And as much as I personally dislike snow, I am thankful that lousy weather led me to learn about the board game, Zero.

As you can see in the picture below, they have made print and packaging interactive by including a QR Code on the box.

Upon scanning the QR Code, people are directed to the website for the Zero game.

There, they can learn more about the game on their phones — whether it’s by watching a video, reading the rules, or connecting to one of their social networking profiles.

While there are certainly some things that they could have done better in executing this QR Code effort, I absolutely want to give them credit for taking this step. I think it’s a great way to try to reach the growing mobile audience as they seek to sell more of this product.

As you can see, the QR Code is huge! And, the “Scan Me” directions are even bigger.

Of course, after seeing where it’s placed — on a massive truck — it makes sense as to why the QR Code and directions are so prominent.

I have no doubt that this truck will attract attention, simply due to its size. Here’s hoping that it helps to increase awareness of QR Codes as well to those that come near it!

I also wanted to mention one other thing. I was quite happy to see the website that the QR Code directed me to. No, it wasn’t massive by any means. Rather, it was perfectly optimized mobile website for my iPhone. Here is a screenshot of what I saw:

And yes, that means it can be fairly embarrassing for me as my neighbors watch my wife handle a hammer, a screw gun, a ladder, etc., better than I can while we are working on our house!

Thus, when a company that sells tools reaches out to me with a marketing effort, chances are fairly high that I will not pay attention… However, if they provide a call-to-action that gets me excited, then they have a chance.

Here’s an example of how this recently happened. Below is a picture of a direct mail piece that I received at home:

I apologize for the blinding flash that appeared in the middle of the mail piece! But I can’t lie — after seeing the QR Code, I was motivated to find my smartphone and scan to see where they were going to send me.

The QR Code directed me to their corporate website, where I could browse and shop for tools. After a few moments, my lack of knowledge took of over, and I handed the phone to wife to continue the mobile shopping process.

However, the bottom line is this — the QR Code helped to make their direct mail piece interactive, and helped me (a potential consumer) to pay attention.

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Upon seeing the picture, I was quite excited. When a mainstream brand such as Starbucks is using QR Codes on their packaging, it should help to increase awareness and acceptance of QR Codes.

Here’s the picture that they posted:

The QR Code directs people to a mobile website.

Here’s what I loved about this — rather than simply pointing to a generic Starbucks.com website of some sort, the QR Code from this package takes me to a site that is specifically dedicated to the type of coffee that this bag contains. In this case, that was the Veranda Blend.

Here is a screenshot of the mobile website:

While I do like many aspects of their execution, the folks at VGART Design made an excellent point when they sent this picture to John Foley, Jr. on Twitter. Their point was this: It would certainly have been better if Starbucks had included some sort of instructions or incentive around the QR Code.

This could have been accomplished by providing simple text such as “Scan this with your smartphone to learn more about this blend”, or “To watch a video about this coffee, scan the QR Code”.

Text like that could help to inform folks that may not know what a QR Code is — and it also could help encourage those who do know what they are to scan it.

But the bottom line is this: there are plenty of opportunities for other companies to successfully incorporate QR Codes into their packaging! Here’s hoping this application from Starbucks provides some inspiration.

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I think they did a great job of customizing the graphic elements of the QR Code.

They also did a nice job of ensuring that the QR Code points to a site that is mobile-optimized. Here is a screenshot of where the code directed me:

I liked how they’ve used this mobile site to promote their social networks as well.

P.S. The video featured near the top of the mobile website would not play for me today; but perhaps that is a temporary hiccup.

They ran this tremendous print advertisement back in August of 2011… but for some reason, I never completed the task of promoting it here on the blog.

Well, I’m very late, but the QR Code still works. So, here it is:

Here is a link to the digital edition of the Arkansas Business magazine where this advertisement was placed.

However, the power of video can help to deliver a message in multiple ways.

If you have a free moment today, please watch the video below. It demonstrates how readers with smartphones are able to engage with the printed pages of Qweekr’s magazine.

This video demonstrates Qweekr, the QR Code magazine.

This video demonstrates how Samuel Adams used QR Codes for a recent holiday promotion.

Take a quick moment to see how print and mobile were successfully integrated to achieve business objectives:

I think that the video does a great job of demonstrating a number of things, including:

- How creative folds can be used to convert print into dynamic containers of information

- How QR Codes can be used to make print interactive and to engage to with the mobile audience

- How mobile + print can help a company increase sales!

Of course, we must say that we have been fans of QR Code coasters for a long time. Here’s one that we created for interlinkONE’s marketing efforts.

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I recently learned about the Lingibli service. It uses QR Codes, print, and mobile to help people learn how to speak different languages.

Here is a brief video on how it works:

Click here to visit Lingibli’s website >>

But with QR Codes, the momentum of creating awareness has been in full swing for quite a while now. What does this mean? Well, even my grandmother knows how to scan a QR Code! Thus, advertisers, marketers, educators, etc. should find ways to incorporate QR Codes into their printed materials to reach the growing mobile audience. Here are a few tips to help them incorporate QR Codes that their audience will scan.

5 Tips for Increasing Your QR Code Scans

1) Provide instructions near the QR Code

Yes, awareness of QR Codes has increased dramatically over the past few months. But there are still plenty of people out there that don’t know what they are or how to use them. To assist those folks, provide instructions near the QR Code on your printed materials.

This could be done by simply including text (i.e. “Scan the QR Code with your smartphone”) or by incorporating an image that displays a smartphone pointing to the QR Code, or an image that depicts how the QR Code could point to a smartphone that is displaying a website.

2) Give people an incentive

As marketers first become familiar with QR Codes, they often rush too quickly to incorporate them. Thus, they’ll skip over fundamentals such as “Why would my audience want to scan this?”. Rather than just slapping a QR Code on your printed materials, develop a reason why you should have one. Will it make it easier for your audience to access a map or directions? Will it make easier for people to contact your company or to make a purchase?

Include that reason somewhere on your printed materials to let people know what benefits they’ll receive by scanning the code.

3) Allow your designer to have input

In some cases, graphic designers have developed well-crafted print advertisements or direct mail pieces that they are very proud of. But at the last minute, someone may request that a QR Code is included. This may not only cause some grief for the designer (because they are being asked to make a last-minute change, one that does not necessarily fit it into their vision), but it could also negatively impact your audience. If a QR Code appears to have been carelessly slapped onto printed material, the chances of it being scanned may be reduced.

Thus, try to allow your designers to offer creative input during the development process. They may be able to utilize the error-correction rate that is built into QR Codes, or to simply find a creative way to include it that will tempt your audience to scan it.

4) Educate your audience ahead of time

Yes, QR Codes exist primarily to make print interactive. But you can use other medias to increase awareness about them. Create blog posts on your website that talk about them. Produce a video that demonstrates how someone could successfully use their smartphone to scan them. Put on one your social media pages or in your email signature for a little while. Talk about them in your eNewsletter.

By taking those steps, you may not only create curiosity, but you may increase the chances that your audience will know what to do with them when they see one in on your printed pieces.

5) Shorten the destination URL

This one is very important! Yes, QR Codes can hold a lot of data. But the more data that you have in a QR Code, the harder it may be for someone to scan it quickly. Make sure to use a service that shortens your URLs before generating the QR Code.

I hope that you find these tips helpful! If you have any questions about how to increase the success of your QR Codes, please let us know.

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