The massive quick response barcodes are being projected at the events for promotional marketing.
Drake has turned to humble QR codes projected at his concerts to help provide event attendees with access to branded merchandise drops.
The projections are also being used to offer access to people who aren’t in attendance at the concerts.
During some of Drake’s concerts, QR codes – called a “bat signal” by Narcity – are projected for guests to scan to try to get their hands on items such as branded T-shirts, Nike shoes, and fully branded Nocta outfits. Some people who scanned the codes even received cash on top of the items, each of which arrived in branded boxes brandishing a label saying: “Congrats on scoring an exclusive gift from the Shop App courtesy of Drake Related.” The entire campaign was held as a part of a promo collaboration with Shopify.
That said, the campaign was also available outside the boundaries of the concert. According to Shopify, additional barcodes would be projected around the venues, outside of the ticketholder areas, allowing fans to scan to try to grab some of the available merchandise.
The QR codes are being used in a way to help refresh the way merch is available and distributed at events.
It wasn’t that long ago that merchandise from a concert was available only at designated tables. But artists have found that bundling their music with merch can help skyrocket their album sales. With streaming and mobile commerce options, platforms such as YouTube and Spotify have opened the door to letting artists reach fans directly to sell items through their apps as their music is streamed.
As a result of the widespread use of QR codes during the pandemic, in order to provide information in a contact-free way, consumers are now highly familiar with the barcodes and how to scan them with their smartphones. This has opened the door for some interesting and convenient marketing and promotional opportunities, and Drake has shown that he is not about to miss out on this way to reach his fans. In fact, he even printed one of the barcodes in a newspaper as a part of an ad for his latest album.
