An updated and expanded version of a previous talk

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
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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

23. Example of Things to Avoid
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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
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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!
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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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