The print industry is increasingly making use of technological portals via QR codes in publications. Mobile marketing firm Nellymoser has reported that magazines’ use of its QR codes has increased by 228 per cent in the last 12 months.
QR (quick response) codes are black-and-white image codes that can be read quickly by a cell phone. Users download a QR reader, scan the code, and will immediately be given more details about a certain business, person, product, competition or location.
A study by Nellymoser reveals that in 2011, almost 4500 QR codes appeared within ads and editorial of the US’s top 100 magazines. The first quarter saw 352 codes used, which grew to 1899 codes in Q4. That equates to a growth rate of 439 per cent.
According to Roger Matus, executive vice president of Nellymoser, The more codes that are in a single publication, the higher the scan rate for the single publication. We have found this again and again.”
The research also identified women’s magazine titles as the biggest users in QR codes, with US InStyle leading the way with 141 codes used in 2011.
