If you’ve talked to me…ever…you’d know that I have some rather strong opinions on QR codes.

They’re generally overused, poorly thought out, and face-palmingly executed. It’s an easy way for a marketer to slap something inexpensive onto an existing campaign, and make it seem as though they’ve added some incredibly innovative and interactive depth to their boring little print ad. However, so few marketers ever seem to stop and consider things like:

• Why would someone scan this? What is the incentive for them to do so?
• Where will they be when they scan this? Is this a reasonable environment for this medium?
• What is the experience like after they scan? Is this good, valuable, mobile friendly content?
• Are we going to be able to track how this performs?
• And while we’re at it, did anyone actually test this, to see if it even works AT ALL?

Knowing that these obvious considerations are never even taken, I almost always scan QR codes when I see them. Even if only to shake my head at whatever happens next. So when I started flipping through Erica’s Real Simple, and noticed that every other ad contained a QR code, I started scanning.

Here’s what we saw.

• J.C. Penny – The call to action here is “meet the Liz Claiborne designers”. The landing page is a pretty clean, simple mobile site, with fully functional eCommerce capabilities. Looks like I could actually browse products and make purchases within the mobile site. Well done overall.
• Pandora Jewelry – Oh jeez. It’s one of those special dotted mobi tags. “Get the free mobile app for your phone” it says. “No”, I say. Mind you, there is no other articulated reason as to why I should do this. It’s just asking me to take at least two more steps in order to interact further. My guess is that the end result will be disappointing.
• Cooking Light/Real Simple/Health/Southern Living Cooking Apps – A full page ad, from the publisher itself, touting its wonderful line of cooking apps for my phone. A scan of the QR code goes to a page hosted on RealSimple.com. The content on the page? White page, with one word….”test”. Wow, hop into the failboat, let’s go for a ride.
• Cuisinart – This one doesn’t tell me why I should scan, but I scan it anyways…because that’s what I’m doing here. Simple mobile site, showcasing the product from the print ad. There is a “buy now” link, but that link takes me from this slick mobile site, over to a far less mobile friendly full site, from which to purchase.
• Cooking Light – It’s an app download. Scan and download the Cooking Light mobile app. This is actually a really slick app.
• Maidenform – Code was tiny and way too dense. Was also crammed up against the page-fold, which made it unscannable. And this was a QR code for a bra ad, that promised to show me more, so you know I really tried to make this one work. Fail.
• Luden’s Cough Drops – No call to action, just a floating QR code. The scan took me to a page where I could download a Luden’s branded app/game, the object of which seems to be “slinging drops” at “professors” using a slingshot. No thanks.
• Arm & Hammer – This was an ad for one of those weird pots that you use to pour stuff into your face, in order to clear up nasal allergies. Something that requires a little more explanation than a 1/4 page print ad can explain. The text asked me to “see how this works and where to buy”. A video makes sense here, and that’s what they did. Sent me to YouTube. Only 844 views of the video though.
• Carmex Lotion – Strong call to action (“learn more and save” – offering me coupons). Scanned…404 page! The second total and complete fail, and not even ten codes in. Well done Carmex.
• La-Z-Boy – This was an odd one. A scan of the code brought up a slim mobile site, with some of the products in the print ad highlighted, but those were pushed way down to the bottom. The primary content, was a visual of…the print ad I just scanned. And really strangely, the ability (on my phone mind you) to open a PDF of the print ad I just scanned. YO DAWG!
• “Bulbs” – Not even quite sure what this ad is for, and there certainly was no explanation as to why I should bother to scan the code. I think the ad is just for planting bulbs. The scan goes to a website, not mobile friendly really. Required lots of pinching and zooming and scrolling followed by lots of boredom and leaving.
• Aetna Health – This code was WAY too dense and as a result, was really difficult to scan. The call to action, was scan to download the app, but they send you to some awkward non-mobile site as an interim step, and not just right to the download like I’d expect.
• Rachel Ray Dog Food [hold this place for joke I haven't thought of yet] – Call to action is “learn more”. A scan lands on a fairly nice and clean mobile page. “More info” video at top, and simple signup form below. The signup form is a bit long for mobile though…do I need to give you my full postal address here? Especially when there is no information around the form, telling me what it is that I’m signing up for.
• Zippo – No call to action, and a really tiny, really dense code. Tried a few times and couldn’t scan it (using RedLaser on my iPhone. Assuming that I’m more motivated than normal here, I’d say the likelihood of an average user scanning this successfully, is pretty slim.
• Velcro Brand Picture Hangers – No indication from the print ad as to what I should expect from scanning this code. It pops me right to YouTube, where i see the same woman in the print ad, showing me how these things work. Do I need 1:20 seconds of this though? It’s just a piece of Velcro tape, isn’t it?
• Expressionery.com – This personalized stationary store gets props for including some direct response style tracking on this scan, but loses big for dumping me on an AWFUL site for mobile.
• Sterling Vineyards – Again, no indication from the ad as to what the scan will do, and again, right to a YouTube video. I’m starting to think that this is fairly standard practice and expectation. This one is a 90 second video of Padma Lakshmi talking to me about Sterling Wines.
• Real Simple Cooking App – Right to the app store, nicely done. Not sure why this ad worked, and their earlier one didn’t. Maybe it’s two different QA departments. Wait, $4.99 for this app?
• The Vintage Pearl – Now we’re in the back pages, and only one of these grouped, tiny ads, has a code. And the Vintage Pearl does little more than toss me to its full website. Yawn.

Sadly, this is pretty par for the course. Broken pages, unscannable codes, poor experiences, no calls to action, and little or no additional benefit to the person scanning.

Marketers, this is your brand…take some pride in (and think about) what you’re doing here.

If you MUST use QR codes, do so responsibly. Before anything goes to print, ask and answer these questions.

• What is (and where is) the call to action? Is this just a floating QR code with no explanation? What are you offering that’s going to compel the user to stop, take out his or her cellphone, and scan this code?
• Where will they be when they scan this? Is this a reasonable environment for this medium? Will they have reception? Will the user most likely see this code in a time and place where it would make sense for them to scan it?
• Is the code actually scannable? Think about where it will be on the page. High gloss/glare print? Too close to the binding? Too dense? Too small? Proper contrast? Test scan this code in real life situations.
• What is the experience like after they scan? Is this good, valuable, mobile friendly content? Is the user going to feel that their experience was enhanced by scanning this code?
• Is the landing page actually live? As we saw above, this is more of a common issue than you’d think. Make sure your landing page…exists.
• Are we going to be able to track how this performs? When your boss asks “did it work?”, are you going to be able to answer? With numbers?

Whenever we’re doing something touristy, like a Duck Tour or a harbor cruise, and the staff wants to take a souvenir photo as we board the vessel, I cringe. I just hate everything about this. I feel goofy getting my photo taken, and I am annoyed that the entire idea here, is to later sell us the photo for $20 we disembark.

But here’s the thing, the potential purchase of this photo is a perfect negotiation opportunity. If I don’t buy the photo of me, then who are they going to sell it to? I, as the potential buyer, have all of the power here.

You want me to buy my own photo for 20 dollars? How about I buy it for 20 cents instead? If I don’t buy it, you’re just going to throw it away. So I’m offering you something, instead of the nothing you’ll get if I decline to purchase the photo at the price you’re offering.

I am literally your ONLY possible customer here. The market for this photo is one person…me. And If I ain’t buying, you ain’t selling.

So let’s just cut the chit-chat. Here’s two dimes, now give me that photo.

With weather, it’s all relative. Sure, there is an absolute set of conditions (the temperature, wind-speed, humidity, etc), but how those conditions make one feel, is totally relative.

Think about it this way. Here in Boston, 60 degrees Fahrenheit is an absolute temperature. But 60 degrees in August feels a hell of a lot different than 60 degrees in January. The former may force you to grab a sweater, while the latter could cause you to throw on a pair of shorts and celebrate. But the absolute temperature is exactly the same.

So even though 60 degrees is 60 degrees, I don’t find the absolute data that is provided within the average weather app, particularly useful.

Oh, it’s going to be 73 degrees with 8mph winds and 47% humidity?

Ok, I sort of get that. I’m not an idiot, but I also don’t have a quick sense of how that will feel. And don’t say “well, look at the ‘feels like’ temperature”, because that’s just doubling-down on the same problem.

What I DO understand quickly, is how yesterday felt. It’s fresh in my mind, I experienced it, I remembered it, I thought about it, and probably (because we all do) talked about it. I’ve got context.

So my half-baked app idea here, is a weather app that only tells you what today’s weather is, in terms relative to yesterday’s weather.

A forecast for the day, could look something like:

Today will be slightly warmer than yesterday
But not quite as humid
And a bit windier with more clouds.
Like yesterday though, it will not rain.

Now obviously this doesn’t work on a long-term forecast basis, it would only be sensible when looking at a day’s weather forecast, for that day, on that day. You wake up, load the app, and immediately understand what that day is going to feel like when you walk outside. Which is all we really want from that daily forecast, isn’t it?

Anyone that knows me, knows that I am bullish on foursquare. I think that there is a ton of value in these “gameified” location-based-services, far beyond the check-in. But as it turns out, not EVERYONE out there feels the same way. I still run into lots of friends that still call me a nerd for using foursquare, or tell me that it’s silly, or just don’t see why anyone would bother wasting time with such an application.

“Why would I tell people where I am?” they say.

“Who cares about being the mayor of a dry-cleaner?” they say mockingly.

And when I try explaining to them that these services can be more than just check-ins and mayorships, they glaze over in the eyes, and just shrug me off. Maybe I’ve just always stunk at articulating the value of foursquare to others. Maybe I just haven’t had a really good use case, a good story that demonstrates the salient points in my pitch.

Well, I think maybe I’ve got one now.

This past weekend, I found myself in downtown Brooklyn for a wedding – an area that I’ve never been to, and that I don’t know at all. So when Erica left to head over for wedding setup, I was left at the Sheraton, hungry and flying solo. I needed some breakfast.

There was an overpriced cafe on the bottom floor of the adjacent hotel, as well as a lame looking Au Bon Pain outlet around the corner, but I had some time to kill, and wanted something a bit more…a bit more good.

I grabbed my phone, fired up foursquare, and tapped the “explore” tab. I entered “breakfast”, tweaked the sliders to bring the distance range down to a walkable level, and hit “search”. When the results loaded up, sitting at the top of the page was a little spot called “Ted & Honey“, just under a mile away. And displayed on the screen, along with the location information, was an indication that two acquaintances of mine (whose tastes I trust) had been there before. A good digital wink and nod, that this place was legit.

Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting outside of Ted & Honey, enjoying a great coffee and breakfast sandwich, at an awesome breakfast spot that I would have never found on my own.

To me, this is one of the ultimate promises of a service like foursquare, fulfilled: city exploration, aided by tips and guidance from friends.

I love it when a good piece of technology, does exactly what it is designed to do.