QR codes are being used more widely by marketers in advertisements. You can see a handful of them in many magazines. But, I am not surprised that they are not being adopted as quickly advocates of QR codes might have hoped because it does not seem that all marketers using them in their campaigns really understand how to use them properly.
Take, for instance, a recent advertisement by a web hosting company called 'Free Virtual Servers' in 'Web User' magazine (picture left). They used a QR code at the bottom of their one page advertisement to encourage potential customers to visit their website to buy their services.
In short, when I scanned using my 'Digimarc' app (which is installed on my Samsung Galaxy S II) the link took me to their normal website, not a website designed for mobile phones. You have to zoom in to check through their offers. To be blunt it's lazy of the marketers, either that or they don't understand what a customer experiences when they use the QR code. The QR code is small and difficult to focus your camera on too.
On the other hand, Honda ran an advertisement in the 'i' newspaper last week for a car which included a QR code.
Firstly, the QR code is bigger than the example above, making it easier to scan. More importantly, when you reach the intended destination of the code, you are presented with a mobile website, not a site intended for a PC-based browser. This means you can use it easily which makes it more likely that customers will carry out what you want them to do which is to search for a local dealer where you can take a test drive.
The next thing you will notice with the Honda mobile site is that it picks up that you have GPS on your phone so it will help you locate your nearest dealer by where you are at that point. It's clever and makes for a good experience.
Honda really knows how to use QR codes.
In conclusion, QR codes are simple to create, but there is much more to their effective use than just linking them to an existing website. You have to think about your customer. They are using a mobile phone to scan the code so make the experience for them suitable to their environment. Otherwise, you are wasting the time of your customer and you run th risk of them thinking less of your brand.
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