New TV ad encourages smartphone users to scan.
LG Electronics in Korea has just released a new QR code marketing campaign that includes a television ad for the LG Optimus Vu, which uses the brand’s U+ LTE.
The heart of the commercial is its “If you haven’t smiled lately scan this…” tag line.
When a viewer does use his or her mobile device to scan the quick response code that is displayed on the screen, it resolves to what it calls “fun videos”. At the time of this article’s creation, the QR code marketing directed its users to a relatively lengthy video, but it seemed implied that this same code would resolve to a number of different videos that would be changed on a regular basis from among the various selections within its channel.
The technique being used in this advertising taps into some of the most popular mobile methods of spreading a message.
Furthermore, it does so in a unique way that uses a type of meta refresh that hasn’t been widely used for some time now, and that the W3C has depreciated over the last while. That said, it is still quite effective, and the barcode successfully decodes at the desired URL.
The meta refresh for the barcode sends the browser on a direct path to the URL at YouTube, as its refresh time has been set at zero. This makes it possible for LG to change the destination for the code as frequently as it would like, and in a very simple way, by modifying a single HTML code line and replacing the previous web address with the new one.
Though many mobile marketers have a strong preference for a redirect which occurs on the server side, it appears as though changing HTML code as opposed to an .htaccess file is coming back into fashion once more, and this ad clearly shows that it works just as well as it ever did.
By using this form of QR code marketing, LG is enhancing the experience of consumers and growing its appeal and interest to build a more interactive and active relationship with smartphone and tablet users.
