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Subliminal QR Codes in the ‘Branded” Trailer
My son sent me this link via facebook tonight and simply said “now this movie….. looks awesome! I think you might like this one."
He was right, but probably not in the way that he was thinking. Because the first thing I saw was all of the QR Codes that kept popping up throughout it. I immediately started capturing screenshots and tried some of them and I was surprised by just how much thought has gone into this campaign.
This is a great example of how good QR Codes can be.
See for yourself.
These are the screenshots that I captured. I hope I have them all but there may be more. Click on each one to enlarge and try them out on your mobile. Even try the one on the angle in the 4th screen capture.
Let me know what you think. 
Nike’s latest “Find your greatness" campaign
One of the best messages you can create is one that inspires people to act on their dreams.
And that is just what Nike have achieved with their latest “Find your greatness” campaign.
There’s no toned, hot bodies showing us the desired end product of our intense hard labour.
Simply the inspirational footage of someone actually doing what it takes. Someone who is probably the furthest person you would think would inspire you to act. But that’s why it works.
Because if Nathan Sorrell, an an overweight pre-teenager from London, Ohio can – you can.
There are no excuses!
Go and become magnificent in whatever you put your mind to Nathan, and may we also do the same because of you.
Greatness.
It’s just something we made up.
Somehow we’ve come to believe that greatness is a gift.
Reserved for a chosen few.
The prodigies.
The superstars.
And the rest of us can only stand by watching.
You can forget that!
Greatness is not some rare DNA strand.
It’s not some precious thing.
Greatness is no more unique to us than breathing.
We’re all capable of it.
All of us.
Nike’s lead agency is Wieden + Kennedy.
Motorola Future ads, 1961
Look at these amazing vintage print advertisements by Motorola from 1961, depicting their vision of the future.
Click here for more, courtesy of Retronaut.
Killer Fries by Greg Slater
Killer Fries by Greg Slater
A simple, effective and powerful message by Greg Slater for the American Heart Association. It conveys its message visually, with the only words in fine print for further dynamic effect.
Source: http://designyoutrust.com/2012/07/killer-fries-by-greg-slater/
This is wrong!!!
Here’s a footpath sign I saw outside a bar in Christchurch (excuse the low resolution, I was driving past at the time – click on it to see a larger version).
Rehab IS FOR Quiters (yes it was misspelled).
Horrible on so many levels!
“Push to add drama”
To launch the high quality TV channel TNT in Belgium a big red push button was placed in an average Flemish square of an average Flemish town. A sign with the text "Push to add drama" invited people to use the button. Discover what happened…
Small Business Marketing 101
Here’s a good presentation by Lauren Zirilli, Marketing Communications Manager of Vistaprint, on creating a marketing plan for small businesses including how to determine your business goals, marketing options and budget.
The death of the QR Code?
A QR (Quick Response) Code that points to https://marketingvoyeur.wordpress.com/
(refer to bad marketing below)
I’ve noticed something of a QR code backlash lately. Blogs like wtfqrcodes.com and Pictures of People Scanning QR-codes (think about it) are focusing their irreverent humour on this technology. But is the technology itself senseless, or rather just the use of it?
QR Code supporters see QR codes as manifestations of an increasingly significant trend: The growing connection between physical places and objects and the digital world.
But others see the use of these blocks of squares becoming very short-lived.
I put it down to three main factors:
- the huge lack of public understanding of what they are
- the lack of creativity in their usage
- and the common mistakes agencies keep making when implementing them.
1) In his blog article “Why the QR code is failing”, Sean X Cummings surveyed 300 people (in tech-savvy San Francisco) and held up a sign with a QR code on it with the phrase: "Free gift if you can tell me what this is."
- 11 percent correctly answered QR code or quick response code
- 29 percent responded with "Some barcode thingy"
- Seven percent guessed some variant of "Those things you stare at that get 3D when you cross your eyes. What picture is it? I can’t seem to get it"
- The remaining 53 percent tried everything from a secret military code, Korean (uh really?), to an aerial street map of San Francisco
- And it gets worse.
- Of those who guessed what it was correctly, only 35% knew that it was read by their phone.
Only 45% of those people were able to do it! AND it took an average of 47 seconds for them to take out their phone and find the application to read the QR code.
2) Agencies, you’d better make damn sure that those (potentially 0.017%) people are going to be greatly rewarded for giving up 47 seconds of their life to stop whatever they’re doing to scan your barcode. If you don’t, then QR Code usage will be dead before you know it.
Creating a QR Code with a link to your website (that may not even be mobile optimised) is simply not good enough! Bad marketing!! Bad, bad marketing!
People have taken time out to engage with your brand, so give them something that rewards them with further engagement! It’s why they scanned your barcode in the first place!
Some great ideas are pub quizzes on coasters,
QR CODE – Content-rich Resume from Victor petit on Vimeo.
Remember, a QR Code when used properly can be an engaging bridge between the physical and digital worlds.
3) And what are the most common mistakes when creating a QR Code based campaign? Well Mashable wrote a very good article about that here, but here are also some great examples via wtfqrcodes.com.
Submitter comment: We would have put a map here, but this big ass QR code didn’t leave us enough room. So, please scan the QR code to see that map that should have been here in the first place.
A QR Code on broccolini? Why? Oh, and by the way, the click through doesn’t work!
Crawl down here and scan this code, but for the love of Pete, mind the gap! TRAIN!!!
Facepalm!
Facepalm #2!
Advert: The Great Wine Depression
A brilliant beer ad from New Zealand! I must buy some beer!
Understand your target market!
Target marketing…tell me they’re doing it wrong, go on…
marketing voyeur 