Useful & Entertaining Uses of QR Codes

QR codes, aka quick response codes, can contain a lot more information than UPC barcodes. They can also be placed on items where a bar code is not practical. Emarketer says that nearly 20 percent of U.S. smartphone users have scanned a QR code. Companies are learning how to make creative use of these codes, from cemetery plots to dog walking businesses. You’ll have to look beyond a printed page to find the following unique QR code uses.

Scan That Pet

Pet Check Technology offers high-tech solutions to pet grooming and boarding companies. One of the tools they use are QR code stickers they place on surfaces as they walk the dogs. The staff scan the codes as they make their way around the route, and the path is recorded automatically. Owners can then can log into the system to see how well their animal is being taken care of.

You Can Take It With You

Well, sort of. Interactive cemeteries are showing up across the country, thanks to technology from Digital Legacys. This company creates a QR code placard that can be attached to a memorial stone that, when scanned, will take the viewer to a memorial website. The site can contain various types of information chosen by the family. Such information as family history, career accomplishments and testimonials can be stored on the site. Information such as where to send donations, or the preferred FTD.com funeral flowers, is something viewers would find helpful.

An article in The Pueblo Chieftain reports on an individual who, knowing his time was coming up, specified what information he wanted people to be able to access. Digital Legacys allows people to create their own information legacy highlighting the things they are most proud to share with visitors at their memorial sites.

Retailers Get Creative

Manufacturers and retailers use QR codes to get the word out about products and services. They’re beginning to use them to create brand loyalty by educating consumers about interesting aspects of their businesses.

Macy’s is now printing QR codes on signs near specific clothing brands. Scanning the codes will take the consumer to a site to learn fashion tips directly from the designer. They make suggestions as to how to wear the clothes and with what to accessorize them.

An Ethiopian restaurant called Mesob, located in New Jersey, has QR codes placed on each table. The diners scan the codes to learn about how their coffee and traditional bread is made.

During a promotion, Taco Bell and Mountain Dew printed QR codes on paper drink cups. Consumers could scan the codes and download free music.

Guinness went one better. They printed a QR code on a glass beer mug in such a way your couldn’t see the code unless the glass was full of dark Guinness. Once scanned, consumers learned about the beer-making process and the Guinness company itself.

A Montreal-based bakery, Clever Cupcakes, makes cupcakes topped with edible, and scannable, QR codes. Companies can define whatever they want to place in the codes. A gift of cupcakes to a client can contain an entire PR campaign they can view while enjoying a cupcake and coffee break.

The only question really remaining is, how can you use QR Codes for your unique business?

Contributed by Carlos Vetter. Carlos is a marketing agent from California who handles advertising for several Fortune 500 companies.