...That is the question? Well...maybe and maybe not, Prince Hamlet. I'm talking here about 2D codes, those matrix barcodes which are suddenly appearing everywhere, and the QR codes which are a subset of 2D codes - you can read all about them in Wikipedia, but they have become the latest gimmick in mobile marketing. Stores, products, you name it, all are displaying these codes, which are designed to be read by your mobile phone, which will then...
Ah, there's the rub. A lot of what we are seeing, when marketers use these codes, doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. That's summed up really well by Steve Smith at MediaPost's MobileInsider blog. If you're sitting in a store, and you see one of these codes on a product and use your cell phone to grab it...why on earth would the company behind that code simply run a 3-minute ad for the product you've already decided to buy? Are you going to stand in the store for three minutes and watch it? How about a seven-minute movie trailer?
Read the whole thing; it's hilarious and well-written - and more than a little sad. And it's really not just about 2D codes - as one commenter on MobileInsider points out, it's a problem with virtually all kinds of marketing - you need to create value, not clutter.