Can mobile barcodes work on TV?

Mobile barcodes are beginning to creep their way onto television. The most famous example at the moment is probably FOX CODES – QR Codes displayed by Fox Networks during programming to give smartphone owners a way to access further content. But some have reported that these codes can flash on the screen so fast you need to rewind and pause to get a good look at them. A recently posted YouTube video shows that the Weather Channel may have a better handle on how to use QR Codes.

What’s a QR Code?

QR Codes are a type of two-dimensional barcode:

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These codes contain far more information than the traditional barcodes you see on grocery items. A smartphone with a barcode scanner installed can decode them, and allows your phone to access the information stored there. Most often it’s the URL of a website – it allows you to direct your phone to a particular mobile Internet page without needing to type in a tediously long URL. By placing these barcodes on posters, product packaging or a TV screen, you can turn real world objects into “links” to online content.

What’s the story?

YouTube user SocialRECommunity (it stands for Social Real Estate Community) posted this video yesterday. It shows the Weather Channel using its own QR Codes – but crucially, it includes a 5 second countdown to the code:

What we think?

The Weather Channel is making use of something that proximity and bluetooth marketers have been aware of for years – a clear contact. Mobile marketing is no use unless you clearly tell people what you’re going to be doing, when you’re going to be doing it. Just flashing a barcode on the screen for a few seconds isn’t going to accomplish anything. The problem with the Weather Channel deployment is that it’s too specific – just targeting Android users isn’t a wide enough audience.

A big challenge that mobile barcodes face on television is time constraints. If you’re a brand that is using barcodes on a poster, or in a magazine ad, then you have all the time in the world. All you have to worry about is space. But companies like JAGTAG and Scanbuy can afford to do something that TV codes can’t – they can publish instructions on how to use barcodes beside the barcodes themselves. Even with the 5 second warning that a QR Code is about to display on the screen, Weather Channel viewers who don’t already know what a QR Code is will be none the wiser. An incredibly specific audience is being targeted here: people who own Androids, know what QR Codes are, and have a scanning app installed on their phone. This really is preaching to the choir – people who don’t know how useful mobile barcodes can be aren’t being educated.