QR Codes In Television Advertising
I have some fundamental challenges with QR codes in advertising that are popping up on TV ads lately. The challenge is not with QR codes them self. The challenge with QR codes in advertising is that TV ads are starting to have them in the corner of their ads at the end of the commercial, so people will scan them for additional conversions.
Imagine watching a commercial as you sit on your couch watching a game with a beer in one hand, and some chips in another as some advertiser puts a QR code at the end of their advertisement.
Are you going to bolt out of your chair, spill your beer, and overthrow the chips in your lap just to scan the QR code. I think not.
Plus, with a commercial you might only have a short window to scan the QR code. Before you register what the QR code is in your mind and get your smartphone out of your pocket just to rush to the tv and scan that TV ad you are already on to the next commercial.
One of my favorite examples of this is Waitrose, the British grocer, which put out a QR code in a Christmas ad they had last year with their Waitrose 2 seconds QR Code ad. Can you imagine having 2 seconds after a full Christmas dinner rushing to scan a QR code? I think not!
QR codes are great, but QR codes in advertising on TV have no place, because they go back to disruptive marketing that we have been getting away with for the last ten years in social media and internet marketing.
I really just believe this is a fad, and any early positives from this trend will quickly dissipate as consumers view this as a pain to do. The word couch potato exists for a reason. People collapse on the couch and do not want to move.
That alone will eventually kill QR codes in advertising, the low yield that it will have on consumers will be the nail in the coffin.
Follow Technorati