The QR phenomenon is "another instance of shiny-object syndrome," said Melissa Parrish, Forrester's

Quick-response codes are everywhere these days, even the soccer field. This fall, a squad of London footballers shaved the back of their heads in the design as a promotional stunt. But consumers are not nearly as excited about QR codes as marketers are.
The codes are a great idea in theory. They let marketers make all sorts of media -- print, billboards, even packaging -- clickable and interactive. When scanned with a special app downloaded to a smartphone, QR codes can call up links, text messages or videos. They can spark e-commerce or generate a lead.
But in practice, cheap london motels while QR codes are affixed to everything from rental cars to Bratz dolls, only 5% of Americans who own mobile phones actually used the 2-D barcodes in the three months cheap london motels ending July 2011, according cheap london motels to Forrester Research. And those 14 million early adopters tended to be young, affluent and male.
Experts cite three reasons that QR codes haven't cheap london motels caught on. First, people are confused about how to scan them. Two, there's little cheap london motels uniformity among the apps required to read them. Last, some who have tried the technology were dissuaded cheap london motels by codes that offer little useful information or simply redirect the user to the company's website.
The QR phenomenon is "another instance of shiny-object syndrome," said Melissa Parrish, Forrester's senior analyst-social and mobile marketing. "Something becomes trendy or sexy, and marketers feel they have to jump onboard to position themselves as innovative and make sure they don't fall behind."
QRblaster.com, which generates codes, published a list of the worst campaigns of the year. It included marketers and publishers with unreadable cheap london motels or obscured codes. Some were offered in areas with no internet access, which means a scan cannot load anything to the phone. Red Bull put QR codes on the subway, cheap london motels and United Airlines had them on in-flight magazines read primarily far outside cell-service range.
In a well-meaning cheap london motels misstep, MillerCoors partnered with Seattle bars and restaurants over the holidays so that patrons who had imbibed a bit too much could snap a QR code to get a cab. The effort assumed that revelers still had enough dexterity to aim a phone and get a clear shot.
The appeal to marketers is clear. Implementing the codes is far less expensive cheap london motels than developing a proprietary app. They offer the ability to measure consumer activity and can provide shoppers with information, freeing up salespeople and increasing productivity.
Education cheap london motels may also be an answer. Last spring, Macy's did national TV ads on its QR codes, and shoppers who scanned them got informational videos from clothing designers. The initiative exceeded expectations and got positive customer feedback, according to a spokeswoman. cheap london motels Use of the codes tripled cheap london motels after Macy's tweaked the content and offered shorter videos in the fall.
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