoption comes up. Do you go ahead and start including it and hope the users pick it up, or do you wait for adoption rates to increase before you begin using it? I say go ahead and be in front of adoption rates in an attempt to drive adoption in your industry.
Greg Henderson is a marketing and social media professional with 8 years marketing and online experience. Greg has worked with several companies focusing on integrating online and offline marketing.
Jessica Yu from Calgary (print lives internationally too). Here is the winning idea:
- Two people are in a car/limo.
Envelopes, business cards are everywhere and they’re both sketching furiously on envelopes - they’re trying to meet a deadline.
The driver, Paul Strack in a tuxedo, glares at them from the rear-view mirror. He tells the two people about how CustomXM can do that for them: full color envelopes, letterheads, business cards, etc.
One of them gasps and whispers, “CustomXM must get a lot of trophies and prizes!” Paul Strack drums his fingers on the steering wheel and sings, “but it’s not about the awards.”
The two people pull out their phones and do a bit of clicking around and BAM - they’re done! They’ve sent their stuff off to CustomXM. One of them proudly states, “You go, CustomXM!” and high fives the person sitting beside him/her.
Both of their phones vibrate..they’ve both got a text message!
The two people hold their phones side by side - the camera goes for an overhead shot of both their phones and on the phone that’s on the left, it says, in a bright, bold font: “Print.” On the phone that’s on the right hand side: “Lives.”
*Note: After much input from the community I want to clarify something. The point of this post is not to knock down GenX. There are plenty of great success cases of GenXers succeeding. However as a generation they are following a generation that has (due to numbers and late retirements) held them back considerably. The notable difference with GenY is that we have developed an overall mistrust of employers. This has led to an entrepreneurial spirit that has helped us rise more quickly than the previous generation. Simply put we don’t wait for a job, we either find the job or create it. The point to this post is to encourage consideration of GenY when marketing and highlight the fact that there is a growing need to market specifically to GenY.
I’ll admit, I really enjoy the whole Millennial vs Baby Boomer debate that is growing now that more and more millennials are entering the work place. The most fascinating thing about the debate is that it seems to be all written by boomers, to boomers, in hopes to understand millennials. Very rarely do you see something actually written by a millennial.
Marketing Question: what is considered a quick turnaround in the super-connected world we all live in? Life with smartphones, email, texting and Twitter means that we are available to be touched 24 hours a day. This hyper-access has accelerated people’s expectations of what is a reasonable amount of time they should wait for a response to a query. How many times have you received a phone call from someone wanting to know if you got their email because you had not responded yet? How fast is fast enough. It appears that the gap is closing.
Let’s ignore the fact that a “print guy” is comparing two popular e-readers. Consider it market research. Let’s also ignore the fact that it’s probably a little odd for one person to have two e-readers. For the record, the Kindle was a Christmas gift from my wife. The iPad was an Easter gift(?) to my wife. (Okay, maybe that one is a stretch). So I have both and this fact was made known to a couple of Twitter friends – Arlton Lowry (@arlton) and Tom Dixon (@twd3lr). They had the bright idea that I review both and give them some feedback. I agreed to do so with the condition that they recommend the reading material. Arlton suggested Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin; Tom suggested The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. So I accepted their challenge, and began immersing myself simultaneously in an informative business book, and a popular fiction title aimed at young adults. (Again, a stretch, but please play along with me.)
Today, as you all should know, is earth day. As marketers sometimes it feels like struggle to honor the earth and stay green. When you start calculating the print materials, the postal transportation, the impact of inks, and the overall product waste from over printing you start to feel like maybe you need to go to confession tomorrow.
I decided to chat a bit with our president Paul Strack, who knows a thing or two about printing and confessions, to see what we can do to help offset the environmental impact.
There are vendors, and there are partners. Kodak is one of our partners. Over the past three years, Kodak has played an instrumental role in helping us expand our offering of digital printing solutions. In addition to these successes, this relationship has lead to numerous award recognitions over that past several months. As a result, Kodak will soon feature CustomXM in a series of print, on-line, and trade publications.
But this recognition is not about the awards. It’s about our success in adapting to the digital world around us. It’s about the solutions we provide for our clients. And, it’s about how we interact with you.
Now we are beginning a fun new venture together. As part of our continuing, combined efforts to show CustomXM as a thought leader and innovative solutions provider, we are attempting to expand the reach, awareness, and influence of the graphic communications industry through a series of videos.
And we need your help. We need your ideas. And we want to have some fun! So here’s what we want you to do: Give us some ideas for a short one to two minute video. Videos will be filmed in our facilities, using a Kodak Zi8 HD video camera. One lucky winner will win their own Kodak Zi8 HD video camera. This lucky winner will be selected from all the qualified entries. To be considered for entry into our Video Challenge contest, your idea MUST include:
For an example, take a look at this video we recently produced:
Videos that we produce and submit to Kodak may be posted as appropriate on Kodak TV, YouTube, WhatTheyThink.com, other industry sites, and of course, our CustomXM site.
Again, we will choose one winner from all qualified entries. Additionally, if we select to produce a video from the qualified entrants’ ideas, we will award another Kodak Zi8 HD video camera to the entrant of the first video we select to produce.
So here are the submission guidelines:
Submit your ideas via the blog comments below, or send via email to pstrack@customxm.com.
In addition to the 3 requirements listed above, describe to us a scene or two you would include. Visit our website at www.customxm.com, or our facebook page to learn more about who we are and what we do. Use this information to make your ideas relevant to our organization. Finally, let’s have some fun.
Deadline for entry is Friday, April 30.
While discussing a subscription renewal appeal for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, the Rep’s Director of Marketing, our good friend Angel Galloway (@angelmg) asked, “How do I get folks to open the envelope?”
I had the pleasure of attending the 2010 Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism. If the venue itself, Eureka Springs, was not engaging and entertaining enough, the information presented was certainly captivating for those in attendance. More importantly, the information was welcome and exciting news for all of us as citizens of the Great State of Arkansas.
Rarely do I look at Arkansas as a visitor, but my eyes were opened to the incredible work that our State Parks and Tourism , Aristotle and CJRW are doing to bring visitors to the Natural State. And it is nothing short of amazing.
Consider this:
One other “undocumented” fact, but one I witnessed personally, is that the Tourism Communications Manager, Dena Woerner (@DenaJill) has got to be the hardest working dynamo in the tourism industry. You may try to follow her on Twitter, but you can’t catch her.
So there you have it: A State Agency, An Internet Agency, and an Ad Agency, working in unison to make Arkansas Travel & Tourism tops in America. How is it done? Naturally.
The peak travel season is drawing near, won’t you share with us your favorite Arkansas destination?
Paul Strack is the president of CustomXM. Paul has become a leader in the print industry for his integration of social marketing into the company’s overall marketing strategy.
After a lot of persuasion from friends I finally picked up a copy of Seth Godin’s Linchpin this week. Just a few chapters in it is already a book that changes the way I view my position. However something struck me this morning. Why can a company itself not serve as a Linchpin for the community as a whole?