The Xplor View - July 2008 - (Page 11)

QR codes: Leading edge but not bleeding edge Many of today’s marketing professionals are focused on leveraging multi-channel communications for an improved customer experience. The objective is to integrate online media with documents to enable a cohesive and unified marketing tool, but fully executing these multi-channel programs can be difficult. Technologies like text messaging, short message codes, and pURLs (personalized URLs) are seen as promising but lack a quick, precise, elegant encoding system to efficiently transport the recipient from paper to an online experience. One answer to the full implementation of multi-channel programs is QR codes. These high-density barcodes are readable by mobile phones and simple PC cams. Recipients can quickly and easily interact with the QR-enabled transactional documents they receive. They simply point their cameras at the QR symbol, and they are instantly connected to a QR-encoded web page without the recipient having to remember any information or type in numbers and promotional codes—they just point and shoot. The web page could be a sales video, a coupon, or a product promotion encoded with the specific recipient’s demographic profile. QR codes represent leading edge (but not bleeding edge) barcode technology. They are already being used extensively in Asia and the Pacific Rim and are being rapidly adopted in Europe as well. Marketers can QR-encode pURLs or other web links into a small section of the real estate on a TransPromo, direct mail, or catalogue page to enable direct links to the online world. QR places the power of recipient interactivity onto the same real estate that was previously allocated to simple post processing and document control barcodes. The ease of the process and the fact that the pURL is hidden to the naked eye and does not need to be keyed in greatly increases response rates. It has the capability to transform documents into true multi-channel interactive vehicles for increased customer retention and new business development. Users can point their mobile phones at an ad in a magazine to take advantage of an offer, and authorize payment of a bill via their mobile phone. The QR code work process Tools are available for automatic web conversion to any website, regardless of the mobile device. By using advanced content analysis algorithms, software systems can automatically analyze the web page's content and determine the meaning of each object in the page; then, by using a set of prioritisation rules, the adaptation layer reformats the content according to the device's physical and network characteristics. Web content is essentially reformatted to a mobile device format. Landing pages and payment portals can also be created. A QR subroutine accepts user-specified data from the user’s document composition system to create recipient-specific QR codes. The QR code can contain pURLs or dynamic URLs. Demographic parameters can render dynamic web pages that create a personalized (one-toone) web experience. The QR may also contain information to manage the post-processing equipment (folders and stuffers). 11 Issue 5 July 2008 The VIEW Journal Xplor European Edition

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Xplor View - July 2008

The Xplor View - July 2008 Contents Cover Story: Drupa 2008: The Highlights Review New Technology: Inkjet Technologies Moving Forward New Technology: QR Codes: Leading Edge but not Bleeding Edge A Fresh Look at Electronic Document Delivery Management: Growing Your Business Through Tendering The Experts Versus the Amateurs News: Xplor UK & Ireland Supports Total Print! Expo� Part Two: The Latest Developments in Knowledge Management Xplor Europe News: Short News Items for the Xplor UK Programme and Europe News

The Xplor View - July 2008

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