1. QR Code Campaign Analysis
of London Market
(3Q11-1Q12)
Dave Marutiak
Scanbuy UK
30/3/2012
2. The advertisers in the London commute papers
show cyclical use of QR codes
(Scanbuy compilation)
300
250
200
150
Metro UK
100
Eve Std
50
0
2
3. Metro UK’s Launch - Tech Talk
(From Future Digital Strategies Conference, Nov 2011)
DPS Tech Talk Special with QR code Competition
15k
scans
4. Metro UK’s On-Going Usage
(From Future Digital Strategies Conference, Nov 2011)
Over
100K
scans
(so far)
in
2011
5. Renault Cars
Visit PC website < 30/Ad
• 1/3 page ads
• QR code near URL in middle
• Multiple papers
• Call to action: none
• Weak response rate as a result
5
6. BlueSq Betting Site
Download Itunes App ~ 50/Ad
• Bottom of page strip ads
• QR code on right, near logo
• Continuously running in paper
• Call to action – none on code, but may have
some association with nearby App Store Logo
6
7. O2 Guru
Go to mobile website – 50-200/Ad
• 1/8 page ads
• QR code on left, near URL
• Continuously running in paper
• Call to action: none on code, but may
have some with associated URL nearby
7
8. Wowcher.co.uk daily deal
Go to desktop website – ~40-60/Ad
• 1/3 page ads
• QR code on upper or lower right
• Continuously running in paper
• Call to action – Scan me!
• 50% more responses with that, aided
by the proximity to URL
8
9. M&S Dine in For Two
Requests for a Menu – 1,250/Ad
• 1/3 page ads
• QR code bottom left
• Multiple papers
• Call to action:
• download the menu
9
10. Marks & Spencers (cont.)
• Placed across both Metro and
Evening Standard across multiple
weeks and months
• Consistent traffic across multiple
placements and paper editions gives
a great total response
• Clear call to action: download menu
• Total user scans - 14,582
13-Oct-11 Metro 28-Oct-11 Metro 10-Nov-11 Eve Std 24 and 25-Nov-11 08 and 09-Dec-11
1194 scans 1060 scans 2164 scans ES and Metro ES and Metro
1189 scans 927 scans
11. M&S Women’s Winter Clothes
Shop Mobile M&S Site = 1,500/Ad
• Full page ads
• QR code bottom left
• Multiple papers
• Call to action :
• shop mobile web
Metro 6/10 Sun 8/10 Metro 13/10
11
12. Marks & Spencers (cont.)
• Sexier pictures sell better
• Metro 8/9/2011
• Full campaign over 14K scans
08-Sep-11
1740 scans
12
13. Marks & Spencers (cont.)
• Indigo Woman’s Collection
• Various papers mid-March
• Call to Action – mobile web site
• Full campaign over 5K scans March 9, 2012
Independent
13
14. M&S Men’s Winter Clothes
Shop Mobile M&S Site = 1,500/Ad
• Full page ads
• QR code bottom left
• Single paper
• Call to action: shop mobile website
14
15. M&S Home
Shop Mobile M&S Site = 1,050/Ad
• 1/4 page ads
• QR code top right
• Multiple papers
• Call to action: shop mobile website
15
16. Taco Bell Job Opportunities
Go to mobile job website – 34K hits
• Shown in their retail stores
• QR code on bottom, no URL
• Continuously running for 6 months
• Call to action – Apply Today
16
17. Tesco Clubcards
• Launched in August for autumn campaign
• Sends you to mobile web site
• Call to action – Scan me to register card
• Run through December ~ 14,000 scans
17
18. New Tesco Trials
• Trial in the fresh product section
• Sends you to full size desktop web site
• Call to action – Scan me for recipe ideas
• Started in mid September ~ 700 scans
18
19. New Tesco Trials
• Charity donations if you use the ATM
• Sends you to mobile web site
• Call to action – Scan me to see total
donated so far (0.0125p per ATM trans)
19
20. Skype UK - Job Opportunities
• Good comparison case
– Skype ran the same ad in the Metro
and E/S on the same day, same
placement in the classified section
looking for new employees in the UK
– The E/S small classified ad brought in
only 33 scans
– The Metro small ad brought in 54
scans, a 66% higher engagement rate
– For comparison, the same sized
classified ad for cycling in Cornwall
got 22 scans that day
• Then the next day they ran a quarter page
color ad in the E/S with a full page article
wrapper around it
• That ad brought in 43 scans, even
though it was much more noticeable
• Still got less engagement than the
much smaller and out of the way
Metro ad above
20
21. Restaurant Examples – Toby Treats
• Toby Carvery restaurant offer in the Metro on 3/28/12
– Two meals for 10 quid with a coupon
– Bottom page, full width of the page
– QR Code printed inside the coupon segment
– Call to action – visit web site and get on mailing list
– Website was full desktop version though
– Had over 1130 scans on that run alone
– Over 16,000 scans on the code since November
21
22. Conclusions
• Largest numbers come from clear Call to Action and
repeated, regular exposure of ads
– Reasonable care results in 1K-2K of scans per ad placement in
high volume papers, but often easy to do 5X or 1/5 that too
– Even routine use for smaller classified ads can result in large
numbers if used regularly and well designed C2A
• Usage continuing to grow dramatically across London
– Newspaper placement grows steadily, in a cyclical annual pattern,
with Metro far outpacing the E/S in numbers
– Tesco out ahead for internal use, but M&S dominates usage for
the retail market in their advertising
• Notable mistakes still being made by leading brands or
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agencies, some not even using managed codes
24. Notable Mistakes in the UK Market
• Current LoveFilm (amazon) promotion on DVD envelopes
• Uses a direct code and wastes 1M customer impressions
• Call to action – Scan me for chance to win
• Direct code has typo which makes it un-routable #fail
24
25. Notable Mistakes in the UK Market
• Simple blew a
poster from the
Tube up to the
size of a billboard
• Code was way to
small to be
readable from
the 50 foot away
it would have
been taken
25
26. Notable Mistakes in the UK Market
• Code is too far away to be scanned,
even with zoom in use
• Poster is on far side of the Tube tracks,
so users tend to walk towards the open
train tracks trying to scan it!
26
27. Notable Mistakes in the UK Market
• Code is very dense (very hard for many scanners to read)
• Scanning takes you to a regular desktop web page
• Pressing the (only) button downloads a 10MB, 150 page
full color pdf brochure to your mobile phone
• And then, it gave off errors after a few weeks
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