Some maybe reading this like, who cares, everything about mobile is increasing, as mobile popularity increases, but from a marketing perspective, this is the perfect storm. Mobile devices are increasingly becoming the perfect tool for marketers, because mobile phones are personal, and owners never leave their phones out of reach, creating the ultimate marketing channel. Video has been the #1 generator for a call to action from viewers since its invention, so imagine combining a video on a mobile page, instructing viewers to do what? CALL TO ACTION! And no other device is easier then a phone, to tap, and make a call of action, whether that be a phone call, email, like, or share. Video views on mobile devices will continue to skyrocket, because people love watching videos, and marketers love people, watching their videos, because videos increase sales.

What I am so surprised by, is most who incorporate QR codes into marketing campaigns, tend to have one code, in the corner or something, not making it the center of attention, Denny’s did a good job incorporating QR codes as the main channel. At this point it looks like Denny’s did everything right, lets look now into what happens when you do scan.

The QR codes on the map seem to suggest that every QR code is different, the title at the top of the mat, suggests that when scanned I get to watch a behind the scenes look at the new movie The Hobbit. But every single QR code went to the Denny’s website, with no hobbit clips to be found. This is HORRIBLE! I was very frustrated, I kept asking “why do this to patrons, put all these codes here, linking to the same thing, not evan linking to what you say it will!” This was by far, one of the biggest QR F$%& ups I have seen, they have such a great opportunity to be very creative, and have a successful campaign.

Two days later I went to the same links, and it was a totally different story. Here is what the other pages eventually looked like.

So above, you can see they didn’t spend any time on design, or user experience. The text turns me off, hard to read and the lack of design hurts the promo more then help.  Also, if you notice here, behind the scenes footage is coming soon, why not have that as the landing page, instead of the Denny’s site I landed on Sunday?

Why didn’t they make this flyer for the Hobbit app mobile friendly? Who can read that?

Finally, a QR code that went to what the place mat promised, a look behind the scenes of the Hobbit. When I clicked play, it took me 5+ minutes just to wait for it to buffer, and play. My food would have gotten to the table before enjoying the clip. Big mistake here, easily avoided if they chose youtube, or vimeo to host the video.

All in all, the mobile campaign is a good idea, but the end product falls short. Here is what Denny’s should of, and could of done.

1. Make the campaign relevant to the map

2. Do not release marketing material before testing the user experience, over, and over again.

3. Everything must be mobile, the flyer for the app is just a embarrassment to everyone in the mobile industry, rookie mistake here, if whoever put this together knew what they were doing, they would not have stuck in desktop sized flyer.

4. Leave video and ontent on same page, do not have another barrier for visitors to watch a movie, as the popular saying goes, “think simple stupid”

5. Host video with a third party, people will not wait longer then 60 seconds for a video to play.

6. Design of the mobile sites overall has to be fluent with the design of the place mat

Denny’s was so close, but it seems they came up with the idea, and left it on the back burner till the very last minute, and released a half ass QR code campaign. I expect better from now on, come on marketers, don’t get lazy now.

If not, this scary good deal might do the trick.

Starting today we’re giving a free mobile landing page with every completely custom QR code purchase!

Redeeming your free mobile site couldn’t be easier:

1. Order a completely custom QR code ($99) from QRlicious.com

2. Once you’ve ordered your completely custom QR code, proceed to http://qrlicious.com/scary and order your mobile site. YOU MUST use the same name and order email address as your custom QR code order.

3. Your designer and developer will follow up with you within 12-24 hours to confirm details and complete your order.

This scary good deal lasts through the end of October and expires on November 1st, 2012. This deal does not apply to reseller orders and can only be redeemed with a completely custom QR code ordered between October 22nd, 2012 and November 1st, 2012.

Every $25 donation will go directly towards helping children, adults, and families receive the professional services and care they need to continue learning, developing, and enjoying life. In some cases, we’ll be helping someone who cannot afford treatment, receive the care they desperately need in order to become a healthy, stable individual.

To reward and increase donors, we’re also giving everyone a 10% OFF coupon code “Colorado”, good on any completely custom QR code order.

Did I mention they’re gluten free?

Enough sucking up… Let’s get down to business.

Way Better Snacks is the kind of brand that makes me afraid to scan the QR code on their packaging because my expectations have been set so high by their excellent product.

Their QR code campaign should be just as excellent, right?

The Good:
The QR code located on the back of the chip bag has a good call to action and links to a URL, http://www.gowaybetter.com/qr, that is evidently setup specifically for use with their QR code campaign. This indicates there was at least some forethought into what the company wanted to get out of their QR code. My best guess would be that Way Better Snacks wants to be able to change the page’s content whenever they’d like, which I suggest they do, and/or they may be gathering stats on the URL through an analytics platform like Google Analytics.

The Bad:
Since Way Better Snacks had setup a separate URL for their QR code campaign, I assumed I’d also be lead to a mobile page specifically for the campaign. This unfortunately was not the case. Instead I hit a page that looked like it was right out of the mobile website horror book. Evidently the least amount of thought had been put into what the QR code would lead the user to. This is a prime example of why so many QR code campaigns fail to yield measurable results. The biggest problem I see, beyond the obvious lack of a mobile optimized page, is the lack of interaction available to the user. Sure the user will probably watch the video, but once it’s over I can guarantee they will be leaving the page immediately. Wouldn’t it be great if instead the user could enter their contact details for continued updates or to enter a giveaway? This would help Way Better Snacks begin to create an engageable list of fans that could be used to build brand loyalty and drive their word of mouth campaign. Great things can be accomplished when you have an army of fans at your disposal.

Non-Mobile Page

Mobile Optimized Mockup

The Remedy:
Although there were some major flaws in this QR code experience, I think that they had just enough insight to set themselves up for potential success if they simply optimize the QR code’s landing page for mobile devices and included some kind of lead form below the video to collect customer email addresses or phone numbers. Just to demonstrate what this would kind of look like, I took some elements from the Way Better Snacks website and quickly threw together a mockup of what this page would’ve looked like had it been a mobile optimized page. I did not include a lead form below the video as I wanted both screenshots to lineup but it’s not hard to imagine where that would go.

My guess is that unless this campaign gets fixed soon, Way Better Snacks will not continue to use QR codes in the future. The saddest part is that if they would have set this up right they could have captured my contact details, along with the hundreds of other satisfied customer’s contact details. Missed opportunity…

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