Insignia Promotional Products

What is a QR Code?

So, you may have heard that QR Codes are set to become the 'next big thing' but, you are thinking to yourself, what is a QR Code!?

QR or Quick Response Codes are a type of two-dimensional barcode that can be read using smartphones and dedicated QR reading devices, that link directly to text, emails, websites, phone numbers and more! You may even have got to the Insignia website by using our QR code?

QR codes are huge in Japan and across the Far-East, and are rapidly growing in popularity and starting to become commonplace in the West.

Keep your eyes out for them and you will see QR codes on product packaging, shop displays, printed and billboard advertisements as well as in emails and on websites and, of course, promotional merchandise!

The scope of use for QR codes really is enormous, particularly for marketing and advertising products, brands, services and anything else you can think of.

With as many as half of us now owning smartphones, and that number growing on a daily basis, QR Codes have the potential to have a major impact upon society, particularly in advertising, marketing and customer service with a wealth of product information just a scan away.

For example, I was at a restaurant the other day and came out onto the street to hail a cab. There on the restaurant’s outside ashtrays were a bar code of the local cab firm. I simply scanned it with my iPhone and was taken to the cab number instantly.

How is a QR Code different from a normal 1D UPC barcode?

Ordinarily we think of a barcode as a collection of vertical lines; 2D Barcodes or QR Codes are different in that the data is stored in both directions and can be scanned vertically OR horizontally.

Whilst a standard 1D Barcode (UPC/EAN) stores up to 30 numbers, a QR Barcode can store up to a massive 7,089! It is access to this massive amount of data that enables links to such things as videos, Facebook or Twitter pages or a plethora of other website pages.

If you have a smartphone like an iPhone, Android or Blackberry then there a number of different barcode scanner applications such as i-nigma,  Red Laser, Barcode Scanner and QR Scanner that can read and decode data from a QR code. The majority of these are completely FREE, and all you have to do once you install one is to use your phone's camera to scan the barcode, which will then automatically load the encoded data for you.  

What can be encoded into a QR Code?

In its simplest sense a QR Code is an 'image-based hypertext link' that can be used offline – any URL can be encoded into a QR Code, so essentially any webpage can be opened automatically as a result of scanning the barcode. If you want to encourage someone to like your Facebook page – have your Facebook profile page as the URL.  Want your video to go viral – encode the URL in your QR Code. The options are endless.

In addition to website URL's, a QR Code can also contain a phone number – so when it is scanned it prompts the user to call a particular number.  Similarly, you can encode an SMS text message, V-card data or just plain alphanumeric text.  The smartphone or 2D barcode reading device will automatically know which application to use to open the content embedded within the QR Code.

The answer to this is almost anywhere!  QR printing can be on mugs, mouse mats, t-shirts, keyrings – the list is endless.  Further to this they can be put on product packaging or labels, or on billboards or even walls.

You could even tattoo a QR Code on your body – now that would be an interesting take on giving a girl/guy your number in a bar!

You can use QR Codes on a website, but they should not generally be used as a substitute for an old-fashioned hyperlink, because obviously the user is already online and doesn't really want to fiddle around with their phone, only to find a website they could have just clicked through to in half the time.

You can make your own QR Codes using designated 2D barcode generators, which you can find on the internet, or simply e mail us sales@insigniauk.com and we will create one for you for use on promotional merchandise.

However, you should first consider why it is that you want a QR Code and how you will use it. See the 'QR Codes for Marketing' below