Marketing|Demand Creation Blog: Thoughts on strategy, lead optimization, social media and the digital space

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Barcode This!

Back in December my company, Logarithmic IMPACT, did a little fortune telling with our "Top 10 Marketing Predictions for 2011," looking at some trends we believe will take hold this and in coming years.

One of our picks was a trendy new thing called called a 2d-barcode, which is really not new at all since barcodes revolutionized product manufacturing, distribution and package tracking and have been around for years in places like Japan.

I don't know if I've just become more aware of them of late, but in the first few months of 2011 it seems like their use has exploded beyond anything I saw last year. Certainly magazine advertisers are picking up on the power of the barcode to connect the print and online worlds -- it's a logical fit and lends some real numbers to the generally squishy measurability of print advertising.
As we've become an ever mobile-ized society I've noticed codes popping up on everything from theater promotional mailers, food packaging, plastic seedling tags (so you can scan the code and learn more about the flora you're about to put into the ground) to business cards. Back at the beginning of 2011, pharmaceutical industry magazine PharmaVoice surveyed over 500 people in healthcare and 48.15% in this famously cautious industry were at least somewhat familiar with QR codes (12.28% were Very Familiar). That sounds promising and suggests a bright future for the barcode in the marketing and demand creation mix.

Will 2d barcoding really be the ubiquitous marketing tool of the future? All I know is they seem to be great way to easily provide value-added information to busy clients and prospects on the go -- and all that extra engagement can't be a bad thing for the bottom line.

BTW, if you'd like to check out the rest of the "Top 10 Marketing Predictions for 2011," feel free to download a copy.




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Joseph Mann Thursday, June 09, 2011 Permalink | 0 comments |