Archive for March, 2011

Advanced Telecom Services is a provider of QR codes to its mobile marketing customers.  The QR code below was used by WPPZ, a Radio One station in Philadelphia.

I’m sure you’ve seen them.  They are those little boxes with the black and white squiggly patterns inside of them.  You see them on packaging, at the airport, and in magazines.

Scan them and, bingo, you get something on your cell phone.  It’s the latest mobile marketing craze and they are called QR codes.

A QR code is a specific matrix barcode that is readable by dedicated barcodes readers that are most commonly contained on smart phones.  They have been popular in Japan and Korea for many years, but are just beginning to have a significant impact in North America.

QR codes are a great way for a consumer to obtain more information about a product on his cell phone.  The content might be a video about the product, more detailed information that is available on the item, or even a shortcut to download an app.

You are right that not everybody in the country has a smartphone. In fact, according to The Nielsen Company, 31% of Americans own a smartphone.  That figure jumps to 45% for Asians and Hispanics whose population is younger than that of Whites and Blacks.

While QR codes are certainly sexy and fun to use, the lack of penetration for them means that a marketer should offer a text message marketing program in addition to the QR codes.  Otherwise, you’ll be missing out on at least 69% of the American market.

One of the criticisms of QR codes that have been made is that they suffer from a lack of branding, whereas text message marketing has the distinct ability to brand with the proper keyword. Nothing could be further from the truth.

QR codes do have the ability to increase brand recognition by inserting a company logo within the QR code.  Since only 40% of the QR code display is actually utilized to determine the destination of the code, savvy companies are inserting visible branding within the code itself.  That gives the company the coolness factor of the QR code plus the branding value.

Radio stations have a real opportunity if they choose to use it:  sell text message marketing services to its advertisers.

Since so much of radio listening is done outside of the home, mobile marketing is a great way for radio to promote its products and enhance the value of its advertisers.

In this video, Bob Bentz, president of Advanced Telecom Services, looks at the five key products that radio stations need to be using to have an effective mobile marketing presence.