A QR code, when scanned by a smartphone, brings the user to specific landing page and saves them the effort of typing in a long URL or web address. Should a particular campaign or code catch the eye of the smartphone user when they are out, the code can be scanned and saved for the user to act on later. There are many QR scanning apps available free to download and more smart phone users are downloading these apps as standard now that QR codes are catching on in the advertising world.

 While QR codes are catching on it doesn’t mean we should stick them on everything. They need to serve a purpose other than just bringing people to your website. While the smartphone user will scan a few QR codes just out of curiosity initially, as they become more common place and the smartphone user more QR code savvy, they will only scan codes that satisfy their needs in some way. This may be in the form of a special offer or discount, a game, or information they want. It is therefore important to think carefully about the purpose of your QR code campaign in order for it to be a success. The more benefit gained by the user when they scan the code the more engagement you can expect to make with a potential customer or client. 

The results of a QR code marketing campaign are easily seen as they should drive users to specific landing page unique to the campaign you are running.  Traffic to the landing page can be monitored and success of the campaign can be measured. Like any campaign, the clearer it’s objective, the easier it will be to ascertain whether it was sucessful. Are you looking for sales, clients or contact details? Do you want to bring awareness of a product or range of products, engage with existing customers or just impart information?

We used QR codes at Bloom 2011 on signage to lead visitors to a new website which we created for potatoes – www.potato.ie.  We found this to be very successful and gave the site a great kickstart (with over 90,000 visitors at Bloom 2011 we expected some type of reaction!).  We’ve also used them to lead customers of Subway to a facebook competition while in-store.  This helped to capture customers at point of sale while standing in a queue.  We now make it normal practice to use QR codes on business cards where a smartphone owner can simply scan the QR code to save them from inputting your information into their phone’s address book manually.

It should be noted that the demographic of the smartphone user is changing and while historically they were predominantly younger higher earning adults between 18 and 34, as the prices of the phones and packages decrease and the product range increases the smartphone is becoming more and more popular. Older users are becoming more used to the technology and are willing to try new things. QR code campaigns, over the coming years, have the opportunity to reach a much larger and more diverse audience than ever before.

If you would like to talk to us about a QR campaign please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Posted by Ciaran Flanagan 13th February 2012

The video will play at Point of Sale in DIY stores throughout Ireland.  Short sweet and a little cheesy, but at the end of it you’re left thinking “I could do with one of those!”

 It was a very successful event in 2008 with approximately 8,000 people attending over the two days. The event was organised at short notice in 2008 and there was little time to develop a real identity or a planned sales promotion strategy for the event.  Although the event was successful, Bord Bia felt that the identity and the sales promotion material that were developed were too focused on text and did not accurately communicate the nature of the event.

 Brief             

The aim in 2009 was to attract a larger number of people through developing a strong brand, which would reflect the nature of the event and develop innovative, dynamic and cost effective methods of sales promotion to publicise the event and to increase public awareness.

Objectives & Commercial Targets  

-       to develop a strong, memorable and fun promotional concept design that would work on communications materials

        and also work independently

-       to develop a series of sales promotion tools that would work effectively with the developed identity

-       to heighten consumer awareness of the event

-       to attract 10,000 people to the event (25% more than 2008)

Our goal was develop a promotional concept design that would grab peoples attention and reflect the fun, fresh nature of the event.

Approach

We had to work within Bord Bia’s corporate guidelines. Given the public status of both Bord Bia and the OPW it was of crucial importance that the event was not communicated solely as a drinks festival but that the other elements of the event were communicated in equal measure. These elements were: Food, drink , fun, entertainment, talks, music.

 In order to do this successfully we developed an icon incorporating a pint glass with an explosion of musical notes, food and a selection of fun, brightly coloured shapes leaping out of it, which really brought the brand to life.  This vibrant graphic combined with the relaxed, informal nature of the font resulted in a fresh, bright, fun and friendly communication piece, which reflected the nature of the event perfectly.

We utilized the promotional concept design initially on A3 Posters and as an electronic A4 flier.  The posters were distributed to clubs, shops, pubs, cultural sites and other venues throughout Dublin and the surrounding areas via networks of Bord Bia/OPW personnel and companies participating at SeptemberFest.  In addition, the A4 flier was virally distributed online as a pdf to a wide network of people utilizing social and business networks.   A banner ad was also developed which promoted the event on the Bord Bia site.  Finally, the promotional design concept was also utilized as an outdoor sign which was positioned during times of high traffic volume coming up to the event within the phoenix park itself.

Results

The SeptemberFest promotional concept design caught the interest and imagination of both the client and potential visitors and was hugely successful in drawing people to the event.

SeptemberFest 2009 saw the number of attendees shoot up by 350% on 2008 numbers with over 30,000 people attending the event.

 Although, the weekend did have good weather, this in itself would not have meant such huge volumes attending Farmleigh Estate on that day.

This is a great example of how a small budget, a dedicated and innovative client team and a well thought out promotional design can harness the power of networking to create a highly effective sales promotion.

IDEA went on to win the Irish Design Effectiveness Gold Award for Sales Promotion for it’s work on Septemberfest.

We utilized RSA purple and Magenta in the colouring for the type and also developed an icon incorporating a dynamic graphic of a batsman in mid-bat.  We also utilized a purple diagonal strip with white and magenta writing to highlight and reinforce the  ‘Ireland V England’ message.

We utilized the promotional concept design initially on Posters of varying sizes and as an A4 flier.  The posters were distributed throughout Ireland to sports clubs, cricket clubs

In addition, the A4 flier was virally distributed online as a pdf to a wide network of people utilizing cricket websites as well as social and business networks.   A banner ad was also developed which promoted the event on the cricket Ireland websites and the RSA website.  Finally, the promotional design concept was also utilized as an outdoor billboard and bus shelter poster which was positioned during times of high traffic volume coming up to the event within Belfast and at key train stations on the Dublin to Belfast rail line.

We also developed a series of promotional novelty items for distribution to media and cricket networks which included a ‘bluffers Guide to Cricket’, Promotional Bunting for clubs, Cricket Scoreboards and small fliers.

Results

The RSA Ireland V England Challenge was a huge success both in terms of awareness and in terms of attendance.  Demand for tickets was so high that an additional stand had to be constructed at Stormount to accommodate the crowds.  Over 4,600 people attended the event – 230% higher than the target!

Post event awareness tests have also shown that RSA is now more strongly linked to Irish Cricket as the main identifiable sponsor in this niche area with a 205 increase in recall and a 60% increase in recognition. 

In addition, the success of the event received international attention and the International Cricket Council (ICC) felt that the event went beyond its expectations and have been encouraged by the increase in interest in Cricket in Ireland.

We also developed a series of promotional novelty items for distribution to media and cricket networks which included a ‘bluffers Guide to Cricket’, Promotional Bunting for clubs, Cricket Scoreboards and small fliers.

The RSA Ireland V England Challenge was a huge success both in terms of awareness and in terms of attendance.  Demand for tickets was so high that an additional stand had to be constructed at Stormount to accommodate the crowds.  Over 4,600 people attended the event – 230% higher than the target!

To read more about this project and to see the RSA Ireland Vs England case study please click this link.

Each seminar takes just 3 hours and provides you with all you need to know about either Linked-in, Facebook or Twitter essentials for business.  For more details click here.

IDEA worked with the Irish Potato Federation and Bord Bia on a campaign to promote the Irish Rooster Potato to markets in Russia and Continental Europe.

The campaign was launched this week in Berlin at the Fruit Logistica Exhibition.  IDEA developed a range of marketing sales tools for the exhibition including graphics for the exhibition stand, an exhibitors catalogue and an online resource for international trade in four languages Russian, French, German and English.  This was utilised at the exhibition as a touch-screen display.  You can see this tool by clicking here.

The resource will be expanded as part of the international trade section of Potato.ie

Bloom is Ireland’s largest gardening, food and family event. Bloom 2011 was the fifth year of this event, which attracted over 90,000 visitors to the Phoenix Park. Originally in 2007 when Bord Bia approached IDEA, they wanted to develop a major gardening festival event based in the Phoenix Park over the June Bank Holiday weekend. They wanted the event to be lifestyle led so as to be attractive to the widest possible market. They approached IDEA about developing a brand, which needed to appeal to professional garden designers, exhibitors and Irish families. 

IDEA looked at a wide range of possible names but felt that as the event was in the June Bank Holiday weekend in Dublin that the name should be … ‘bloom’

Bloom has a link to flowers and gardening, it is dynamic and fun, it is youthful and vibrant and very memorable.  It also had a Joycean link, being so close to Bloomsday in Dublin.

We used a thick san serif font type style to draw the letters for ‘bloom’ and overlapped the 2 O’s while the second O sprouted leaves as a nice graphic element. We used a separate colour (5 in all) for each letter, thus completing the logo – except for the addition of a strapline ‘celebrate garden life’

As a second brand style we looked at photography and chose to use close up shots of flowers in bloom and treated them with a light sketch outline overdrawn on the image in white.

The name and logo caught the interest and imagination of the clients and potential exhibitors and sponsors immediately and despite the awful weather 50,000 visitors swarmed to the Phoenix Park over the June Bank Holiday weekend.  This exceeded the ambitious 40,000 target by 10,000 or 25%!

That year IDEA went on to win the Gold Award for Corporate Identity for our work on Bloom as well as the Grand Prix at the 13th Annual Design Effectiveness Awards.

This was a trial event for Bord Bia which has gone from strength to strength since it’s inception. It has become a much anticipated annual event, with 90,000 people attending the 2011 event. IDEA continue to work closely with Bord Bia on the promotional and marketing materials for this hugely successful event.

To see a full Bloom case study please click this link.

IDEA were asked to produce a short AV presentation to describe Food Harvest 2020.  We developed a ‘kinetic video’ that delivers the key messages in an arresting and engaging way.  The presentation will also be used online and as part of the arsenal of marketing presentation tools that are utilised by Bord Bia as they continue to successfully promote and grow Irish food exports worldwide.