Despite articles being published almost every year like clockwork predicting or announcing its return; despite examples of countries (like China and Japan) where QR code technology is employed to excellent effect; and despite there being some genuinely good reasons to use QR codes for marketing (in the right way), it’s probably not going to happen.
Even if a brand came out tomorrow with a killer use case for QR codes with a smooth, seamless and logical implementation, or all the tech giants united behind them, it likely wouldn’t be enough to bring back QR codes – they just have a bad rep over here. QR codes are doomed to forever be thought of as clunky, useless, and just plain uncool.
But the fact remains that there is a genuine niche that QR codes could fill in linking the online and offline worlds – something which has innumerable potential benefits for marketing campaigns. The premise behind QR codes was never the problem; just the execution.
So, if QR codes aren’t going to fill that niche, what might? Here are six alternatives to QR codes that boast similar benefits for mobile marketing.
1. NFC tags
Near Field Communication (NFC) tags are a close cousin to the QR code, in that they are little physical tags that store information and can push that information to your phone when it’s brought within range. NFC tags can contain anything from a web address or contact details to a short line of text or a link to an app store. If you’ve ever used your phone to make a contactless payment (e.g. using Google Pay or Apple Pay), that transaction was enabled by NFC technology.
Some examples of how NFC tags could be used in marketing and advertising include embedding NFC tags into out-of-home (OOH) advertising displays that offer discounts or directions to the nearest store or restaurant branch, creating NFC-enabled product tags that bring product information to life, or embedding NFC technology into a print ad that will take the reader to a website or app.
Near-field communication | Image: Roger Wissman, Shutterstock
Spanish winemaker Barbadillo put NFC tags to good use in 2017 by producing a line of “smart bottles” with an NFC tag on the collar that when tapped would reveal details of a contest customers could take part in with their phones – if they bought a bottle of wine and entered the code printed on the cork. The campaign reportedly boosted engagement rates four times more than banner ads, and generated double the growth rate of Barbadillo subscribers compared to previous online promotions.
Why are we still awaiting the first knockout use of smart packaging?
Some advantages of NFC tags are that they can be much smaller and more discreet than QR codes and still work perfectly, allowing them to integrate into the look of a product label or print ad. They are also generally a little faster and slicker than QR codes while still conveying the same benefits.
One drawback of using NFC tags in a marketing or advertising activation is that not all smartphones are NFC-enabled – particularly in the Android ecosystem, with device makers like Xiaomi, OnePlus and Motorola offering patchy NFC support. As for Apple, NFC compatibility was previously restricted to Apple Pay only until the advent of iOS 11, which allowed iPhones to read NFC tags via a third-party app. In 2018, Apple removed this friction and allowed the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR to read NFC tags from the home screen.
However, NFC support is increasingly commonplace across major smartphone models and brands – so, chances are good that the majority of your consumers will have no problem interacting with NFC tags in a marketing context.
2. Image recognition & augmented reality
One of the benefits offered by QR codes is the ability to add interactive elements to static pieces of media, such as posters, billboards or print ads. Another technology that offers this possibility is augmented reality (AR). When combined with image recognition, AR can be used to add a variety of interactive capabilities to static advertising or physical locations, which onlookers can experience and interact with through their smartphones.
Some brands have used augmented reality to create ‘virtual storefronts’ – effectively creating a pop-up shop without the need for any physical real estate or inventory. Brazilian footwear brand Havaianas, for example, installed a mural at the entrance to the Venice Beach Boardwalk in Southern California in summer 2019 that doubled as a mobile commerce experience. Passers-by could visit a dedicated “Step into Summer” microsite and then scan their favourite part of the mural; the site would then present them with a pair of flip-flops to match it, using Google Vision AI technology to detect and match the colours.
While much more elaborate and expensive to implement than a simple QR code directing to a mobile website, the campaign was also more immersive, memorable and fun – and far more visually appealing to pedestrians, who would be more likely to be intrigued by the installation and want to take part.
In another AR activation, fashion brand Zara “emptied” its shop windows of their displays in a bid to entice consumers (especially young consumers) into interacting with them via their smartphones instead. Shoppers could download the Zara AR app and point their smartphones at the window to view models displaying the latest Studio collection. These items could then be shopped through the app in one click – or bought directly in-store.
While it’s again more elaborate than simply adding a QR code to a shop window, the experience is more impactful and more likely to visually attract the attention of passers-by, causing them to slow down, try it out, and perhaps buy something.
What is the future of augmented reality?
3. Snapcodes/Pincodes
Some social media platforms are having more success with proprietary versions of QR codes that, when scanned, will take the visitor to a dedicated experience on that platform. Both Snapchat and Pinterest have versions of this technology, called “Snapcodes” and “Pincodes” respectively.
The obvious drawback to each of these QR code equivalents is that they only work within either Snapchat or Pinterest, and require the user to have the app downloaded and an account set up in order to experience the campaign. While a QR code would simply direct the user to a particular website using their preferred web browser, a Snapcode or Pincode will keep them within Snapchat or Pinterest’s walled garden, effectively preventing the brand from entirely owning that campaign.
Example of a Snapcode, a QR-code-esque visual that can be scanned to open a specific website within Snapchat. Source: Snapchat
However, there are also a number of advantages to using them. In a practical sense, Snapcodes and Pincodes work exactly the same way that a QR code does: the user approaches the code with their mobile device (having first opened the Snapchat or Pinterest app) and scans it, and is swiftly redirected to the relevant experience within the app. Snapcodes are a little more versatile than Pincodes in that they will work on any website (though it will still be opened within Snapchat) while Pincodes can only point to Pinterest content such as a board or profile.
This prerequisite makes it more difficult for brands to fall into the trap that killed many QR code campaigns: not having a properly mobile-optimised landing page for the user to be directed to. It may also lower the barrier to entry for some smaller businesses, who don’t have the resources to build a dedicated web experience, but can more easily create content within Snapchat or Pinterest.
Finally, Snapcodes and Pincodes have the same advantage as QR codes in that they can be applied to any physical object, from a product label to a display.
US retail brand Macy’s used Pincodes for an out-of-home experiential campaign in 2019 in which consumers could scan Pincodes at various pop-up stations, and be taken to a board with shoppable outfits for that particular location.
In a move slightly reminiscent of Zara’s “empty shop window”, Lego partnered with Snapchat to launch an “invisible pop-up shop” (called, aptly, The Missing Piece) that contained nothing but a Snapcode on a plinth. Visitors who scanned the Snapcode were transported to an augmented reality fashion boutique that allowed them to browse and buy a limited-edition line of Lego Wear.
4. Bluetooth beacons/iBeacons
Bluetooth beacons are a slightly different proximity marketing tool that don’t require the consumer to move their smartphone close to a tag or product, but rather will activate when they are within a certain range. They can offer similar benefits in terms of being able to bring a campaign to life or push an offer to the consumer’s smartphone based on physical proximity, thereby linking a digital promotion with physical surroundings.
Bluetooth beacons, also known as Bluetooth low energy beacons, are small wireless devices that send out a signal to any smart devices nearby. iBeacons are the Apple equivalent of Bluetooth beacons, first introduced as part of iOS 7 in 2013.
Beacons can be used in marketing and advertising to activate location-specific deals or offers, track footfall to a physical location, or deploy personalised, timely ad targeting. For example, supermarket brand Waitrose trialled iBeacons in its stores to deliver price promotions to shoppers while they were near a particular aisle or food counter. Australian retailer Woolworths has also used beacons to notify staff when a click-and-collect customer is approaching a store, prompting them to put together the order and speeding up the whole process.
Despite their many useful applications, beacons do have a number of technical drawbacks. They can be costly to deploy and maintain at a large scale, and their signal can be blocked by physical objects or people. They also require customers to download an app and opt in to push notifications in order to receive messaging, which adds a significant amount of friction to the process.
Beacons saw a spike in usage during the mid-2010s while the technology was still quite new and exciting, but there have been fewer recent applications. However, they have a lot of promise as a tool for joining online and offline marketing and deploying contextual campaigns, if marketers can overcome the hurdles.
5. Geofencing
Similar to Bluetooth beacons, geofencing allows marketers to deploy location-based campaigns or ad messaging – but on a larger scale. While Bluetooth beacons are more QR-code-like in the sense that they activate near a specific point, geofencing covers a wider area, such as any point within 100 metres of the centre of a particular building. However, it still offers many of the same benefits in being able to activate a campaign oriented around physical location – just with a wider range.
Geofencing is subject to some of the same constraints as beacons in that users still need to be opted in via an app to receive any notifications. However, geofences don’t require the same level of additional hardware, installation and maintenance that beacons do, and they seem to have engendered a few more successful campaigns.
One entertaining recent example of this involves ‘reverse geotargeting’ – in December 2018, Burger King launched a campaign in which any customer within 600 feet of a McDonald’s branch who had the new Burger King app installed on their phone could purchase a Whopper for one cent. While it may not necessarily have stolen any customers away from McDonald’s, the campaign generated a large amount of earned media and served to promote Burger King’s revamped app with mobile ordering functionality.
Fashion brand American Eagle used geofencing to attract shoppers who entered a mall parking lot into its store by offering them rewards – and then combined this with beacons to offer a second layer of rewards to anyone who entered a dressing room in the store, reportedly tripling sales as a result.
How can brands enhance their marketing with geotargeting?
6. Wi-fi
Wi-fi hotspots can also be used to push location-specific messages or advertising to a customer’s mobile device. A business can set up a free wi-fi hotspot for customers connect to, and once they connect and opt in, send them proximity-based marketing or content, track footfall, and measure repeat visits.
Some of the drawbacks of wi-fi-based proximity marketing are that it can be expensive for small and medium businesses to set up (with separate costs for the router, installation, internet service and electricity) and that customers need to activate the connection each time they enter the business – and they might not have wi-fi turned on. Wi-fi can also be a lot less precise in locating consumers than something like a beacon, putting it somewhere between beacons and geofencing in terms of how broad an area the message needs to be applicable to.
However, businesses can use wi-fi marketing in conjunction with other technology – like beacons – to narrow this down and fine-tune their marketing. The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, for example, used the free wi-fi hotspot to drive downloads of their ‘Discover Kew’ mobile app. Once downloaded, the app could be used to interact with beacons across the grounds and discover content tailored to the visitor’s location.
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