Also the badges will now include the +1 and the circle count.

As Google says “We recently looked at top sites using the badge and found that, on average, the badge accounted for an additional 38% of followers. When you add the badge visitors to your website can discover your Google+ page and connect in a variety of ways: they can follow your Google+ page, +1 your site, share your site with their circles, see which of their friends have +1′d your site, and click through to visit your Google+ page.”

Follow the discussion on Google+.

1. Possess a smart phone
2. Download a QR reader app (or other format like Microsoft TAG)
3. Have the phone nearby and usable when you encounter a QR code (easy in a magazine ad, perhaps less so for QR codes now appearing on highway billboards)
4. Be motivated enough to actually perform behaviors 1-3

While nifty, QR codes are often not the easiest and most convenient method of information retrieval, and when utilized to convey data that could be more seamlessly delivered in another format, they become downright head-scratching. This is the case with the increasingly popular use of QR codes in place of Web URLs.

It hasn’t been all that long since URLs began to appear on advertisements and other communication components. I vividly remember debating whether we should use www.internetdirect.com or http://internetdirect.com on a series of ads my first online company ran in PC Magazine, Net Guide, and Internet World in 1994. Now, however, all but the most brand-driven and obtuse ads include a URL, in the way that the prior generation of marketers included a phone number, and before them, a street address. So to replace a perfectly good URL with a QR code requires changing behavior that’s pretty well established at this juncture.

I’m not so sure people are ready to abandon written URLs. After all, with URLs you don’t need a smart phone (or a phone at all), or an app, or a data plan or anything whatsoever other than a modicum of short-term memory. Thus, unless you are in the pharmaceutical marijuana trade, I believe replacing a URL with a QR code falls into the category of ordering pizza online – doable, but more trouble than it’s worth.

When QR Stands For “Quite Realistic”

So where then does the QR code fit? When should it be used? In short, QR codes should unlock information, not a destination. I recently stumbled upon a terrific use of QR codes, at Scotty’s Brewhouse in my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. Scotty’s is a 5-store chain of sports pubs rightfully lauded for their social media prowess, burgers, special hot sauce, and for generally having their act together in every respect. In fact, owner Scott Wise recently won the MIRA Award in Indiana for new media excellence.

I love this use of QR because it unlocked information that was contextually important to me at the time I encountered the code. I cannot overstate that characteristic enough. People need to stop what they are doing and in the absence of any other activity, grab their phone, turn it on, open the app, point the camera, wait for the code to register, visit wherever it takes them, and then decide what to do next. For all that, there better be some immediate payoff, and an extensive beer list qualifies.

Scotty’s of course still has printed lists for patrons who are not on the QR express, but they are printing far fewer than before (green! sustainability!) and because their beer offerings change frequently, it’s easier to keep the electronic list current (just-in-time data!). Perhaps even more impressive is the 32-page takeout menu which is also available via QR code at the front counter, and once snapped is stored on your phone.

Of course, as I wrote about in “Does QR Stand for Quasi-Ridiculous” and “Using QR Codes for Instant Sampling,”, it’s a requirement for what lies behind your QR codes to be perfectly formatted for mobile devices, as both the beer list and takeout menu are in this instance.

3 QR Code Must-Dos

1. Unlock information, not a destination
2. Lead the user to information that’s relevant immediately
3. Perfect mobile formatting of the information delivered

Bravo Scotty’s.

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Dr. Pepper Landing Tab: Wall

When users come to the Dr. Pepper fan page for the first time they land on what is one of the less interesting parts of the page, the wall. This tab, which is a standard feature on all Facebook fan pages, gives Dr. Pepper fans the opportunity to share their enthusiasm for the drink, and many of them do. But, by having the wall as its landing page, Dr. Pepper loses the opportunity to immediately convey some of its more dynamic messaging to fans.

TEN MAN’MENTS

Dr. Pepper’s TEN MAN’MENTS tab is more interesting, introducing fans to a new product the brand is obviously very excited about, Dr. Pepper TEN. Through this tab, fans can access an app that allows them to single out friends who have broken Facebook MAN’MENTS such as “Thou Shalt Not Post Furry Animal Videos.”

This app is a smart use of social media marketing in that it allows fans to express their enthusiasm for the product while simultaneously engaging their friends with Dr. Pepper messaging.

Cooking with Dr. Pepper

The Cooking with Dr. Pepper tab continues this fan engagement by allowing them to share recipes they’ve created using Dr. Pepper. Not only does this tab promote fan involvement, it also provides useful information and encourages users to think of Dr. Pepper as more than just a beverage.

Dr. Pepper Football Promotion

Dr. Pepper’s Football Promotion tab leads fans to the brand’s $1,000,000 Tuition Giveaway, which also does a lot to add fans’ voices and faces to the Dr. Pepper’s Facebook presence. This promotion lets college students submit videos explaining why they deserve to win tuition money from Dr. Pepper. Then, other fans can vote for their favorite videos.

Dr. Pepper’s Facebook Content Strategy

Dr. Pepper updates its Facebook wall with new content about once or twice a day. This content includes links to videos, photos, reminders about the brand’s Facebook promotions and general updates promoting the brand.

And, fan response to these posts is significant – each post receives thousands of likes and hundreds of comments. Dr. Pepper does a good job of engaging fans through clever questions or just by posting images that show the brand has a sense of humor.

Fan Engagement: Dr. Pepper vs. Monster Energy

We decided to compare Dr. Pepper to competitor Monster Energy, a beverage we looked at earlier in this series. This comparison shows that, though Dr. Pepper has fewer fans, most of its posts received a greater fan response than Monster Energy’s posts. The posts that garnered the highest engagement rates were those that showed the brand’s quirky sense of humor with clever images or questions like, “If Dr. Pepper had a middle name, what would it be?”

What does that mean? Through its social media efforts, Dr. Pepper has continued its long tradition of positioning itself as a quirky, fun brand. Monster Energy, on the other hand, has done a good job of attracting fans with its focus on extreme sports, but has not engaged those fans at the same level as Dr. Pepper.

What do you think about Dr. Pepper’s Facebook page? Let us know by posting your comments below!

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When I clicked on the offer is was a special from American Express telling me that if I used my American Express card to buy $10 worth of something I would get a matching $10 credit from American Express.

At first I was confused, but then I saw that a number of restaurants listed around my business also had the same offer. Apparently American Express had struck up a deal with Foursquare (and as it turns out any number geo-locations services) to offer specials directly through Foursquare at locations that accepted American Express (data that American Express would obviously have)

This program has been developing since a June roll out, but it appears Amex has really ramped it up to every imaginable category of business.

As I thought about this a number of things came to mind, but the most important one was that a credit card company had essentially taken over a geo-location service.

Now, I’m not suggesting that’s a bad thing. (For the record, American Express is a client and I happen to think very highly of the folks at the OPEN business unit.)

I am suggesting, it’s an interesting turn of events and here’s why:

• Merchants benefit without having to do anything, but of course, accept the Amex card.
• Shoppers benefit without having to do much more than check in and  sync their card
• Foursquare benefits because all of a sudden it’s worth $10 to check in at a lot of places

The full benefit to Amex is evident only to those that know the numbers, but my guess is that this is a cheaper and way more directly targeted way to get to a user than paying for TV. Plus, when someone checks is on Foursquare when out with a bunch of friends and announces they just got $10 off, I’m guessing some non Amex toting friends take note. This play also positions Amex squarely at the front of the hip line and will likely help remove some of the stodginess that they’ve been shedding for a few years now.

This combination of location, mobile, commerce and local business to reach the end user is quite possibly the digital media story of the year.

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Wait, what? An event centered around QR codes you say? Aren’t they supposed to be a tool? One piece of the puzzle?

Yes–that is true. But, in this case, the Mall used the codes both as a tool AND as the focal point of the event.

Here’s how they set it up. The Mall promoted the “Snap & Win” event as the “best Black Friday deal ever” for 300 lucky guests. The Mall of America rotunda floor featured a 50 X 30-foot MOA logo made up entirely of QR codes. Those 300 pre-wrist-banded guests (selected in order in which they arrived, I believe) scanned these codes at 6 a.m., 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. to win prizes ranging from $150 gift cards to a $1,000 shopping spree (the “grand prize”). There’s also a chance for guests to win another $1,000 shopping spree from Black Friday thru Dec. 23 by snapping codes found in the food court, on digital signage around the Mall and on t-shirts worn by guest services staff.

Interesting, right? At the very least, different.

So, I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn on Black Friday to get a glimpse of this event first-hand. Here were my immediate observations:

* Extremely well-run event. As with most Mall of America events, this one was very well run. All the i’s were dotted and all the t’s were crossed. Participants lined up in the rotunda to stand over their code, at which time they snapped it and lined up again to receive their prizes. MOA digital strategist, Lisa Grimm emceed the event and there were at least 20-plus staff on hand to assist.

* Big points for creativity. MOA knows how to make a splash. I don’t think we’ve seen anything quite like this yet. It was a very unique way to use QR codes to not only drive awareness for MOA on the biggest shopping day of the year, but also to drive traffic in-store to MOA retailers (yet to be determined as of this writing).

* MOA took advantage of its biggest resources. For MOA, their biggest advantages in terms of marketing are (in my view): 1) The mall space itself and the thousands of people who walk the halls each and every day, 2) Overall brand recognition, and 3) Their digital outposts (their Facebook page has 304,000-plus “likes” to date. This event took keen advantage of all three.

* They made the offer worth it. Who doesn’t want a $1,000 shopping spree during the busiest shopping weekend of the year? I mean, that’s a pretty good offer–especially for what amounted to minimal work on the part of the guest. And, the other prizes weren’t too bad either. As people scanned their codes, Grimm announced a few of the winners. Those $150 gift cards were flying  all over the place.

From what I could tell, the event was a big hit. And, the Mall folks were essentially saying as much immediately after it was finished. But, as I soaked it all in and thought about what the Mall has done here, a few key questions kept popping up:

* Did the event really drive additional traffic for retailers? Unanswered at the time of this writing, according to the Mall folks. I’m a bit skeptical here. My thought: The people who won the gift cards were really only in it for the free stuff. So yeah, they’ll go in-store and use their gift card. They may even buy a few more items. But, did OTHER people visit these stores as a result of the event? I’m not so sure. However, it should be noted that the Mall did eclipse its record for Black Friday traffic by 10,000 visitors last week. So, there’s a general Mall traffic metric baked in here, too.

* Were people just out for free stuff? Again, I think the answer is yes. But, the bigger question is whether the free stuff was a big enough carrot to get other people in the retail stores around the Mall (not just the people who won the free stuff). If the event can’t drive additional store traffic, I’m really not sure you can call it a huge success from a business point of view. That said, the Mall says it has 1,000 people already signed up for the “Win $1,000″ campaign now thru Dec. 23, so again, from an awareness point of view, the campaign/event seems to already be a success.

* Was it worth the investment in time and resources for MOA? According to Grimm, the event had 18 people working on this event on Black Friday (mostly full-time MOA staff who work on things like this regularly). But, it was the pre-event work that racked up the hours. 120 (roughly) in total, according to Grimm. That’s a big (although not huge) number. Assume a blended agency-type rate of $150 (which might be a bit low depending on what level of employees we’re talking about) and you’re looking at $18,000 just for “man-hours.” And, according to Grimm, the physical investment was under $20,000. So, all told you’re probably looking at around $35-40,000 all told with materials and time. That’s no small number. But without key metrics at this point, it’s hard to say if it was worth it or not. This one’s still incomplete.

* Will the Mall achieve its goals with this event? According to Grimm, MOA had three goals with this event. 1) Drive traffic and sales to Mall retailers. 2) Generate $500,000 in earned media value. And 3) Drive awareness for QR codes and how to use them. I think #1 is still up in the air, as we’ve discussed. But the fact that the Mall already has 1,000 people signed up for the “Win $1,000″ campaign that runs from now thru Dec. 23 bodes well. I’m also guessing they may hit #2. I noticed a number of media outlets at the event and noticed a few pickups that day. Not sure the third goal really makes sense though. I mean, driving awareness for QR codes is fine and all, but is it really a business goal? I’m not so sure about that one. Feels more like a by-product of the process (and one I’m not even sure I’d be worrying about).

All in all, a pretty creative execution and an interesting way to inject technology into one of the biggest shopping days of the year at the Mall. As with most QR code campaigns, I’m a bit skeptical on the business value of this event, but time will tell on that front, and the Mall may very well achieve its business goals. The early returns were pretty good–a 10,000 increase in Black Friday visitors year-over-year (although you certainly can’t attribute all those folks to the event) and 1,000 people already signed up for the “Win $1,000″ extension of this event.

What do you think? Was this a successful event for the Mall of America? Or, was it another attempt to use a new technology for the sake of using a new technology? Curious to hear what you think about this one.

Disclaimer: The Mall of America is a former (but not current) client of ACH Communications.

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