FDG {CREATIVE}

• Part 1
• Part 1

I love technology. I might even go as far as to say I would shrivel up and die a slow, painful death in the corner without my tech tools (and coffee).

In today's marketing and advertising climate, instant gratification is the name of the game and technology mobilizes it. From text messaging to geo-targeted ping marketing, today's tech-savvy marketing resources tend to make direct mail and print ads seem more like carrier pigeons than relevant contemporary promotional tactics.

QR-Codes are the newest, snappy tech tool that marketers are using to help elicit responses from target audiences. QR-Codes were actually introduced in Japan a few years ago, where mobile device innovation reigns supreme. Only now is the United States experiencing a surge in their utilization thanks to our societal cravings for newer, faster, smarter smart phones that support QR-Codes. And apparently we're starting to catch on.

According to a February survey of U.S. smartphone users by MGH, a Baltimore social-media marketing company, 32% of respondents said they have scanned a QR-Code.

So what exactly is a QR-Code? Don't worry if you are scratching your head. I am willing to bet that at least 80% of you have seen these passive looking graphics, yet may not have realized their interactive potential. The acronym–QR–stands for Quick Response. QR-Codes are actually two dimensional barcodes (datamatrix), designed to enable its contents to be decoded at a high speed. To decode the QR-Code, you'll need to download a free app for your mobile device. These apps rely upon your mobile phone's camera to capture an image of the code that the software can then translate to an action such as:

• + Connect to a website
• + Dial a telephone number
• + Launch your email app with a lead generation message
• + Download an MP3 file

So why use them? The bonus for marketing mavens like myself is that QR-Codes can require less effort on your audience's part and fuel the instant gratification trend leading to more efficient communications and lead generation efforts. Users no longer have to remember a lengthy URL, write down a phone number, or Google you, piecing together remnants from their memory and hoping they spell your name correctly and that you are not buried in page 11 of the search results. In milliseconds, we can unite mobile phone users with what you are marketing via the mobile web. And the best part…they are free. My go-to solution for generating-QR Codes is Kaywa.

For all of the high tech, applied science at work with QR-Codes and their counterparts –Microsoft Tags–they are not without their distinct set of quirky challenges. And if you're like me, you may crave a little more visual "spice" than the standard black and white code allows. No surprise that others felt the same, and have figured out ways to push the aesthetics of these codes to some truly fun limits. And that is where PART 2 of this missive takes over...