QR is short for Quick Response (they can be read/scanned quickly by a smart phone). They are used to take the person to a source of greater information about the product, give more specifications, or provide an incentive regarding the product. Think of them as a “learn more here” button. Today you see them in various media platforms, magazine advertisements, on billboards, trade show graphics, wine labels, next to a picture of a product, business cards or even on someone’s t-shirt. Once the code is scanned, it may give you details about that business or details about a product, promotion for buying the product, where to find it, how to use it; or it may give you a coupon.
With the number of smart phone users to increase to over 400 million by end of 2011 and the annual growth rate of 115% from 2010 to 2015 it makes sense for us to join the effort and incorporate these codes into our collateral material and websites. Customers and potential customers will be able to scan these codes where we can take them to a certain section of a website to promote a technology; a coupon on a website; a direct mail piece, etc. As you can see the opportunities are endless.
At GM Nameplate, we are focused on printing QR codes. Creating a label or point of purchase display is fairly easy to do with higher resolution printing equipment like digital, flexographic, and lithographic printing processes. You also need software that will allow you to format the QR code. Helping to layout and design a QR code is a little trickier. Working with companies like Vinette www.myvinette.com can make the process a lot easier. Angela Robar is the owner of Vinette who is working with a lot of companies to help with the process of creating the right QR code for their needs. Then the QR codes are brought to use at GM Nameplate and we add them to a product.
There are many different applications you can download for your smart phone in order to be able to read QR Codes. One that I would recommend for the iPhone is QR Reader for iPhone. This is free app made by TapMedia Ltd and seems to do a very good job. Once the App is installed on your phone or device, you just point and click. This allows the user to access whatever data or link to data that the QR code is intended to share. For example, right is a sample QR code that will take you to our Elite Label website. Give it a try!
