This week Apple announced several new products that will bring a lot of new features. And QR Codes are going to be usable in a big way. When iOS 11 launches in the fall, the Camera app will natively provide a QR scanning function, allowing users to scan and interact with QR codes with no need of downloading a separate app.
This is a great opportunity for marketers to include QR code technologies in their campaigns. We selected 6 case studies that will inspire you to integrate them in your future campaigns.
Merries Babysitter- Add value to your product transforming QR codes into useful tools
In their campaign, Merries -a Kao Corporation brand of baby diapers- used QR codes to build higher levels of brand loyalty without having to reduce its price.
They created a useful and extremely popular tool, available through a simple QR code on Merries’ packs. Named Merries Babysitter, this tool recreated the sound in a mother’s womb, which is proven to comfort crying babies.
With the user experience in mind, they created a simple, straightforward mobile app.
The QR code took parents to the company’s campaign site where they could easily download the soothing sounds to their mobile devices and play them whenever and wherever they want.
The mobile channel helped transform Merries’ soothing baby sounds into a true, valued utility for the users, allowing the company to reach the target audience in a more intimate, personal and ongoing way. The campaign was a great succes, with 50,000 app downloads, gaining high consumer awareness via word-of-mouth from parents, without relying on a big media budget.
“We Are Original” - letting users create and share original content through QR codes
When Levi’s launched its global ad campaign, “We Are Original” in China, the agency knew it had to persuade Chinese millennials to feel the power of being original for themselves.
Instead of telling Chinese consumers what it meant to be “original,” the team handed over the reins of ad creation and inspired younger demos to create their own version of the “We Are Original” campaign.
From models to copy and even theme music, the brand’s ads became authentic expressions of individuals’ originality. Levi’s invited China’s youth to star in their own Levi’s poster, striking a pose to show their originality. By scanning a QR code on their mobile phones, users could create images and share them socially with their own messages
Coming from millennials themselves, the ad campaign carried a much more trusted and impactful message.
The wave of originality spread faster through peer groups than a regular campaign. In just two weeks, over 2.6 million Levi’s ads were created by millennials. The initiative had 2.9 million likes, forwards, comments and shares.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxIcxMt7Eic
Back to Vinyl — The Office Turntable- using QR codes to stand out - new ways to promote new products
Kontor, the world’s biggest dance-music label, wanted to promote the new Boris Dlugosch release to the advertising industry. To reach out to brands through their ad agencies, Kontor Records GmbH decided to impress creative directors by sending out vinyl discs, along with the world’s first “office turntable” to play them on.
The turntable was made out of an envelope that had a QR code printed on it. The users simply had to flip the envelope over and activate the QR code with a smartphone. After putting the vinyl disc on the turntable, they just placed the phone over the disc to play it. Each disc could play multiple songs and linked back to the Kontor site.
As a result, the mailing offered the recipients a simultaneous analog and digital experience. Out of 900 mailings, 71 percent of them were activated.
Ford Racing Mobile Integration- using QR codes as tickets for a ”virtual pit pass”
Ford Racing wanted to grow and strengthen its fan base by building an affiliation between race fans and Ford. The brand developed a mobile site to give them access to live videos of the race, real-time updates, and leader board information on race day and access to news reports, updates, and exclusive behind-the-scenes information on non-race days.
The Ford Racing mobile website also provided fans with photos, videos, downloadable wallpapers, events and schedules, and interactive polls.
To drive traffic to the event and create viral content, the team created a personalized autographed photo of 2012 Daytona 500 winner and Ford driver Trevor Bayne. The autograph offer was promoted on-site at the track with printed driver “Hero Cards” featuring QR codes and SMS click-to-actions.
The campaign generated 505,000 exposures to Ford Racing content across the mobile site and the mobile traffic on the official website of the race increased from 7 percent to 27 percent.
Free the Forced- giving QR codes the power to unlock padlocks
The United Nations Association of Germany campaign highlighted a taboo topic in a spot where most people take their freedom of choice for granted: the Hohenzollern Bridge.
The bridge is known for the love padlocks that people put on its fence to symbolize their love. To break the silence and raise awareness of forced/arranged marriages, 3,500 custom-made blue padlocks were affixed to the Hohenzollern Bridge, spelling out the words “Free the Forced.”
On each of the locks, a QR code was available for passersby to scan with their mobile and make a donation via Paypal. Donators then received a number code to unlock the padlock and symbolically free a future, unwilling, and indebted woman from a life of matrimonial slavery.
In just three days, approximately 470,000 people visited the Hohenzollern Bridge and unlocked nearly all of the blue padlocks. More than 570,000 unique visitors talked about “Free the Forced” and shared their pictures of the bridge on social media.
Hennessy Kaws Mobile Campaign- custom-branded QR code for enabling creative new brand experiences
For promoting a new limited-edition bottle designed by contemporary artist Kaws, Global cognac brand Hennessy created a digital/social/mobile (DSM) campaign that wanted to integrate the brand’s and the artist’s fan bases, promoting the specially labeled V.S. bottle to a mobile audience.
A custom-branded QR code was developed using Kaws-inspired colors and an image of the actual Hennessy bottle. The QR code was printed on each limited-edition bottle and on all press materials. A Kaws-branded mobile website was also developed as the back end of the QR code. The website prompted visitors to watch the videos about the story of how the Hennessy Kaws partnership unfolded. Also, they could download the label as wallpaper for their mobile phones, access cocktail recipes, and use an interactive map to locate stores that carried the limited-edition bottle.
Branding the bottles with a QR code enabled the experience to be new to users throughout the campaign. Over the course of six months, the custom-branded QR code obtained 1.3 million scans, a mobile industry record.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=96&v=yfhr0d6WdFQ
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