It sounds like something from a James Bond film – take a picture of a code with your mobile phone and it will
link you through to a website. But in Japan, QR code technology is big business. Want to know the nutritional information about that McDonald’s cheeseburger you are eating? Just take a photo of the code printed on the packaging with your mobile and you are linked through to a website with the information.

QR, or ‘quick-response’, codes are a form of two-dimensional code that are capable of encrypting large amounts of data in a square of black and white dots. The codes can hold more information than standard linear bar codes we see on the supermarket shelves and can be read by all mobile phones with cameras and software already installed – otherwise software can be downloaded online.

The technology was developed by Japanese automotive components manufacturer Denso-Wave in 1994 for distribution purposes, but it has since been adopted by marketers – primarily in Japan where they are even used on television adverts to allow viewers to link through to a website where they can buy the product advertised.

Marks & Spencer is among the first to use the codes on packaging in the UK market. The retailer introduced the codes on juice packaging in its Food To Go range in an eight-week trial earlier this year. Consumers were able to access jokes, information about the product and daily offers by scanning the codes.

“The QR codes are a fantastic opportunity to communicate to the customer, without increasing packaging size or label space,” says Marks & Spencer senior packaging technologist Mark Caul. “Using the mobile phone technology, it is possible to link to provenance stories about the product, or, indeed, stories behind the packaging, to far greater depth – including the use of video footage – all tailored to the mobile phone screen.”

Marks & Spencer is yet to conduct an analysis of the results of the test, which are eagerly awaited by the industry.

Mine of information
Coding and marking specialist Domino has also ventured into the QR-code market. All its equipment, bar its A-series, is capable of printing the codes. Domino’s European business manager Vlad Sljapic is a keen follower of QR-code technology and agrees with Caul that marketers in the UK have ‘missed a trick’ by not using the technology to highlight the provenance of products.

“We are talking about being able to bring the local nature of the supplier of the goods to the customers,” says Sljapic. For example, consumers could scan the code on a pack of tinned tomatoes to find out more about the farmer that grew that product for the shelf. In a time when localisation and knowing where your food comes from is increasingly important to consumers, this could open up great marketing possibilities for brands.

“The 2D bar code will really make the bar code more of a consumer interface,” agrees Zebra’s product and vertical marketing manager of mobile printers Matthew Parker. “In Western Europe we are seeing customers wanting to know more about where their food is coming from.”

Last year, Pepsi Max enlisted model Kelly Brook to star in a viral advert to promote the printing of QR codes on to 400 million Pepsi Max packs. The QR codes directed consumers to a branded microsite where they could watch video clips, access free mobile games and more.

Beyond this, the marketing possibilities could even be extended into data gathering as consumers are asked to register to access the information provided by QR codes. At the other end of the spectrum, the codes can be used for practical purposes as they are able to hold significant amounts of data in a small printed code. “In packaging terms, that could be very interesting because we are taking up much less space,” says Zebra’s Parker.

Form and function
Space saving aside, designers are now able to create codes that are pieces of art in themselves. Tokyo-based creative agency SET has been developing QR codes with an aesthetic quality for more than two years (see box). The agency has so far worked with some of the major fashion houses and Coca-Cola in Japan and recently completed its first commission for the UK market.

“In Japan now it is rare to find a product, flyer, poster, billboard, magazine or newspaper without a QR code on it,” says SET creative planner Greg McMaster. “They provide a direct link for the consumer to the product or company and marketers here love them because of the specific data they can return on a campaign’s effectiveness.”

While the UK has not got as far as adding QR codes to tube maps so tourists can access information about a site of interest (as in Tokyo), brands are definitely waking up to the possibilities the codes can bring, raising the question of whether QR codes could mark the death of the more traditional bar code.

Raising the bar
Domino’s Sljapic believes the QR code could replace the linear bar code. “When the bar code was invented, originally people were looking slightly dubiously at them,” he says. “However, if you look at the world today you cannot see a product without a bar code on it.” He adds that QR codes are “actually a more efficient version of the linear bar code”.

Markem Imaje’s UK marketing specialist Lucy Benbow is slightly more sceptical as to whether the codes will replace linear bar codes but says that they should be adopted by a wide range of brands. “Their use needn’t be confined to major brand owners like Pepsico, or technology-savvy ones like Harrods, who used QR to reach a specific techno audience in a recent campaign,” she says.

Japan has reached a mature stage in the QR market and interest has now spread to Europe. The tentative steps taken by Marks & Spencer, if the trial is judged a success, could open the door for more brands to embrace QR codes in the UK. In the first instance, they are likely to be used as promotional tools, but the possibility that these codes could replace linear bar codes could become reality in years to come.

SET DESIGN
For more than two years, Tokyo-based creative agency SET has developed QR codes that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

For international fashion brand Louis Vuitton, the agency incorporated illustrations by Japanese animator Takashi Murakami into a QR code (left). The images tied in with a new animation Murukami had designed for Vuitton. Similarly, SET was enlisted to create a code for Marc by Marc Jacobs that incorporated the brand’s mascot Miss Marc (right).

SET creative planner Greg McMaster admits that incorporating images into the codes is not an easy task, but something the SET team has had to work on. “The designers are not ones to rest on their laurels and they are continually trying to raise the bar even higher, even though technically they are the ones who created that bar in the first place,” says McMaster.

QR codes are made up of a series of black and white dots, which can be read by a scanner or a mobile phone. “There are certain rules that have to be followed when introducing colour and illustrations to the code,” says McMaster. “Once you know these rules you can begin to experiment.”

The use of colour and images could encourage some of the luxury brands to incorporate the codes onto their packs. Not only do they add a sense of fun to a pack, but they could be a great way to add interest and expand marketing opportunities. SET has now started developing QR codes from physical objects for marketing purposes, which McMaster says could give “an additional spark to outdoor sampling events and stunts”.

QR CODES EXPLAINED
• QR codes were originally developed by Japanese automotive components manufacturer Denso-Wave in 1994 as a way to track vehicles through the supply chain. The subsequent 2D code can be easily read and is capable of holding up to several hundred times the amount of data held in a linear bar code.
• Prior to the creation of the QR code, the possibilities of using multiple linear bar codes and amalgamations of linear bar codes and 2D code were explored. However, unlike its predecessors, QR codes are not restricted by limited storage space or limited character types and they take up limited space on a pack.
• The codes contain information in both horizontal and vertical directions. Data contained in the codes can be numeric, alphanumeric, binary or even Kanji (Japanese characters). It is even possible to read a damaged code in many instances. • Hand-held readers or mobile phones are used to read the codes. The three position detection patterns located in the code’s corners can be read from any direction as the codes are omni-directional.
• Marketers in Japan have been quick to adopt the codes. They have appeared on everything from burger packaging to the sides of buildings. Europe has been slower to adopt the technology, but big brands and retailers are beginning to explore the opportunities they could provide.