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AOL taps QR codes in Metro Herald print advertising

Brands such as Jameson Whiskey and AOL have incorporated QR codes into their print advertising in Ireland?s Metro Herald newspaper.

Metro Herald is working with Digital Reach Group to enable advertisers in Ireland to incorporate an interactive digital response into their print campaigns through the use of Scanlife QR codes. The paper?s readership comprises 70,000 people.

?QR codes provide the ability to directly engage with customers in a unique and interactive way whether they are out and about, at home or in the office,? said Colm Grealy, CEO of Digital Reach Group, Dublin.

?They provide the opportunity to create a valuable opt-in database of users through mobile data collection forms and immediate mobile response allows them to increase campaign response rates and capture more opt-in data from customers,? he said.

Here is a screen grab of the AOL ad:

Since launching QR codes for advertisers, brands such as Jameson Whiskey, AOL, Samsung, Sunway Holidays, Carlsberg Beer, DIT (Dublin Institute of Technology) and Xtra-vision have used QR codes in their print ads with great success.

Metro Herald claims that advertisers are seeing 5-15 percent of the overall readership responding to ads.

For competitions, the conversion rate was as high as 97 percent. That is 97 percent of those who responded to the ad by scanning the code, went on to enter their contact details and sign up for a competition.

Together with the Metro Herald, Digital Reach Group will provide strategy input, create unique QR codes and mobile landing pages, as well as measure and report on the digital aspect of the print campaigns.

?Via the use of QR codes, advertisers are able to deliver additional information, offers or services to their customers directly on their mobile phone via their print marketing campaigns,? Mr. Grealy said.

?QR codes drive downloads and traffic to advertisers? digital content and sites,? he said. ?They can fully measure and compare the effectiveness and response levels of marketing spend in all media, and compare the effectiveness of one publication to another.?

Final take
Giselle Tsirulnik is senior editor of Mobile Marketer and Mobile Commerce Daily
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