If nobody told you anything about Quick Response Codes, you probably would have no idea what those awkward looking simple symbols meant. Unlike more traditional UPC bar codes, QR Codes have not been widely used within the united states until relatively recently. And, as you might expect, they are already largely ignored by consumers.

Until very recently, QR Codes have been mostly generic. They carry no obvious call to action, company identification, or any other clues as to why they appear and just how consumers are supposed t react to them. So unless the consumer is tech savvy, the code appears to have no added value to the message through which it appears. Most readers just turn the page, drive through the billboard, or disregard the postcard and never offer the code a second thought.

One reason for this really is that the codes were originally utilized by Japanese car manufacturers to keep track of thousands of parts. The Japanese did not even start using them in marketing until the late 1990’s.

Eventually, Japanese companies wised up to the potential marketing power of these unique codes. (Marketers inside america have been much slower to catch on, though.) Now American marketers are finding ways to leverage this information-rich tool with customized QR Codes. To put it differently, a customized code is one that uses all of the same technology of the generic ones but with the added value of image-driven graphics. By adding logos, color, photographs, as well as other tools custom codes tell the consumer that there is more to the message than first meets the eye.

QR Code design starts with the technical aspects; the use of precisely placed black and white areas of the code. But with a custom code, artistic elements are added. QR Code art takes that plain looking, but highly technical, piece of imagery and adds distinguishing elements such as a logo or color or perhaps a photo to make the code relate to the rest of the message. The end result is that the consumer feels more compelled to use the code, to scan it with a picture phone and find out here out precisely what the hidden message is.

Some companies use custom codes strictly as a way to get the consumer to a web page. Others rely on customized QR Codes to make special offers to an elite component of their market, like smart phone users. A small company might choose a custom code to provide contact information and a map to their whereabouts. Still others might change their customized codes weekly to try different appeals or special offers. The application of customized QR Codes can also be changing. Once found only in print ads, the codes now appear on billboards, postcards, t-shirts, and even, in at least one case, tattooed onto the shoulder of a fitness trainer indulging in some guerrilla marketing.

As the use of these unique codes continues to grow and also the codes show up in increasingly more places, differentiating the code will become a growing number of urgent. Drawing attention through QR Code art in keeping with the company image will go a very long way to making custom QR codes ever more useful as a mobile marketing tool.