Mobile marketing is a growing trend with many of the world’s businesses, most of them focusing on campaigns powered by QR codes. An increasing number of government agencies are following suit, as is the case with the National Capital Commission of Canada. The agency recently unveiled the use of QR codes in Ottawa as part of an initiative to education visitors of the city’s history.
Ottawa’s Terry Fox Statue now features a rather large QR code, which links to a mobile website embedded with a video on the cultural value of the monument. Guy Laflamme, senior vice president of the National Capital Commission, says believes that the codes are a perfect way to connect with a new generation of traveler. According the Laflamme, the campaign is of “very low cost,” encouraging the agency to use the codes at similar sites throughout the city.
While QR codes have been around for decades, they have only risen to fame in the past year or so. In the last six months of 2010, use of the code rose by a staggering 1,200%, according to a report from Mobio Identity Systems. The codes have seen the most use in marketing but a growing number of government and non-profit organizations are using them as a form of dynamic engagement.
This is not the first time the codes have appeared in Ottawa. Apart from magazine advertisements, the Ottawa Heart Institute used the codes for one of their telethons.
