QR Codes
What are QR Codes?
- QR is the acronym for Quick Response. It is a 2D barcode that allows its contents to be decoded at high speeds and is readable by QR scanners or smartphones.
- The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. QR Codes have a unique ability to gather, present, and quantify data.
- With smartphones rapidly gaining larger market penetration, QR Codes are now being integrated into marketing and promotion in both traditional and interactive campaigns.
- QR Codes storing Internet addresses (URLs) may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards, or on just about any object about which users might need information. The act of linking the physical world with the digital world is what QR codes are all about.
- QR Codes can be applied to all industries to increase sales revenues and expand brand awareness.
There are a handful of different styles of barcodes, but QR Codes have established global roots. Microsoft Tag, EZcode, and Data Matrix, are the most common alternative barcodes. Most barcode readers will scan all types with the exception of Microsoft Tag, which requires its own reader.
QR Code Examples
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QR Code
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EZ code
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Data Matrix
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Microsoft Tag
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Anatomy of a QR Code

What can QR Code technology do?
QR Code enhanced branding can create a 360 experience:
- Revitalize branding by adding new dimensions to the brand’s exposure
- Brand engagement – through increased interactivity and novel strategic alliances
- Brand enhancement – deliver meaning to brands with new technology and content-rich engagement of brands between customers and companies
- Allow for quick and easy real time updates of data
- Ability to do a commercial within a commercial – creating partners in media
- Offer a green marketing alternative – use less resources, or replace/augment expensive hard copy marketing tools
- Allow charity donations to be made in real time
There are numerous applications for QR codes that allow the consumer to be engaged repeatedly with a refreshed brand experience. They also produce metrics that can provide information on the location, time and date, type of device used to scan, and more. QR Codes allow you to connect with your customers instantly and produce quantifiable data like never before.