Updates on the QR Code and NFC Platform for Out-of-Home (OOH) Advertising

This earlier post gives a brief overview of our platform for OOH advertising providers. The platform has become popular with OOH media owners and advertisers because it adds value for all - including the user.

Nearly every campaign today has an online component (LIKE us, register for event, get a coupon, purchase...) and providing an instant, relevant, actionable trigger goes a long way in meeting the objectives of the campaign.

Since launch we have added many features to support the unique workflows of the OOH industry.

A couple of notable ones:

Campaign Scheduler:
A tedious manual process used to be updating the campaigns every week. Usually OOH campaigns are sold on a weekly basis and on the designated day (typically late at night), new posters and material is put up for the up-coming campaigns. This of course required changing the settings for all the QR Codes and NFCs on our platform as well.

The Qryptal system always enabled uploading a spreadsheet with details of the up-coming campaigns. But though the actual physical posters would always need to be changed manually (until it is all digital screens) - it was doubly frustrating to do the re-programming of the NFCs and QR Codes every week.

Now we have added capability that you can upload campaign spreadsheets and schedule them. So if you are running 10 campaigns/week - you can just keep on scheduling as when the clients confirm and not do so on that particular changeover day.

Since the spreadsheets could have an error, we also have dry run processing which emails you incase of any problems are encountered in the data set.

OOH Assets Updater:
Changes to OOH assets happen frequently, particularly in a large network with thousands of assets. We have further streamlined the process of updating the assets so that the campaigns are correctly deployed and the analytics accurate.

We are encouraged by how well our platform is now working for the OOH industry and look forward towards adding more capabilities to serve this industry.

QR Code and NFC Platform for Out-of-Home (OOH) Advertising

This post outlines how the Qryptal Platform is being used in Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising.

First, a brief recap of the Qryptal Platform:

• PCodes: These are serialized QR Codes and pre-programmed NFC tags. Typically customers bulk generate and print them in advance and point them to a placeholder campaign. Later when an actual campaign is deployed, the PCodes are assigned to the desired campaign.
  
  For physical deployment, the operations team has to ensure that the serial numbers on the QR Codes and the NFC tags match up.
  
  The PCodes can be also be linked to a location database. Typically our OOH customers do this because:
• They already have the co-ordinates (latitude, longitude) of their OOH assets
• Linking a PCode to it's location enables OOH relevant analytics

 

• Campaigns: To be of any use, the PCodes have to be pointed to a campaign. These are created on the Qryptal Platform and are primarily of two kinds:
• Redirect Campaigns: Here scanning the PCode would redirect the user to the assigned redirect campaign URL (can be any URL).
  The platform enables creation of sophisticated URL redirects based on many parameters: time, sequence of visit, random, language, geo-lock etc.
  Interesting campaigns can thus be easily created: scan first time and see movie trailer #1, second time see trailer #2 and so on.
• Hosted Campaigns: These campaigns are designed and run on the Qryptal platform itself. These can be for contests, check-ins, feedback, coupons, mobile forms etc.
  Profile creation with mobile number verification can also be incorporated.
  
• Analytics: A summary report and raw logs are provided. Linking the location database enables displaying of a map with #scans at each site (including by type: QR/NFC).

There is a lot more to the system in terms of things you would expect for managing campaigns with hundreds or even thousands of points of presence.

Google's Enhanced Campaigns an opportunity to do Mobile Ads the right way with Mobile Landing Pages

Google recently announced Enhanced Campaigns. Much has been said about it on both sides of the fence and if one should upgrade now or wait till it becomes inevitable.

Nevertheless with this change, it is at the very least making every Adword advertiser to think through the process of allocating some of every campaign budget to target mobile devices. While it may seem like  early days for Mobile, a recent article in NYTimes that about 25% of visits occur via mobile indicates that today, a business ignores mobile at their own peril.

With this change,  one can indicate if an Ad should be targeted at a mobile device.  Which is a good thing, as we would argue that a Mobile Ad must always be different from a desktop Ad for two main reasons:

• the landing page experience should be mobile optimized.
• singular focus: while desktop website ads can be a bit more generic, mobile is mostly about doing one task at a time, as easily as possible. So both the mobile ad and it’s mobile landing page experience should be much more focussed.

Just as with QR codes, a Google search on a mobile does not do justice if it gets leads to a page designed to be viewed on a desktop. A page that is properly formatted for a mobile goes a long way towards getting someone to register their interest for your service or purchase outright.

Some of our clients have started to use the Qryptal platform to create mobile landing pages that are used on mobile Ad networks with good results.  A great example is Xpressflower.com. Before Valentine’s Day their mobile ads landed visitors on their Valentine’s Day flower ordering pages. Users could not only get the information but also complete the entire transaction (including payment) on their phone within a few minutes.

Not surprisingly, a page designed for mobile leads to better results on a mobile.  Such a page typically has form elements that are designed for touch entry and with intuitive form entry elements such as bringing up the numeric keypad when entering a phone number.

So if you’re an advertiser on Google or an Advertising/Marketing agency and faced with updating your Adword campaign, it’s a good time to look at platforms such as Qryptal to quickly create effective mobile landing pages. We would be happy to share our experience.

Which Mobile Bar Code Ad Is Best?

via stephanietruemoss.sharedby.co

Good article - recommended reading for those using QR Codes in their advertising.

"When Moen's QR Code is scanned, I'm brought to a mobile website, which features a video about the product featured in the ad, as well as tabs to click on to learn more about the product, what others have to say and to view other kitchen products. .....

When Delta's SnapTag is scanned, I'm brought to a mobile landing page, which shows three product images of the product depicted in the ad, and buttons to "pin" the product to Pinterest. Other than that, nothing else is offered to the reader of the ad. "

Mobile action codes in print mags rise, QR Codes dominate - Mobile Marketing - BizReport

Over 2,200 mobile action codes, such as QR Codes, image recognition and digital watermarks, were used in the U.S.'s top print magazines in the second quarter of 2012.
That's up 61% on Q1.
The number of ads containing mobile action codes is up from 5% last year to a current 10%, said the report.
"Mobile activation has really taken hold in magazine advertising. Nearly 600 brands and every one of the top magazines have embraced print-to-mobile as a core marketing strategy," said Roger Matus, Executive Vice President of Nellymoser and co-author of the Nellymoser study.
"Action codes bring print pages to life and engage readers in ways that can't be duplicated with a static ad."
The mobile marketing firm expects to see 1,000 mobile action codes each month running in the top 100 magazines starting next month (September, 2012).
Of all the mobile action code types, QR Codes were found to dominate during the second quarter with a more than 80% share. The use of Digimarc watermarks is on the rise up from just five codes in the whole of 2011 to 96 codes in the first half of 2012.

Tags: mobile action codes, mobile barcodes, mobile marketing, mobile scanning, print magazine, publishing, QR Codes

inShare

via bizreport.com

Qryptal's experience with its customers agrees with these findings as well. A QR Code in print advertising especially one with a form and a suitable call to action engages readers. QR codes add a new dimension to a previously static print Ad.
Better yet we've found running contests using QR codes on print Ad resulting in a larger number of entries than traditional posting an entries. Making it mobile friendly makes it easy and quick to participate.

Contest QR Codes: Scanning QR codes on bins could win recyclers prizes - BBC News

via bbc.co.uk

The aim here is to draw attention to the recycling message and facilities. Anyone scanning this code will be entered into a daily prize draw for a chance to win a voucher.

QR Codes coupled with a form designed for mobile screens and a good call to action make it easy for anyone to enter a contest right away.

It's nice tool in the mobile marketing toolbox. At Qryptal we've been working on making it easy to for end users to signup as well as for organizers to run such prize draws.

Guinness QR Cup Reveals Scannable Code When Full | Adweek

via adweek.com

An innovative use of QR codes by BBDO New York. The QR code is imprinted into a pint glass and is visible when filled with Guinesss which is black in color.

U.S. magazines show resounding favor for QR codes

via qrcodepress.com

"99% of the top 100 U.S. magazines utilized QR codes in the first quarter of 2012. QR code use in this sector is up 288% over the same period in 2011, showing that publishers are beginning to take the codes more seriously. "

QR codes are getting popular with print advertisers. Qryptal is noticing the same trend as well. Qryptal recent launched a free plan . We hope to provide advertisers who an easy way to get started to create mobile friendly landing pages for their print ads. This plan does include a host of features including YouTube Video embed, slideshows, forms to do surveys , polls and lead generation and more..all in a mobile friendly page.

QR code on shop windows

Boss Watches unveils QR code window promotion

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via retail-jeweller.com

This is a nice usecase of having QR Codes on shop windows for product promotions. A promotion is a proven call to action that ensures great conversion rates for QR code campaigns

Northwest Mailing Service adopts QR codes

via qrcodepress.com

QR Codes are an ideal complement to direct mailers as it provides an added dimension of information to paper flyers, brochures and to any promotional material. QR codes used here could provide a landing page leading to added information such as images, brochure pdfs, and videos which can influence in the buying decision.
As QR Codes will be scanned on mobile devices, the landing pages should be designed to be read on mobile devices

Improving QR code scans | Labels and Labeling

via labelsandlabeling.com

Four useful tips for increasing QR code scans. We especially encourage our clients who are implementing QR codes for their products and campaigns i.e
1. Provide a call to action near the QR Code
2. Give people an incentive to scan

QR Code Awareness And Usage In East Asia

via 2d-code.co.uk

This study re-affirms that a great call to action increases conversion rate of a QR campaign. http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=99bd08dda2db4127f4b00c627&id=568a62335b

QR Codes in Real Estate

Have you ever gone to see a home at an open house, and found they had run out of flyers? Without a flyer, it might be hard to remember the house.
A Qryptal QR code can fix this. The real estate agent can put a QR code on the yard sign. When the code on the sign is scanned, the buyer can see on their smartphone a picture and a full description of the house.
Scan the code below to see this in action:

via us4.campaign-archive1.com

Volkswagen camouflaged prototype with a QR Code - YouTube

via youtube.com

QR codes provide interactive dimension to brand marketing. Volkswagen drove a new car camouflaged with QR Codes in Germany. If you scanned it, you got exclusive pictures of the car undisguised. It garnered 5500 views and created buzz for the brand.

QR Codes and magazine advertising: a whole new ballgame

Many smaller businesses have set aside little or no budget for magazine advertising. The reasons are understandable:
- the high cost of a one-time ad
- no method to accurately measure impact
- the static nature of the content

QR codes have changed this economic equation.

Today, you can run a magazine ad and directly measure the response using a QR code. Want to know if a specific discount percentage can generate new business? Offer it through a QR code, and you’ll know within days.

Want to know which new product or service might be most compelling? Launch it through a QR code, and go to the report to see the number of people scanning your code.

And if the response is poor, you can change the offer. Unlike a traditional print ad, one featuring a QR code enables you to change the content appearing on the QR code’s landing page. If a 10% discount isn’t generating enough enthusiasm, you can sweeten it, or offer something else.

Essentially, a QR code makes your magazine ad interactive. It transforms a one-dimensional piece of paper into a live focus group.

And you’ll know who your focus group is, because typical QR code campaigns ask readers to enter at least an email address to receive the offer. You can also deploy different tracking QR Codes in different magazines, to determine which channel is more effective.

In November, a large business, Hewlett Packard, featured a QR code on the back of an insert in Popular Mechanics magazine. The QR code’s landing page invited readers to sign up to enter a contest to win a wireless printer.

In the first month, HP reportedly got 15,000 visits to this mobile landing page.

The good news is that you don’t need to be a Fortune 500 company to use a QR code. Just create your own code and landing page at Qryptal...

(if possible, we would recommend keeping the form shorter and asking for less information than this example)