Finally, I was one of the “cool kids” at the airport this weekend with my electronic boarding pass. In the form of a QR code, the boarding pass was texted to my smart phone after I checked in online. The process was easy and saved me one of five lines at the airport in Rome. I even had enough time to grab the best slice of pizza I had in all of Italy. Yep, at the airport.
In advertising, QR codes serve the same function– convenience and immediacy. As the LA Times reported this month, the “mysterious box” is the barcode for the digital age. Consumers scan the QR codes and are instantly provided with a web page to view, a phone number to call, a video to watch, instructions, etc. In my case, the QR code from Delta didn’t provide me with more info, but provided attendants with my info at the gate, thus saving us both time.
Consumer awareness still lags behind, reported the LA Times. As revealed by Forrester Research, only 5% of total smartphone owners in the U.S. have scanned a QR code. About 25% of Android phone owners and 7% of iPhone users tried out a QR code in the second quarter of 2010, and that number is expected to rise this year, Forrester said.
Well, I’ll help bring up that 7%.
The LA Times shares more about QR codes here.
-April Harter
Director of PR & Social Media