Why do QR codes have the power to transform your business?

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You may have seen some little black and white boxes in newspapers, on buses and even in shop windows and wondered what are they and what do they do? Those little black boxes are QR codes and have the power to transform any business. QR code stands for quick response code and although they are essentially a bar code, your regular barcode is 1D whereas a QR code is 2D and is converted into interactive text or a link. Most smart phones have downloadable QR readers which allow QR codes to be scanned and decoded on almost any surface. Having originally started in Japan, they are fast becoming widespread across the world as the latest way to connect potential customers to an interactive marketing campaign. 

An example of an interactive marketing campaign which has utilised QR codes is Toyota’s 2012 Corolla campaign. One of the targets was to expand conversations with potential Corolla consumers. A branded mobile QR code called Toyotag was created. Toyota consumers were encouraged to use their mobiles to take photos of the Toyotag. They were then prompted by SMS to download the Toyota shopping tool app. Once the app was downloaded, consumers could view Hatsune Miku singing next to the 2012 Corolla. This video was linked to many blogs to encourage further engagement and traffic.

The results?  The Hatsune Miku concert created a 600% increase in Toyota Shopping Tool app downloads. App downloads remained above normal rates for the following week and Toyota saw a 30% jump in Corolla leads in that same time period. Extending engagement past the concert was also a goal for the campaign, and both download rates and web traffic indicated Toyota was successful. Time spent on the Corolla/Hatsune Miku web page “outpaced” time spent on the entire Corolla section of Toyota’s site for the week following the virtual concert. The web traffic for the Corolla/Miku site increased 167% from the week of September 4th to the week of September 11th, and only returned to pre-campaign rates after 7 weeks.

Due to the success of this campaign TOYOTA MOTOR SALES U.S.A. is adopting interactive bar codes across all its marketing so mobile phone-carrying customers can quickly access sales promotions, vehicle quotes, videos, safety tips and similar information. “The ToyoTag allows customers to engage with us wherever and whenever they want information,” said Michael K. Nelson. The new tag, he said, will provide one-to-one interactions with customers at all stages of interest in their products. Eventually, automakers could use such tags on billboards or in print advertisements to link to exclusive video footage of a new car model or allow users to instantly book a test drive at their nearest dealership.

One advantage of using QR codes is that they are trackable and measurable; brands can clearly see how effective and successful the campaign has been and how much traffic and engagement they have received as a result. They can see whether a person who snapped once sought more information at a later time, what information the consumer is interested in, what the company is doing wrong and what they’re doing right in terms of marketing, as well as who the potential customers are. To access such specific feedback tells you exactly where to direct your marketing, which areas of your business need improving and which areas should be at the forefront and used to attract the most customers. Essentially this inevitably results in more profit via more effective marketing spend.The possibilities really are endless.

The most active use of QR codes is in the world of marketing. This is because it has the power to connect a huge amount of potential customers to a campaign that leads to action on behalf of the customer.  Let’s say you’re sat on the bus and you see a QR code in the paper next to an advert for a product that you’re interested in, all it takes is one quick scan. Out of curiosity you’re led straight to a professional web page with all the details about the product and a ‘buy now’ button. How much more likely are you to buy the product when presented with a buy now page with great graphics and all the information needed; rather than having to wait until you get home then search for the company that you may not even remember the name of, and then search for the right product? The answer is, much more likely.

The reason why QR codes are so interactive and successful is because they are the only way to link offline and online media. Printed marketing materials become fully interactive by linking up to things such as webpage, video, audio, social media, maps, order forms. This means 24/7 interaction with a new mobile generation of customers. These customers will know exactly who you are as a QR code is flexible enough to be personalised with logos added in the middle, leaving the QR code looking professional and increasing brand awareness. 

QR codes contain their own correction data, internal orientation calibration and self-alignment makers meaning the code is still readable whether it’s on a curved surface, upside down, or even slightly damaged. The technical specification for QR codes is set in the ISO-18004 standard meaning they are the same all over the world.

When managed correctly a QR code is capable of bringing profit into your business. It’s all about creativity!  A job that would take a yearly salary to manage could possibly be a job that a QR code can do for next to nothing. Once a code has been printed you can constantly alter content on the web page but still use the same QR code or vice versa, resulting in a completely new experience every time a customer scans the code. Advertisements in magazines and on leaflets may have to be submitted weeks in advance but with QR codes the information can be kept updated continuously and instantly.

2011 National Award - For Best Integrated Campaign

Perfect Circle and NHS Trafford have won an award for Best Integrated Communications Campaign at the How-Do UK Public Services Communications Awards on 15 November at Manchester’s Comedy Store.

A target was set for 60% of Trafford residents to have seen an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months by March 2011. To meet this target NHS Trafford needed to generate registrations from 11,600 resident by March 2011. The social marketing campaign delivered by Perfect Circle enabled NHS Trafford to achieved its 60% target ahead of schedule in October 2010.

“We are delighted at the success of this campaign” says Oliver Morton, Perfect Circle MD, “working within social marketing presents its own rewards, but winning this particular award is a fantastic achievement and testimony to the hard work, professionalism and commitment of our team.  It’s great that our fellow marketing professionals have chosen to recognise the unique work that we do within social marketing and hope to continue this success into 2012 and beyond.

NHS Trafford were also nominated for the Most Innovative use of New Media award based on the success of the campaign.

The iPad finally arrives in the UK

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Before it even went on sale in the UK, demand for the iPad was so intense that people tried to order it by using forwarding companies with offices in the US. Last Friday saw the UK launch of the iPad which was delayed by a month as Apple could not keep up with demand, having sold 1 million units in just 28 days - making it a faster seller than the iPhone.

The iPad which allows users to send emails, read books, draw pictures and play games has already attracted a cult following among Apple enthusiasts. Stephen Fry said that he was “not prepared for how instant the relationship I formed with the device would be” and he also queued in the rain with other Apple enthusiasts outside the company’s Regent Street store when the gadget went on sale last week, even though he already owns a device.

The British launch also came as the iPad went on sale in eight other countries on Friday - Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland - with tens of thousands lining up from the early hours, with some waiting up to 40 hours to purchase the device. It marked the end of a great week for Apple, where the company’s market value hit more than $222bn (£152.5bn), edging it ahead of Microsoft at $219bn (£150.5 bn).

If you want to know how your organisation can maximise the potential of the iPad then just drop us
an .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)or call us on 01706 373440.

£20 billion of savings in the NHS might not be enough

New Home Secretary Andrew Lansley last week hinted that the NHS may have to make more savings than have been planned for and that an efficiency drive is ‘necessary’.  In an Radio 4 interview,  he said the health service and may have to improve productivity beyond the £20billion figure being planned for.

The NHS had been working on the expectation that it should make £20bn of efficiency savings by 2014. But Mr Lansley said: “That implied something like three to three-and-a-half percent, probably about three percent efficiency savings each year in the NHS.

“Of course we may need to do that. And we may need to do more because we have increases in demand in the NHS and a need to improve the outcomes.”

The new health secretary said this would help the NHS keep pace with rising demands from the ageing population.

Finalist Global Social Marketing Awards 2010

Perfect Circle are delighted to have been selected as a finalist at the Global Social Marketing Awards 2010.  The nomination is for the Most Effective Creative Communications Campaign, for which we submitted our Burnage Media Arts College Social Marketing Campaign.  This highly prestigious awards event will separate the mediocre from those of truly outstandingly high caliber achievers, people who can really claim to be at the forefront of changing the world we live in

This award will be presented to the agency that is best able to demonstrate the most effective communications campaign- Hopefully that will be us!!! The Burnage Media Arts Campaign was a stand out campaign that possessed a strong focus on creative execution, pushed the boundaries of communications to achieve its objectives, including creative bus shelter wraps, to Bluetooth SMS, Interative Sonic Bus Shelters and ‘Real Life learning’ activities that involved the students of Burnage Media Arts College in Manchester.

Please keep your toes, fingers, and eyes crossed that we scoop the award so that we can continue to deliver our dream of successful people, living healthier lives in a sustainable world.

Reporting the tell tale signs of cancer

Bowel cancer survival rates have doubled since the 1970s but there are still 16,000 deaths per year in the UK. According to the latest statistics from Cancer Research UK regarding the 5 year survival rates for people with bowel cancer, the figures show a significant disparity between survival rates for early and late-stage diagnosis of the disease.

When caught in its earliest stage the five year survival rate is 93%, when the disease is diagnosed late becoming advanced bowel cancer it is just 7%.  There is also is also an advantage of between 5% and 9% in five-year relative survival for the most affluent patients compared with the most deprived groups. If this deprivation difference was removed so that all groups had the highest survival, then over 2,000 deaths would be avoided in the five years following diagnosis.

Currently, the Department of Health is providing £8m for PCTs across England to fund campaigns to raise the profile of the UK’s three biggest cancer killers – breast, bowel and lung cancer. Between them these forms of the disease account for 63,400 of the 155,000 cancer deaths in the UK each year.

PCT’s will be able to bid for up to £100,000 to spend on advertising campaigns, outreach work, and ensuring that more information about these cancers are available. The proposed campaigns are to urge people to report tell tale signs of cancer to their GP in an attempt to reduce the 10,000 deaths caught by late diagnosis of the disease each year.

As a social marketing agency with a proven track record working with PCTs, we can provide you with the support you require to access the available funds. 

The support package includes a strategic social marketing proposal and utilises the support of leading nationally recognised professionals within Psychology, Mental Health and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Our experience of social marketing has reinforced the importance of applying recognised academic theory to the scoping and evaluation stages of a social marketing campaign.  We provide a unique social marketing approach through our team that includes leading professionals within Psychology, Mental Health and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.  This ensures that our campaigns deliver significant levels of behavioural change and the results that our clients require.

For more information please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

£8m of DoH funding to help cut local cancer deaths

The Department of Health is providing £8m for PCTs across England to fund campaigns to raise the profile of the UK’s three biggest cancer killers – breast, bowel and lung cancer. Between them these forms of the disease account for 63,400 of the 155,000 cancer deaths in the UK each year.

PCTs will be able will be able to bid up to £100,000 to spend on advertising campaigns, outreach work, and ensuring that more information about these cancers are available. These campaigns are to urge people to report tell tale signs of cancer to their GP in an attempt to reduce the 10,000 deaths caused by late diagnosis of the disease each year.

As a social marketing agency with a proven track record working with PCTs, we can provide you with the support you require to access the available funds. 

The support package includes a strategic social marketing proposal and utilises the support of leading nationally recognised professionals within Psychology, Mental Health and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Our experience of social marketing has reinforced the importance of applying recognised academic theory to the scoping and evaluation stages of a social marketing campaign.  We provide a unique social marketing approach through our team that includes leading professionals within Psychology, Mental Health and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.  This ensures that our campaigns deliver significant levels of behavioural change and the results that our clients require.

For more information please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Wind farm puts region top of the league

On the rolling West Pennine hills, a stone’s throw from Perfect Circle’s HQ is Scout Moor Wind Farm. With turbines spinning in perfect circles of their own, it is the largest onshore wind farm in the country and produces energy to power 40,000 homes. This is helping to put the North West at the forefront of the UKs shift to low carbon. The North West has 140 sites generating renewable electricity, more than any other English region, with Scout Moor Wind Farm alone preventing the release of 160,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

Energy Minister Lord Hunt said recently The plans we are setting out today include how we are going to reach our target for 15% renewable energy by 2020 and if these resources are harnessed the North West could continue to be the top region for renewable energy sites. The North West is also home to four of the potential sites for new nuclear power stations. Moving from high carbon fuels to low carbon green energy is an opportunity for us all.

His comments came as the Government published the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan setting out how the UK will become the first major economy to convert to low carbon living, and the first to reap the benefits. Regional Minister for the North West Phil Woolas said The North West of England was the world’s first industrial area - that revolution was based on carbon fuels. The new green technology revolution must also start here. It is a big challenge and one that all of us in the North West need to respond to - from making small changes to how we live to embracing the opportunities that it offers us.