This odd looking puzzle is a QR (Quick Response) Code. Today, many QR code websites offer free app readers that can be downloaded in a matter of seconds. Do a Google search for “QR code generator” to find either android or apple apps. My personal favorite is QRdroid since I have an Android smart phone.
Once you have downloaded a reader to your smart phone, you can scan the code with your cell phone. With the QRdroid reader you simply tap the app to activate it. The screen will display an area to hover over the QR code, and the app automatically focuses and snaps a picture of the code. The information from the QR code will then appear.
You might wonder what all the fuss is. why not just put a link to your website. But if you think like that you are missing out on one of the most valuable features. QR codes can display anything you want including a name, a phone number, a special coupon, a secret code for a special discount, or virtually anything you can imagine.QR codes are used primarily when you have a small space with a larger message.
The message you choose to embed in the QR codes is entirely up to you. It might be the nutritional value of the food on your menu or even the product part numbers of an assembled product. You can embed links to websites or create a banner the size of a building for movie viewers to see the trailer of a movie. QR code uses are virtually limitless and are an extremely affordable marketing tool.
Please note that QR Codes do not have to be the bland black and white version. With judicious application, there is ample room for creative use of color and branding within the QR Code. For example, this QR Code that we created for the PPI Christmas video.
A website called Mobibrix.com can be useful because for the first time, they provide the functionality of changeing the message of a QR code after it has been printed. This is efficient for people who have rotating stock such as real estate agents. They do not have to go back and reprint literature after a house sells and a new one is listed because the QR code information can be changed after print. They simply change the QR code links and the new information is current.
I will confess that, as a printer, the prospect of widespread use of QR Codes is exciting because they allow print to be directly and easily integrated with marketing on the web.
If you have not yet explored how your business can benefit from QR codes you are missing out on huge opportunities. The fastest growing sector of people who are looking for businesses on the internet is with mobile devices. In 2010 for the first time the number of people who owned smart phones world wide outnumbered those who owned laptops or desktop computers.
QR codes are inexpensive to generate and can be suited for any business. If you are not already using them your business is behind. Virtually all of your printed material should contain QR codes to engage your customers and draw more people to your business.
Gerald Drumwright has 25 years in all phases of the printing industry, currently focused on book, catalog, and magazine printing. Gerald is principal of PPI in Tupelo MS, Total Graphics Printing in Southaven, MS, and McNeal Graphics in Memphis TN. Contact Gerald at 662-680-4332.





