By Amanda Gingras
Director of Account Services

Last week, Google’s homepage displayed a barcode in place of their logo, they often change their logo for special occasions, holidays, and even Elvis’ birthday. Apparently, October 7th 2009 is the 57th anniversary of the invention of the barcode. As I investigated the anniversary and sifted through the social media buzz around Google’s choice for displaying the barcode, many bloggers commented on the ‘outdatedness’ of the barcodes.

Although barcodes are in use everyday at retail stores, prominently placed on retail packaging designs, barcode technology has evolved drastically over the past few years. Nowadays we’re leveraging barcode technology to a new form of the barcode, the two-dimensional code, the Quick Response Code. Invented in 1994 by the company Denso-Wave, the Quick Response code, known as the QR code, was launched in Japan, where it is still a popular medium today. Although QR codes are not yet mainstream in the United States, they are popping up all over the place, not only in Japan but around the world, in advertisements, on billboards, on buses, at tradeshows, and on corporate collateral. A QR code is a two-dimensional barcode that allows users to take a picture, using their cell phones (although only certain phones are compatible, view a complete list of compatible cell phones), to quickly access a URL. By taking a picture with your cell phone, you’re decoding the QR code and interacting with the creator of the code, by instantly accessing the code’s URL. Many marketers are leveraging this new marketing medium to reach their consumers, in a non-traditional way. For example, you’ll notice a QR code featured at the top of this blog entry that links to the MicroArts Twitter page.

I imagine the technology will continue to gain traction and become more mainstream in the United States, especially as additional phones become compatible.

Many companies are incorporating QR codes into their upcoming marketing plans. Just this week, while attending a social media presentation at Firebrand’s community conference, they had a QR code on their event poster. I also noticed a QR code while attending the movies last week, and was surprised when I noticed someone taking a picture of the QR code as I walked by.

QR codes are easy to generate and a great way to interact with your consumers. If you’re looking to create a QR code, here are some easy sites that allow you to generate codes quickly and easily:
http://qrcode.kaywa.com
http://zxing.appspot.com/generator
http://www.snapmaze.com

Remember, it’s not only the QR code that you need to worry about, make sure to have an effective landing page that pays off the message within your QR code.

Need help staying on top of the latest and greatest new technologies being used with Internet marketing and traditional marketing? Contact MicroArts, a brand strategy company.