I love this article because I have been preaching about QR codes for close to a year now and the importance of using them in your marketing.
Usage and awareness on the rise
Mobile barcodes, particularly the 2-D variety (such as QR codes), constitute a new tool for marketers looking to activate and measure the impact of static media, in-store displays and product packaging.
“Mobile barcodes hold promise for marketers as a mechanism for activating other media and providing a bridge between the physical and digital worlds,” said Noah Elkin, eMarketer principal analyst and author of the new report, “Mobile Barcodes: Trends and Best Practices for Marketers.” “But they also present challenges, including fragmentation between open and proprietary barcode formats and the requirement that consumers download a dedicated application to read the codes.”
In Japan, where QR codes originated, 2-D barcode usage is ubiquitous. Elsewhere in the world, usage is rapidly rising. According to 3GVision, an Israel-based provider of 1-D and 2-D barcode solutions, the top five countries in terms of barcode scanning growth in Q1 2011 were the US, UK, Netherlands, Spain and Canada.
