Thanks to prominent endorsements from Target, Best Buy, Macy’s and Post Cereals, that day might finally be nearing. Those marketers are placing the codes in front of a broad swath of consumers, while the likes of Home Depot, Visit St. Pete-Clearwater (Fla.) and even real-estate agents are using the codes on plant tags, tourism guides and home listings, respectively.
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Macy’s is behind the most visible QR-education effort, with a 30-second spot now running nationally. The spot, which was cut down from a demo posted to Facebook, YouTube and Macy’s own site, shows shoppers how to use the codes and explains what they’ll get access to when they scan one with their phone.
The effort is part of Macy’s Backstage Pass campaign, which uses QR codes — or quick-response codes, a form of 2-D bar code — and SMS texts to give consumers access to videos featuring star designers. It works like this: Shoppers download a QR-code reader, in this case one called ScanBuy. Then, using that reader, they snap a picture of the code, which triggers content to pop up. There are abundant in-store signs and employees are armed with more than 100,000 lanyards containing instructions on how to use the codes.