QR codes, which was originally developed for industrial purposes, are now used by numerous product packages, name cards or on store displays. And some companies are trying to change fuzzy looking QR codes, at least for their own purposes.

History of QR codes is relatively short. QR code, which also called, “Two-dimensional bar-codes” was originally developed by an automotive producer in 1994 to store more information than conventional bar-codes. By having larger information storage, auto-producers could identify each vehicle on an assembly line. It was after end of 2000s, when application of QR codes expanded to other commercial purposes, including name cards and product packaging. Use of QR codes expanded significantly after smart phones became popular and general consumers gained an ability to scan those codes. Total number of QR-code ready devices has been expanding exponentially, and even Nintendo 3DS comes with a QR reader.

Marketers have been trying to communicate their messages by “hiding” them in QR codes, and encouraging consumers to scan them. Audi was celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2010, and it created the largest QR code in the world just to communicate one message.

One of the drawbacks of QR codes, however, is its boring look. Unlike the previous generation bar-codes, viewers cannot even read product numbers listed below. To counter this problem, many retailers tried to customize QR codes to show their own brands or message they want to share with consumers.

In September 2011, Ralph Lauren introduced a customized QR code to show its Polo brand. Some retailers are going further by changing the overall shape of QR, and showing radically different designs.

Furthermore, in some cases, you don’t even need to have QR codes to provide URLs! Google Goggles, developed by Google mobile, allows users to scan and search from photographs or artworks that have nothing to do with QR.

Perhaps in near future, companies will no longer use QR codes, but show picture advertisements saying, “just scan this ad.”

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Posted: 02|21|12 at 5:44 pm. Filed under: Uncategorized.
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