QR codes – do I need to know about them??

So, we had a little internal training session at Mzuri a week or so ago, and Katherine sidled up to me a few days before saying “Fancy genning up on these and telling us all about them?”. She had in her hand, a flyer that we’d been given at Pizza Express (our farewell dinner for Kate!) – nothing extraordinary about it, except the odd black and white box printed on it which, if I scanned it with my smartphone, would take me to a web page with lots of pizza recipes on it.

You may have seen an example of what I mean as they are getting more prolific in marketing material. Imagine a square made up of black and white pixels arranged in a random manner. This is what is called a QR code – or ‘quick reaction’ code.

The idea is that the user downloads one of the free QR code readers available on their mobile phones, and then uses it to ‘read’ the code. What happens at that point varies hugely; you could be taken to a web page, or an article, or contact details….or a pizza recipe. Pretty much anything.

QR codes are a little like barcodes, but they have the added advantage of being able to store more than just numerical data. There are numerous free generators online; you simply tell it what you want the code to ‘point’ to, an image is then shown which you can save and use on websites, marketing material, business cards, or anything else you use to promote awareness of your brand.

We’ve seen them used in various applications – some more useful than others – and it’s now something that’s definitely on our radar as an additional communication tool. If you want to know more, then do get in touch and we’d be happy to talk you through this technology and how you might be able to use it. Now, I’m off to make that pizza…..!