In the same way that bar codes don’t have to be boring, quick response codes can also be creative. Thanks to a 30% tolerance in readability, you can have some real fun with clever designs. Besides looking good, this can also make them more successful.

“Designer QR codes are not only a way to make your 2D barcode stand out, but they also add a more human element to the otherwise cold and techie appearance,” says Patrick Donnelly, QR code designer and expert. “This could be the difference between someone scanning your code or not.”

Take a look through the image gallery for 15 brilliant designs created for a range of businesses from big names such as Disney, little names such as local restaurants and even conceptual ideas. Let us know in the comments if a clever design would make you more likely to scan a code.

Click on each image to see larger.

Matthias Galica is CEO of ShareSquare, the leading platform for connecting offline audiences to the brands they love via QR codes and custom HTML5 mobile web apps with real-time analytics.

Consumer-facing QR codes are hitting mainstream America hard this summer. Despite the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats, many well-intentioned marketers are crippling their campaigns with simple mistakes.

This is a big reason why QR codes still get a bad rap from some folks. QR codes by themselves are fundamentally neither good nor bad, they’re just a means to an end: an offline-to-online delivery mechanism. It’s what’s beyond the code that usually determines whether the experience will delight or disappoint.

Unfortunately, many early adopter marketers aren’t yet fully versed in the best practices or optimal use cases. It’s the adventurous consumer that suffers from the growing pains.

Since I’ve spent the past 18 months waist-deep in this fast-developing market, I’m compelled to offer up my short list of basic mistakes to avoid at all costs. While heeding all these rules won’t make your QR code marketing great by itself, they will likely save you from some embarrassment.

Mistake 1: Not Testing the Code

Common sense right? Until you’re able to read a QR code just by looking at it, you should always test the proofs with a variety of smartphones and scanning apps before you release a campaign.

This is the simplest way to spot scanning problems. For instance, a small placement (less than an inch) will often be too dense to scan if you’ve encoded a longer URL, but using bit.ly or goo.gl to automatically generate a short URL QR code is an easy fix.

Since QR codes feature up to a 30% error correction rate, there’s flexibility for creative branding and tweaks. But if the designer accidentally overdid it, test-scanning is an easy path to being the office hero that day.

For example, the above image is taken from “15 Beautiful and Creative QR codes.” While visually interesting, I’m fairly confident this isn’t scanable.

Mistake 2: Getting Too Fancy With Text

If your goal is to get people to a mobile web experience, you should only ever encode a short URL. Don’t include any plain text, since many barcode scanners (even gold standards like ShopSavvy) won’t tease out the link. If you’re hoping a user will copy/paste on a mobile device, don’t bet on it.

Think of the QR code as a physical hyperlink that every barcode scanner should be able to immediately “click.” If your QR code requires the user to do much more than point and scan to arrive at the intended content, you’re probably doing it wrong.

Take the image above. I love the Olsen twins as much as the next guy, but these QR codes result in the oft-problematic text string + link combo. Fail bonus: The site consistently turns up invalid security certificate errors.

Mistake 3: Serving up Non-Mobile Pages

Your QR code scans successfully but you’ve pointed the user to a standard desktop website, when 99.9% of QR codes are scanned by a mobile device. Fail.

Get acquainted with HTML5 to give your mobile web app that native app feel. You can either hire a developer to build your mobile site or use a non-technical modular CMS (content management system) like Paperlinks if it suits your campaign objectives.

This Coca-Cola QR code’s heart is in the right place (the MyCokeRewards program) but the resulting non-mobile website is all but impossible to navigate.

Mistake 4: Putting QR Codes Where There’s No Data Signal

Where your ad will run is just as important as how you implement it.

Tesco’s recent QR code “grocery store” in a Korean subway worked great because those platforms have Wi-Fi. This is not the case in the U.S. Placing QR codes in locations without Internet access is a sure way to make your audience upset. Make sure you know where the ads will be, and if possible, run tests to make sure they are visible and will still work.

For example, the Red Bull campaign QR code above was in a New York City subway, so I have no idea what it does.

Mistake 5: Not Offering Enough Value

This point is highly subjective but also probably the most important. The proper mindset is to reward the user for scanning your QR code. This “reward,” however, will change depending on what you’re trying to promote.

Try to avoid redundancy (a digital copy of your flyer), irrelevance or dullness (your company’s street address). Take the above image. The U.S. Marine Corps. QR code promises a cool experience but instead leads to a wallpaper download and a commercial.

When coupled with a clearly articulated call-to-action near the QR code, we’ve found the most compelling campaigns tend to offer one or more of the following:

• Exclusive rich media, videos and photos
• Exclusive or time-sensitive access
• Free downloads or swag
• “Instant Win” contests
• Special offers, coupons or gifts
• “Secret” information
• Deep integration with social media to activate viral loops

The best advice is to put yourself in the shoes of your target fan. Would you bother pulling out the phone for your campaign? Would you be happy with the pay off? A little bit of time and thought can create a truly successful QR campaign.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, leezsnow

Every year, marketers search for the next big thing that will make or break the success of their interactive marketing campaigns. A lot of buzzwords like “mobile” or “social” inevitably get thrown around but what does it really mean for marketers? Before you refresh marketing goals for 2011, here are five resolutions to consider.

1. Make data the foundation of your marketing

Collecting data has never been a problem as we know that it fuels our marketing programs and overall business decisions. But achieving visibility and usability is often another story. Many times information is stored in data warehouses and databases across the organisation and tedious exporting needs to be undertaken before being able to take any action. Simply put, many marketers are missing opportunities to engage with customers because their information and processes have become outdated before the customer engagement metrics are aggregated and sorted.

Making a change to the way you currently use click-through rates, online browsing history, shopping cart abandonment, previous purchase history, and other customer information starts with an assessment. Understanding what tools you have before you take action will pay off in the long run.

2. Use mobile to connect with customers

Mobile marketing is often overshadowed as social media and email marketing becomes more sophisticated. But as consumers rapidly begin to adopt smartphones, mobile marketing can no longer be viewed as a “silo” in a marketing campaign.

One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to begin mobile marketing is SMS. Creating text-in voting programs, Q&A text response campaigns and mobile coupons for your target audience are simple tactics to engage customers. Developing content that is specifically designed for mobile phones is also important – perhaps you might even consider creating a mobile app for your company.

3. Market to customers as individuals

It’s all too easy to be swept away by the creativity of the advertising instead of its relevance. Prioritising customer service before sales is crucial and there are some innovative and simple ways to do this. One example is to listen and be a part of the conversations that are happening online about your company. There are many online monitoring tools available to easily do this and you’ll be surprised by the amount of insight you’ll receive from listening to you customers.

4. Make social media a real part of the marketing mix

For many, 2010 marked the year that social media became a reality instead of just a trend for marketers to watch out for. We know that in the past, customers who had a bad experience with your brand would share it with 5 of their different friends but today, a bad customer experience could lead to negative information about your brand posted to 500 Twitter followers.

One way to integrate social media into your campaigns is to do some social ‘soul searching’. Gather metrics about who is hitting the ‘like’ button on Facebook, who is re-tweeting and what content attracts more user engagement. Another simple tactic is to use social media to gather local data. Geolocation devices and apps such as Foursquare give you the opportunity to find out who is visiting your store and how often.

5. Engage in ‘smart’ automation

In any campaign, there are some jobs that are tedious and time-consuming but remain essential. At the same time, marketing budgets aren’t getting any bigger so marketers need to find ways to work smarter, not harder.

With so much data to manage, automation is a great way to make information usable. Marketers can engage in ‘smart’ automation tools that integrate new customer data and preferences such as tweets on Twitter or likes on Facebook into every communication that is sent out.

Each new year offers a blank slate and a new outlook to start the year off right. And while you may not stay as organised as you’d like or as in shape as you had hoped by mid-year, making resolutions to improve your interactive marketing program can be well worth the investment.

In a classic Seinfeld episode, the comedian joked, “There’s good naked and bad naked.” So it is with personalization. There’s good personalization and bad personalization.

The goal of personalized communication, whether it’s in print or email, is to create a message that is relevant to the recipient and engages the recipient in a relationship with the marketer. While some may think that more personalization is  better, that’s not always the case. You have to be careful what and how you personalize.

I got a personalized contact today that unnerved me out and made me want to immediately end my relationship with the sender. If it had been from a marketer rather than a potential client, I would have.

The sender is a someone who, as part of his ministry, is beginning to send out daily inspirational emails.

The first contact was a welcome email, addressing me by name. Nicely done. Although adding names to emails is easy these days, I appreciated the extra effort.

The next day, I received my first daily email, which could be accessed using an email link. Clearly, he was tracking responses. So far, so good.

The next day, I received my next daily email. I didn’t have time to read it, so I left it unopened.

Today, I received the daily email and gasped.

Dear, Heidi.

You haven’t read your last lesson so this is a reminder to login and read your latest lesson below.

Agh! Personalization gone amuck.

First, there had only been 24 hours between the initial email and the reminder. Then there was the issue of the wording. I am tracking you—watching you from afar—so I know you haven’t opened the email yet. You signed up to read these, Heidi, and since I’m monitoring you, I’ve noticed that you are slacking. Get on the stick, girl!

That may not be what he intended, but that’s what he wrote.

It drives home just how important it is to think through how, when, and why you (and your clients) contact customers and prospects with personalized information. How is this personalization being used? How will it be received by the target? Will it be welcomed as a relevant, helpful communication? Or will it make them feel invaded?

Remember that personalization, on its own, does little. Done wrong, it actually can be harmful. Personalization is simply a tool. Be careful how you use it.

What other mobile apps have helped you?

QuickMark QR Code Reader Price: NZ$1.29 If you haven’t heard of QR Codes before (have you not been reading this blog?), they’re two-dimensional codes, readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones.

QR Codes can be used to display text to the user, to add a vCard contact to the user’s device, to go to a website or to compose a text message or email.

Free alternative? Try i-nigma qr barcode reader

Microsoft Tag Reader Price: Free Microsoft came out with their answer to the QR Code and called it the tag.

The main difference between the Microsoft tag and a QR Code, is that you can change what the tag links to anytime you want by going online to www.microsoft.com/tag and editing your tag yourself.

Business Card Reader Price: NZ$3.99 Instant business card recognition right on the iPhone. Import contact information from a business card directly to your iPhone address book.

If you don’t like the look of a QR Code or MS Tag on your business card you can use an OCR scanner like this one to have your contact details imported into a database. For tips on how to keep the design of your business card OCR friendly read how to create OCR scannable business cards.

What The Font Price: Free Ever seen a great font in a magazine ad, poster, or on the web and wondered what font it is?

Whip out your iPhone, snap a photo, and WhatTheFont for iPhone will identify that font in seconds!

Resene Colourmatch Price: Free  Seen a colour you’d love for the house? Maybe it was at the beach, on a fabric or in your friend’s living room, but you don’t know what that colour is or how to describe it?

This may be a strange choice of app at first, until you discover that not only does it provide a matching Resene paint, but it also gives you RGB and CMYK values as well. While not an exact science, it is a handy way to start colour matching when designing print to match your surrounds. Especially with CQ’s range of wall graphics and wallpaper.

Adobe Photoshop Express Price: Free  Adobe Photoshop Express software lets you use simple gestures to quickly edit and share photos from your mobile.

This is very handy for editing your photos on the fly before sending them onto others or saving them. A nice little time saver!

Adobe Ideas Price: Free  Adobe® Ideas is your digital sketchbook, letting you capture and explore ideas anywhere you go. Adobe Ideas is an ideal companion for the professional design applications.

One feature I really like is the ability to create colour themes from a new photo or from an image in the album. It’s a good way to create complimentary colours.

Evernote Price: Free  Winner of the Best Mobile App Award from TechCrunch, Mashable and the Webbys.

Evernote turns the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad into an extension of your brain, helping you remember anything and everything that happens in your life. From notes to ideas to snapshots to recordings, put it all into Evernote and watch as it instantly synchronizes from your iPhone to your Mac or Windows desktop. See why millions of people worldwide use Evernote:

Key features of Evernote:
- Create text, photo and audio notes
- Auto-synchronize your notes to your Mac, PC, and Web
- Magically makes text within snapshots searchable
- Mark notes as "Favorite" for quick access
- All notes include geo-location information for mapping and search
Premium Feature: File Synchronization – add, sync, access, and share files (PDF, Word, Excel, PPT, and more) among the different versions of Evernote you use.

Here are some ways to use Evernote for your personal and professional life:
- For research and class notes
- To capture blog ideas and design inspiration
- To stay in-sync with your desktop notes, web clips, and files
- To snap photos of whiteboards and wine labels
- As part of your GTD system to help you stay organized
- To record voice memos
This version of Evernote works best when used together with the free downloadable versions for Mac and Windows.

I love this program!!!

iNews O – RSS Reader Price: Free  It’s a fast world. Fresh news and new ideas are being reported on at an alarming rate. The best way to keep up is with a good RSS Reader.

iNews O comes preloaded with some of the best design, photography and idea blog feeds around. Plus if you see anything you like, you can share it via email, twitter or facebook. You can even save it directly into your Evernote iphone app!

Files lite – Document Reader Price: Free  Store and view documents on your iPhone or iPod touch, transferring them easily from any Mac or PC.

A Wi-Fi connection is required to connect to Files lite and transfer documents. While File lite has a storage limit of 200 MB, the full version of Files has no storage limits.

Files lite reads Microsoft Office documents, PDF documents, image, movie and audio files.

Good for transporting files when a memory stick isn’t available and you still need to read the files on the go!

I had an idea straight away and shared it with them.

Unfortunately it wasn’t appropriate for them, or their market!

The good thing is – it’s okay! We should never be afraid to share an idea. It’s a great way to discover more about your client and their needs – and it shows that you’re thinking about their business with their best interests at heart!

In the latest edition of Rolling Stone magazine, Lorne Michaels talks about how ideas are presented and often rejected for Saturday Night Live.

The writers for the show will come up with creative thoughts, and then develop and write many different skits. They’ll present the skits to the boss (Lorne) and the other writers. Then, they are often told that a skit is not good enough to be put on the actual show.

At that point, a writer can throw the skit away and work on new ideas. Or, they can file that skit away and try to present it again at another time.

One of the most famous SNL skits in recent memory is “More Cowbell”. In the Rolling Stone article, we learn that skit was rejected and re-presented 7 times before it actually saw the light of day. With that much “failure” surrounding it, that skit could easily have ended up in the trash. However, it went on to become one of the show’s greatest moments.

There are many ideas that we may think of when it comes to marketing our company, product, or services. We have many “flashes of creativity” that excite us for a while. But for one reason or another, they are not converted into actual marketing campaigns. Reasons may include budget, timing, or just a lack of resources.

Many of those ideas may end up in the trash for a good reason. They can’t all be great. However, we may find that keeping ideas filed away may provide benefits to us months or even years down the road. Technology makes it very easy for us to store ideas. It could be in the “Notes” app on our smart phone. Or perhaps we keep an easily retrievable document somewhere that we can edit at any time.

There will be times when flashes of creativity escape us. If we take the time to review our list of “ideas from the past that never quite became reality”, we may find the inspiration that we need to create and develop a successful marketing effort.

The QR Codes were assembled into the shapes of animals that live hidden in the city and posted all over the streets of Hong Kong.

Scanning the codes in the animals allowed users to read more information about a band and hear their music. They could also purchase the songs directly as well as share them on social media.

The campaign was considered a success by the volume of sharing on blogs and social networks and the fact that more than half of the 14 bands sold out their albums within the first week.

The video below shows elements of the campaign with an English commentary, starting at the 30sec mark.

One way to increase the ROI of a direct mail marketing campaign is to include a promotional offer, exclusive to recipients of the mailing.

For example, a restaurant that wants to send out postcards to recruit new customers and retain existing ones should feature

• high-quality and attention-grabbing graphics of the decor and food
• a sample of menu items
• contact details
• and even a small map showing customers how to find the restaurant.

Yet in addition to all of these features, the restaurant should offer some kind of discount or promotion to the postcard recipients, such as a free appetizer or dessert, or a two-for-one meal.

Though some businesses may get the impression that doing so makes them look less professional or classy, the realities of the recession have overridden any potential negative connotations with coupons and discounts.

In fact, a recent survey from Nielsen found that affluent consumers are actually among the most frequent coupon users – 39 percent of consumers who earn more than $70,000 are classified as "super heavy" coupon users, while 42 percent fall into the category of "coupon enthusiasts."

Therefore, even high-end businesses should not shy away from using coupons in their direct mailings, as any incentive or discount will likely boost sales.

This is especially the case now that competition can be fierce  – and coupons may make the difference for a customer choosing between one business and another.

A study released this week regarding online retail coupons captured the make-or-break nature of promotions in today’s economic environment, showing that 30 percent of online adults will not make a purchase at an online store if they cannot find a coupon for that store – marking a 3 percent increase from 2008 – while 22 percent of online adults will go to a different store to make that purchase.

One way to measure the effectiveness of a coupon-focused direct mailing campaign is to require that the recipient brings the coupon into the store or business in order to receive the discount. Doing so can allow the business to compare the number of people who received the mailing with the number that brought the coupon in for use, guiding any changes to the campaign such as the mailing list or the offer itself.

Sometimes it’s fun – and profitable – to use a marketing gimmick, by introducing an intentional error into your direct mail campaign.

Not long ago, Jeff Kaller mailed a mountain of postcards driving people to call – the wrong number. Followed by mailings apologizing for and correcting the mistake.

And getting better than ever response.

In another case a sales letter and registration form was sent out for a very pricey event with the dates, place and price missing. Nearly 70% called to inform the sender of the mistakes: some irritated, some trying to be helpful. This put 70% on the phone with his three telemarketers, who closed half during the calls; net 35% registration vs. best ever prior sign-up rate from same customers for comparable events, 15%.

Joe Sugarman gave discounts and rewards to people who found the most mistakes in his ads. The technical term for this is: involvement.

Intentional errors… are they gimmicks, or are they ‘hooks’?

You’ll know once the responses start coming in!