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)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Metro UK

Eve Std

Metro UK’s Launch - Tech Talk (From Future Digital Strategies Conference, Nov 2011)

DPS Tech Talk Special with QR code Competition

15k

scans

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

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

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

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

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

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 1194 scans

28-Oct-11 Metro 1060 scans

10-Nov-11 Eve Std 2164 scans

24 and 25-Nov-11 ES and Metro

1189 scans

08 and 09-Dec-11 ES and Metro

927 scans

11

M&S Women’s Winter Clothes Shop Mobile M&S Site = 1,500/Ad

Sun 8/10 Metro 6/10 Metro 13/10

• Full page ads • QR code bottom left • Multiple papers • Call to action :

• shop mobile web

12

Marks & Spencers (cont.)

08-Sep-11 1740 scans

• Sexier pictures sell better

• Metro 8/9/2011

• Full campaign over 14K scans

13

Marks & Spencers (cont.)

March 9, 2012 Independent

• Indigo Woman’s Collection

• Various papers mid-March

• Call to Action – mobile web site

• Full campaign over 5K scans

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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 agencies, some not even using managed codes

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Example of Things to Avoid

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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

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

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!

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