SGF Journal: A blog about business, web, and technology.
A Banana, A Sticker, and a Lonely Bottle of Red
This morning, as I was getting coffee going (and breakfast for the kids), I looked at our newly-replenished fruit bowl. One of the bananas had a QR code on it. I thought this was ridiculous. I pictured in my head what would happen. I figured I’d scan the QR code and get something like this:
What actually happened was this: I was invited to join a recipe contest using Chiquita Bananas. Interesting, but I passed.
Then, I started to wonder why Chiquita would go through the trouble of creating a campaign, setting up a mobile campaign, and making the QR code stickers (they should have done something more creative). Is it really worth it? Are people actually using QR codes?
In a word, absolutely.
According to Quearr, the numbers are staggering, too: A few highlights from their data: From early 2010 to early 2011, QR code use has increased by 4,589%. Also interesting: most QR scanners are women in a family. Suddenly the Chiquita contest makes a lot more sense.
Making your own QR code is really, really, really easy. Let’s say for example, that I want to create a campaign that will allow people to view my lovely banana graphic (above). First, I’ll create my campaign online (in this case, it’s just a simple page on our website). Next, I’ll visit a QR code generator site (try the freebie at Kaywa) and tell it what URL I want my QR code to lead the user to. Finally, I download my QR code and enjoy.
Try it for yourself here:
Tweet