This is the place for the latest CustomXM activity, some favorite client success stories and banter regarding print, marketing and signage that you might find interesting.

Toyota Manufacturer Recalls Open Source Use of QR codes

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In what is likely to cause an overwhelming groan among marketers and technologically savvy consumers (and cheers among designers and IT staff ), QR code inventor, Denso Wave has issued a cease and desist order to all users of this open source tool.  Invented by the Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave in 1994 to track vehicles during the manufacturing process, this two dimensional bar code has been hailed as the savior of print, marketing budgets, and the ever-dwindling use of online commerce.

Speaking through a translator, Denso Wave President and Chief Executive Officer Mitsuhiko Masegi, expressed regret in taking this unprecedented legal action, stating, “I regret taking this unprecedented legal action.”  Masegi went on further to explain, “The QR (Quick Response) code was originally designed to improve productivity for manufacturers.  We wanted to offer this tool as a way of helping businesses focus on streamlining their operations.  Sadly, however, it seems people use it just to focus on their smartphones.”

Masegi noted increasing trends in the insulting use of variations of the code name itself into everyday pop culture.  “The bastardization of this worldwide brand is totally out of control. Last week I read where Prince, who once, as the artist formerly known as Prince had an extremely poor experience using a symbol to convey a message, had re-released his hit single, Let’s Go Qrazy!  And even one of my favorite American Country cross-over artists, Lionel Ritchie, has somehow re-created a new smash hit with the late Patsy Cline in a duet titled, Qrazy for You! In my honest opinion, this is just a bunch of Qrap!  Uh, I mean crap!”

Masegi commented that most Americans don’t fully appreciate that value of QR Codes.  He pointed to a recent study that claimed QR codes were dead in part because only 21.5% of American college students were able to recognize a QR code.  Masegi responded, “That’s still higher than the percentage of American college students that can  actually read. ‘Nuff said.”

Further evidence of corporate QR code misconduct can be found in names of entities and services providing guidance on this now obsolete code.  QReateandTrack, BeQRious, TrakQR are just a few of those domain names that will have to consider their response to this cease and desist action.

Citing what he called egregious usage flaws and borderline usage stupidity, Masegi relayed these most offensive trends he has witnessed –

  • Codes placed along posters and turnstiles in subway stations, where there is no connectivity.
  • Codes placed on billboards located on interstate highways.  Many of these are PSA type billboards encouraging drivers NOT to text and drive.
  • Codes tattooed on the lower back of college coeds. So low in fact that you really can’t get a good scan unless they are in beach attire, in a very skimpy bikini.
  • Edible QR codes.

In reference to the last offense, an obviously agitated Masegi noted, “Who in their sane mind would eat a QR code?  Even with liberal amounts of good saki, that makes no sense to me.”  Masegi offered the photo below as proof of the ongoing  insanity. 

Ironically, Masegi  pointed out that when one scanned the original QR cupcakes above, on what are now popularly referred to as QRupcakes,  the end user simply received the message, “Bite Me.” 

And apparently, that is what triggered the current legal action.

 

Happy April 1st, 2012!

QR Code is registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.

 

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Paul Strack, CustomXM

@pstrack

Marketing, Networking & BBQ!

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One of my favorite aspects of small business ownership is the flexibility to be able to do things out of the norm, away from the daily routine, while hopefully bringing value to clients and prospects.  Our quarterly Lunch & Learns are a perfect example of this.  Over the past two years, we have had the opportunity to explore the latest in marketing trends from social media to location and mobile marketing and all things in between.  We’ve received great feedback from our attendees, and have tried to tailor our programs to help meet their needs.  And of key importance for me, we’ve had fun doing it.

Being a borderline “ham”, I always enjoy the role as a presenter.  On other occasions when we bring in guest experts, I find equal pleasure in playing host to our many guests.  Next Thursday, March 29, I have the pleasure of welcoming back to Little Rock my favorite Bostonian, John Foley, Jr.  John was with us just last June, but so much has changed in these past 9 months that we’ve asked him to come back for an encore presentation.  He will be presenting his “State of the Union” of social media and mobile marketing.  Here are just of a few of the challenges and questions he will be addressing:

  • Are the social and mobile channels actually working for marketing efforts?
  • Are customers and prospect benefitting from all the available mobile interaction?
  • Are businesses actually improving revenue by spending more money in these areas?

You may be familiar with some of the topics, and some may be completely new to you.  Either way, I guarantee an informative, entertaining 90 minutes chock full of marketing takeaways.  Throw in a catered lunch, it is the best $10 business value in town.

If you are not familiar with John, or want to hear a little more information, take a look at this video:

So if you are involved in marketing, or enjoy new trends and technology, or are looking for a networking opportunity and a great lunch, please join us on March 29th.

Register here:  http://IntegratingMedia.com

I look forward to seeing you next Thursday.

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Paul Strack, CustomXM

@pstrack

Marketing, Networking & BBQ!

/0 Comments/in /by

One of my favorite aspects of small business ownership is the flexibility to be able to do things out of the norm, away from the daily routine, while hopefully bringing value to clients and prospects.  Our quarterly Lunch & Learns are a perfect example of this.  Over the past two years, we have had the opportunity to explore the latest in marketing trends from social media to location and mobile marketing and all things in between.  We’ve received great feedback from our attendees, and have tried to tailor our programs to help meet their needs.  And of key importance for me, we’ve had fun doing it.

Being a borderline “ham”, I always enjoy the role as a presenter.  On other occasions when we bring in guest experts, I find equal pleasure in playing host to our many guests.  Next Thursday, March 29, I have the pleasure of welcoming back to Little Rock my favorite Bostonian, John Foley, Jr.  John was with us just last June, but so much has changed in these past 9 months that we’ve asked him to come back for an encore presentation.  He will be presenting his “State of the Union” of social media and mobile marketing.  Here are just of a few of the challenges and questions he will be addressing:

  • Are the social and mobile channels actually working for marketing efforts?
  • Are customers and prospect benefitting from all the available mobile interaction?
  • Are businesses actually improving revenue by spending more money in these areas?

You may be familiar with some of the topics, and some may be completely new to you.  Either way, I guarantee an informative, entertaining 90 minutes chock full of marketing takeaways.  Throw in a catered lunch, it is the best $10 business value in town.

If you are not familiar with John, or want to hear a little more information, take a look at this video:

So if you are involved in marketing, or enjoy new trends and technology, or are looking for a networking opportunity and a great lunch, please join us on March 29th.

Register here:  http://IntegratingMedia.com

I look forward to seeing you next Thursday.

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Paul Strack, CustomXM

@pstrack

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Holiday Procrastinators Will Pay!

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How many times have you let this happen to you: 

It’s early fall and you are thinking about this year’s Holiday Greeting cards.  You have your list of family, friends and worthy recipients in mind.  You think how unique and uncluttered it would be to send a Thankgsiving Day greeting card. 

But time slips away.

Veteran’s Day is certainly a card-worthy holiday, but the card selection is not in abundance. 

Time marches on. 

Chanukah seems to go on for days, Christmas is gone before you know it; Kwanzaa seems festive enough, but then it is so close to the Official New Year’s Greeting Day. So overdone.

So you panic, and instead, you do nothing. 

Ahh, but there is a light, or a holiday, at the end of the tunnel.  Nothing says We Are Thinking of You During This Holiday Season like a well worded, well timed, Valentine’s Day Greeting Card.

But this year, if you follow this path, it will cost you.

The USPS is officially raising single piece postage rates effective January 22, 2012.

Some of the more more noticable increases that will affect the Greeting Card givers are:

  • Letters (1 oz.): 1 cent increase to 45 cents
  • Letters additional ounces: unchanged at 20 cents
  • Postcards: 3 cent increase to 32 cents
  • Letters to Canada or Mexico (1 oz.): 5-cent 85 cents

Prices will also change for other mailing services, including Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services.  The increases for these vary according to a variety of laws, inflation and the Consumer Price Index.

So, what does this all mean for your Holiday Greeting Cards?

Finish them! Now!

And let us know if we can help in any way.

(A special thanks to Hilary DeMillo @hilarydemillo for allowing us to use the photo above.  The vintage stamps bring back fond memories.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Paul Strack, CustomXM

@pstrack

Hot Dog Marketing

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While we always try to have informative and engaging speakers for our quarterly Lunch & Learns, we certainly received a bonus in the local celebrity of Hot Dog Mike (@hotdog_mike). In continuing with our theme of True Confessions – Real Life Stories of Marketers in the Digital Age, Mike had the daunting task of addressing our fourth marketing point – Something Blue.

No, he was not going to talk to attendees about anything that was particularly depressing.  Instead, he was going to share his experiences using social media (Facebook  and Twitter) to promote and grow his business. How is this something blue?  You see, both Facebook and Twitter icons are blue in color.

Any good marketer knows that one of the first rules of engagement is Know Thy Audience.  In other words, who fits your demographic  profile?  When posed with that question, interestingly enough, Hot Dog Mike responded, “My demographic is shockingly, everybody.”  Man, woman, child.  Politicians, lawyers, musicians, student, librarian, police officer.  You name it, they (we) all gotta eat, right?

So how and why did he use social media to engage with this vast demographic audience?  Surprisingly, in the beginning, Mike wasn’t a big fan of social media.  But he did realize that in order to promote his product (in other words, he needed to market), he had to use a mechanism to help spread the word about what he was all about. And social media tools fit that need. 

Takeaway point – communicate your message using the tools that your target audience prefers to use.

Mike also realized that social media was an excellent tool to use for listening to his prospects, and his potential audience. And because it is a conversation, a dialogue, Mike used this tool to engage with his audience. 

Takeaway point – A successful marketer must use available channels to engage, interact, and react with his or her audience.

After establishing his internet presence using Facebook and Twitter, Mike began using these tools in a manner that fit his personality.  Yes, he is certainly about food, but he is also about his community, and he was looking for ways to incorporate ways to use his food truck to give back to the community. Again, his engagement with his audience allowed him to achieve these objectives.  Mike explains “my brand is me,” so all things related to social marketing are handled by Mike himself.  That way he is certain that it has his look, his voice, his feel.

Takeaway point – In matters of social media marketing, be yourself. Be transparent.  People generally prefer to engage with a person as opposed to a brand.

So there you have it, marketers in today’s digital age continue to use Something Old (direct mail), Something New (QR codes, pURLS), Something Borrowed (communications) and Something Blue (social media) in a variety of ways to ensure their success.  Cross media and multi-channel marketing tools provide for more effective ways to help you Market Smarter.

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Paul Strack, CustomXM

@pstrack

True Confessions – Something new for Better Beginnings

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Continuing our recap of True Confessions exposed during our Lunch & Learn held September 29th, it’s time to hear about Something New.  And how appropriate it was for to hear from that sharp, young up-and-comer from  The Communications Group, Jason Brown (@JBrown935). Jason spoke to the audience on how Something New – QR codes, personalized URLs (pURLs) and microsites helped his client educate childcare providers about the resources now available from  the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS).

DHS was participating in the Arkansas Early Childhood Association Conference. Their goal was to introduce “Better Beginnings,” the new Quality Rating Improvement System for childcare providers.

Jason explained that his client desired a campaign that would:

  • Drive conference attendees to the DHS booth for the purpose of introducing the new childcare rating system
  • Assist in educating attendees about online resources that are available to assist them in meeting Federal Standards for childcare providers
  • Gather valuable data about attendees’ knowledge and awareness of the new regulations through a list of survey questions.

Takeaway point:  Before embarking on any marketing campaign, clearly identify its objectives.

To help achieve these objectives, 900 cards were distributed to all attendees. These cards included both a QR code and a unique URL that encouraged respondents to visit a microsite to learn more about the DHS program. An additional option of taking the card to the trade show booth was offered as well.

Takeaway point: Always include multiple response mechanisms to make it convenient for your target audience to respond.

To encourage participation on the online survey, a prize was offered to all who completed the survey and redeemed the resulting coupon at the tradeshow booth.  All participants who entered received a note pad and were included in a drawing for one of four iPod shuffles. The response was quite overwhelming – over 280 people completed the survey and visited the DHS booth during the tradeshow.

Takeaway point: People like to get stuff – no matter how small.  Give people an incentive to respond to your call for action.  And then reward them for doing so.

Jason explained that not only was this campaign successful based upon the objectives outlined above, it proved valuable for obtaining additional information that will be used in future educational outreaches to childcare providers.

So, as True Confessions in the marketing world continue to evolve, don’t be afraid to try something new.

Next up, Hot Dog Mike shows his success with Something Blue.

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Paul Strack, CustomXM

@pstrack

True Confessions – That Dinosaur will Hunt

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We recently hosted our quarterly Lunch & Learn, and as always, the speakers and topics provided a cornucopia of marketing morsels.  Titled True Confessions – Real Life Stories of Marketers in the Digital Age, it actually turned out to be more of a something old, something new, something borrowed & something blue– type event.

All in attendance seemed to be in agreement that marketing communications – the art of telling a story, promoting a product – is certainly an activity that is borrowed.  It’s nothing new really.  It’s just that now, there are so many more techniques available that allow us to be more effective in how we do it.

Brian Bush of Stephens Inc. opened the presentations with the discussion of something old.  And no, it had nothing to do with Brian himself.  Brian told the story of how Direct Mail, that dinosaur of direct marketing, is leading to success with his target market.  Here are some of the nuggets he shared:

  • Because of its strong brand awareness, Stephens has never really felt the need for a direct marketing campaign.  So this direct mail approach was certainly a new endeavor.
  • Along these same lines, because of the Stephens brand and image, Brian said that many investors believed that they did not possess the wealth necessary to be worthy of being a Stephens’ client.  Takeaway point: There is often a disconnect between how you perceive your brand, and how prospects perceive your brand.
  • Brian also shared that the first approach to the carefully selected database was a direct mail campaign that drive respondents to landing pages (pURL campaign).  While it did have some success, more respondents preferred to contact Brian via phone or email, rather than online. Takeaway point: Know your audience and learn how they prefer to communicate.  Today’s marketing tools allow you to do that quite effectively.
  • Because of the lack of response to the actual PURL campaign, that particular response mechanism was eliminated in future mailings.  Takeaway point: Measure your results, not only to repeat methods that are successful, but to eliminate those that are not.
  • Finally, Brian touched briefly on the design aspect of the marketing pieces.  While a flashy, engaging, even humorous approach was briefly considered, it was decided to use a more corporate conservative approach.  In today’s volatile stock market environment, an even-keeled, serious tone is more effective.

Or, to put it another way, Greg Henderson (@jgreghenderson), summarized this takeaway point best with a tweet:  Old rich guys do not like color on their mail.

So while some may consider direct mail to be a dinosaur of available marketing channels, for Brian Bush and Stephens Inc., it still is causing folks to take notice, and react.  And that is what good marketing does.

Up next in our True Confession series, we will learn how Jason Brown (@jbrown935) of The Communications Group used something new to attract attendees to its client’s trade show booth.

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Paul Strack, CustomXM

@pstrack

Now this is how to use QR codes!

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So much has been written lately about QR codes that I felt compelled to write our own Best Practices list for their use.  But I always seemed to find excuses to overcome that compulsion.  However, last night while begrudgingly shopping for a printer at the world’s largest retailer, which is something I rarely enjoy, I was able to experience many of these Best Practices first hand.

First, some background information – Oldest son is heading off to college.  He needed a printer.  Which one to buy?  What accessories are needed?  What bells and whistles are included?  So, we stumbled across a printer with this QR code on the outer box:

These are the Best Practices I noticed:

1) Size and White Space.  It was a nice size code, not too small, not to large. We recommend no smaller than 1”x1”. And note the white space/border around the edge. This helps insure faster and more accurate scan rates.  Remember, white space is our friend.

2) I really like the instructional diagram.  Remember, smartphone users and those that know what a QR Code is and how to use them are in the minority. For now, anway. We must continue to educate the public whenever and wherever possible.

3) Same as Number 2.  Educate the user.  They may be intrigued by the funny square graphic, but they may still not know what to do with it. One item missing here, in my opinion, is an instruction telling the user to download a QR reader if they don’t have one. Remember, users cannot scan a code if they don’t have a reader.  Remind them that it’s a free download.

4) And going back the point that not everyone can scan a code: we suggest that you always provide the URL link in addition to the QR code.  And in both cases, make sure that the QR code and the link is trackable!

So, I scanned the code, and where did it take me?  Did it create added value for the end user?

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Yes it did!  First,  the scan of the code directed me to a site that was optimized for viewing on a mobile phone!  Beautiful.  So many codes I scan do not do that! That is why we keep repeating the key component of successful QR code implementation: Make It Mobile Now! The quick scan gave me access to volumes of information about this printer that I could not find, or read, even if it was on the box packaging. Now let’s look at the next page on the mobile site:

It contained almost everything I needed to know about this printer.  So helpful, and yes, it did create added value for the end user.  It gave me something for my effort of scanning the code.  That is a key best practice to remember – if a user will take the time and effort to scan your QR code, you MUST reward them with something of value.  It can be a discount, an offer, humor, or just more information that is not readily available…but it must be of additional value.  Give them that, and they will keep coming back.

We also always instruct our users of QR codes to measure the results.  Make the link trackable.  I couldn’t tell if these folks did that, but my guess is that they did. And in the end, I did give them the measurable results they were looking for:  I purchased the printer.

For more information about recent QR code usage and demographics, click here.

And let us know how you see QR codes being used.

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 Paul Strack, CustomXM

@pstrack