The Mobile Phone

Six of the worlds seven billion people own a mobile phone (U.N Survey). Moreover, close to 22% of the worlds population owns a smart phone – that’s close to 1.5 billion people with information right in their pocket, and what’s more is that this number is increasing every single day. Digital Marketers have been quick to jump on the smart phone bandwagon, which is evident in a plethora of innovative new advertising techniques we see today.

Smartphones

Facebook is the giant of the smart phone world. Buying out start-ups and offering ludicrous sums of money to popular apps. Their hunger for anything popular on the mobile phone is immense. This is because these apps have one of the most important attributes of marketing – reach. Nearly everyone in the world has a mobile phone, and these apps are becoming staples in smart phones, which account for 22% of world population of phones. Snapchat deals with over 350 million messages per day – this is a massive number and demonstrates simply the sheer amount people use their phones.

Snapchat Logo

Other techniques to utilise the mobile phone have sprung up. The QR code is one of them. Essentially, a QR code is a barcode which your phone is able to read via its camera. QR Codes then contain information or links to websites which are able to show you more of a product you’re interested in.  Marketers have been utilising QR codes for some time now, however due to the massive rise in smart phones or just mobile phones in general with cameras, they have become far more relevant. QR codes on billboards and in magazines accompany regular advertisements to put a digital twist on a classic print ad. These QR codes compliment the ad and may provide information on where to purchase the product. For example, an ad for a T shirt may have an accompanying QR code which lists all the stores local to you where you’ll be able to purchase it or even have it in stock.

A QR Code for Ralph Lauren accompanying a regular print ad.

Mobile phone use is growing, and becoming more and more relevant each days. At the core of the phenomenon, we are carrying computers with access to the internet in our pocket. Information is incredibly easy to access, and marketers are jumping on board and giving us relevant information.

Has anyone used QR codes? Has it made your experience better or worse with the ad in question?