QR code directs hungry diners through Vernon Hills

Scanning QR Code

Scanning QR Code

Mobile marketing has made its way to Vernon Hills, Illinois. The town recently unveiled a new initiative to promote local restaurants to visitors. The initiative makes use of QR codes to help market these businesses and provide a genuinely interactive experience for tourists. The campaign took nearly two months to complete and was introduced by the town’s geographic information system coordinator, Will Rockwell.

The campaign features five signs, each bearing the logo of 55 local restaurants along with a QR code attributed to each one. When scanned, the codes resolve to a Google “place page,” which provides information on the business as well as directions. The signs have been installed in the Vernon Hills Athletic Complex. Rockwell hopes that visitors from out of town will find the codes useful in navigating the town.

There has been a huge surge in the popularity of QR codes in the past few months. The codes first landed on U.S. shores sometime around 2008, but have been widely used in Asia for many years. The barcodes did not start gaining traction until late in 2010, when they started sprouting everywhere.

Rockwell says that the campaign doubles as a test to see how locals and visitors react to the codes. If the response is favorable, the town may expand its use of QR codes into other ventures. The campaign will run throughout the summer. Several public officials have already begun introducing their own ideas on how the codes can be used in the future.

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