QR codes vs. NFC. The Past vs. the Future?
Traditional QR (quick response) codes have had mixed reviews since rising to fame in modern day advertising. Haunting our streets, magazines and everything in-between, some people like them, many ignore them and others mistrust them. The question is: are the 2D black and white cubes taking over our cities due for a re-think?
Customised & Colourful
Customised QR codes, a creative and colourful adaptation of the original QR code, help achieve a much better link-through rate than traditional codes. Colour and branding beats the ‘everyone’s got one’ look and gives scanners a much better indication of where the link is leading to. Customised QR codes also look a hundred times better within advertising – especially when colour and design integrates with the look and feel of a campaign.
Despite this, pitching any sort of QR codes has been a challenge in a market rife with uncertainty, mixed awareness and negative PR (widespread stories of hoax codes linking to computer viruses for example).
Better, Faster, Stronger?
In response to the QR code situation, several experts and tech-giants Samsung are paying close attention to an alternative: NFC (Near Field Communication) to rival QR codes.
Technologically superior, NFC is hot-topic right now among tech-circles and is demanding to be noticed.Superior – yes but there’s still the problem of education. In terms of consumers knowing what it does and what is can do for business.
NFC wins on so many levels.Your QR code has a number of standard mobile challenges. Not all mobiles have inbuilt scanners and your consumer may well be challenged with ‘one step too far’ by not immediately being able to scan your carefully designed custom code with their phones’ scanner. Until all smartphones have a scanner feature, sadly you will always be up against it on this one.
Enter the NFC tag. It looks like nothing else, comes with a short call to action (‘Tap Here’) and once you’ve tapped sends you to a destination associated with the original information.
From a marketing perspective it’s brilliant and for an on-going basis – a cost saver.
~ You’re reading a promotional poster and NFC takes you to a promo video ~ You’re at a meeting and NFC lets you download an event guide ~ You’re at a railway station and NFC rings the local taxi service
There are endless possibilities. The user doesn’t have to search for info. No more wasted print costs. There’s an immediate two-way gratification – information shared and received. It’s win-win.
With the technology improving by the day, NFC has the power to connect the public and for businesses to employ a quicker, more cost effective means of providing the customer with the information they are keen to share.
Whatever you want to share with your customer, NFC can make it easier, quicker and cheaper. Tap your business into the power of NFC.
For more information on how NFC can work for YOUR business, please visit our site here