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Technology issues that affect your business

QR Codes: The Wave of the Future

How one designer/consultant is already using them for her clients..

by Sarah Hodsdon (August 30, 2010)

(Note: Sarah Hodsdon is a longstanding Designer Member of the Craft & Hobby Association and Chief Creative Officer for Sarah*n*dipitous Designs LLC http://www.sarahndipitousdesigns.com. She is responding to a report in the 8/16 issue of CLN, �The Next Big Thing?� Here�s a brief summary of that article:

Just as UPC codes revolutionized so much of our industry, so may the QR code. Wikipedia described it this way: �A QR Code is a matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. The information encoded can be text, URL, or other data.�

Consider the possibilities: a consumer with the right type of phone could scan the QR code on the package, and instantly be able to watch a YouTube video explaining or demonstrating the product. A business can have a QR code on its front window that, when scanned, takes the viewer to an explanation about the company. The current issue of Entertainment magazine includes short summaries of upcoming movies � each with a QR code. Readers can scan the code and watch the movie trailer on their phones.)

Sarah�s comments.

I am thrilled to see QR codes become a topic for discussion in our industry. Like many of my client's initial reactions to the graphic when I posed its use to them, they saw this symbol (something akin to a cross between an old school space-invader icon and a monochromatic Tetris hybrid) as foreign and irrelevant to their immediate business needs. It is interesting to note that now, they ALL call it a necessary tool with incredible potential.

At the recent CHA show in Chicago, I added a QR code leading to a secret website on each of my press kits for key clients. Most people I encountered had never seen a QR Code. On the surface, the augmented reality component of a QR Code enabled me to give a more real and tailored message to a specific group of people. However, beneath the surface, important data sets were being sent to my mobile device that gave me a better picture as to how my message was received and how successful my investment in CHA really was.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all had real time data sets from a convention show floor that told us exactly what customers thought, what they liked, what they disliked, what caught their eye the most, and what they believed was worth their time?

And, as a result of this minute-by-minute data streamed live to our own mobile devices, it afforded us the opportunity to re-adjust our proverbial sails, tweak the message to the audience, and accommodate our selling points to expand the bottom line within moments of initial contact? QR Codes can do that.

Let me explain in art terms. A traditional UPC code is flat; it's two-dimensional and static in nature. Imagine it as a stick figure drawn in black ink on a napkin. It gives specific, limited information pertinent to the sale. A QR code is three-dimensional and is constantly evolving while interacting with the consumer base, your consumer base, your personal network, your reason for being in business in the first place.

In essence it is your 3D avatar; that is, your computerized tour guide and friend maker, your virtual self, something the customer can hold on to. This sounds abstract, but stay with me.

QR codes can imbed incredible amounts of data far beyond the model, make, and color of an item. The code itself can include separate links that lead to rabbit holes limited only by your own imagination. You can create QR codes specifically for a promotional event, attach them to samples, and encourage the consumer to take a picture to get a behind-the-scenes view, imbed videos, include instructional materials. even the recipe for Great Aunt Maude's prize winning chili. The possibilities are endless.

What is interesting about QR codes in general is that they invite interaction. People who want to know what that code says are willing to put forth effort to figure it out. Whether that decoding means sticking it in front of their home computer cameras or scanning it on their smart phones, they will; they will because people inherently are curious and more importantly, hate being left out of the loop.

Every class I teach, every demonstration I conduct, every event I attend, and every creation that leaves our studio has a QR code. Why? It is very simple. My job is to equip, enable, engage, and inspire in such a way, that my physical presence, after my job's completion, is no longer required.

I know how successful my initiative was based on the interaction afterwards with the supplemental content and community generated thereafter sans me. Trending shows us that within five years, most people will access the Internet via their mobile devices � instantly. As a business professional, I need to be able to communicate with my customers; I need to be involved with them and they with me in real time on a global level. Safe, secure, and accessible exchanges of content-rich data are paramount. QR codes are a quick graphic, easily emailed, bumped, sent, photographed and received. They are already changing the face of how people conduct business, how they interact with their customers, and most importantly, how they disseminate their message.

The Arts and Crafts Community can greatly benefit from this technology.

I leave you with this last thought, it's the one I give to my clients: "You've prepared your elevator pitch; how can you give it in under five seconds to a person who can't hear what you're saying." A picture in this case is worth more than a mere 1,000 words; it could very well make your entire year.

(Note: Sarah is a mixed media artist, award winning designer, author, media personality, instructor and consultant. Her artwork has been published in almost every industry-related magazine, as well as in a number of collaborative books, industry publications, online galleries, and advertisements. Sarah also has a background in finance, marketing, science, and technology. Connect with Sarah via Facebook or on Twitter (@sarahndipitous). To learn how Sarah*n*dipitous Designs can help you or your company, visit http://www.sarahndipitousdesigns.com.)

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