Have you been to a restaurant lately? To get to the menu, you may have had to point your phone at a geeky looking black and white picture, usually made up of squares. It’s a QR or quick response code.
Would you like to hear the Marketplace playlist of music that is played on our shows? Scan our QR code.
But you probably already knew that QR codes had become mainstream during the pandemic for sharing information from a social distance.
Now other companies are trying to benefit from the QR rush and are betting that the technology and our comfort will continue to exist after COVID-19. That includes hotels.
There is a chic hotel on the corner of 15th Street and Chestnut Street in Center City, Philadelphia.
At the construction site, however, instead of a fancy architect sketch, a series of life-size QR codes – 6 feet by 6 feet – are printed on the wall.
Scan it with your phone and you will find out that a new branch of the Hipster W Hotel chain is coming to this block.
The QR program was created by Rob Reed from the advertising agency One Trick Pony. He said the idea came to him when – no kidding – he was scanning a restaurant QR code.
Life-size QR codes in the W Hotel, Philadelphia.
The QR code of the Spotify playlist on the W Hotel’s website.
Life-size QR codes are designed to promote the W Hotel, which is coming to this Philadelphia block.
“I scanned it with my cell phone. I didn’t notice that the camera automatically entered their website and I saw the menu, ”said Reed. “And I said, ‘Man, that’s like genius. ‘We used to make fun of her. “
Of the dozen of QR codes on the wall, one has the Spotify logo embedded.
“When you scan this, it goes straight to your playlist,” Reed said.
The music-inspired playlist at the W Hotel in Philadelphia.
The hotel team invited local Philly DJ Joshua Lang to curate the playlist, which includes tracks by Róisín Murphy and Leon Bridges. The tunes are meant to tease a local, trendy atmosphere.
“We wanted to bring in some of the culturally relevant branding aspect of what W is known for,” said Steve Snyder, senior account director at One Trick Pony. “And specifically tied to a local cultural connection.”
Then when you scan the QR code with the Instagram logo on it, an Instagram video will appear on your phone screen showing a team of personal trainers in the local Triyo Fitness outfit. They plan to hold on-site fitness classes when the W opens.
The QR code isn’t just used for marketing purposes, however, said Edward Baten, general manager at W Philadelphia.
“We’ve used the QR codes for everything from check-in experiences to communicating in our guest rooms, our in-room menus, or the services that may be available,” said Baten. “Even using QR codes so guests can use their personal iPhone device as a remote control for the television.”
According to one estimate, the hotel industry has introduced QR codes grew sevenfold in the pandemic.
“I don’t think anyone has ever looked at a QR code and thought, ‘Oh, that’s super cool.'”
Jasper Radeke, mobile marketing professional
These codes are from the 1990s; An employee at Japanese auto parts maker Denso Wave invented the QR code in 1994 to track inventory. Until recently, many observers pronounced QR codes dead, at least for American consumption.
“QR codes were seen as a bit chilly for a while,” said Jasper Radeke, marketing director for mobile marketing company AppsFlyer. “I don’t think anyone has ever looked at a QR code and thought, ‘Oh, that’s super cool.'”
Let’s face it, these codes are usually black and white and literally square. A few years ago, users had to download special phone apps to read QR codes.
Now iPhone and Android cameras are equipped with integrated QR readers. And it’s cheap and easy to create these codes that were introduced in restaurants during the pandemic.
“Suddenly there was also a function that wasn’t just a gimmick,” said Radeke. “That was added by the pandemic – the step towards contactlessness. And also the questions about ‘How do I get information to the people in the restaurant?’ “
Today, national pharmacy chains and Walmart offer QR codes at the checkout. Doctors’ offices include them in emails to receive patient information. It took almost 25 years for this technology to be successful.
And that’s not uncommon in the history of innovation, said Petra Moser, economist and historian at New York University. She noted that the process of making modern rubber took place in the 1840s.
“When Charles Goodyear invented vulcanization, people just didn’t know what to do with it,” said Moser. “All the things we use rubber for today haven’t been invented.”
Take the car. The Model T came about seven decades later.
Penicillin’s medical breakthrough came in 1928, although widespread use followed decades later.
“To make it really usable, you had to manufacture it,” said Moser, “and science was only up to the task 20 years later.”
Will the QR code have its own experience in the long term? If users can find the information, the codes might be helpful. Here’s one option offered by consumer psychologist Helen Chun at Cornell University Hotel School.
“You are dining in a hotel restaurant. There is this nice wine that you enjoy and there is this QR code on the bottle, ”said Chun. “And you scan it and you can book directly to visit this winery.”
Or, according to Chun, a hotel can tailor a QR code to a specific customer’s needs, such as how to order hypoallergenic pillows or find a nearby vegetarian restaurant.
“They collect information about each customer and then can customize the offer and provide different QR codes,” said Chun.
The key is to make QR code information relevant.
But are the QR codes on the corner of 15th and Chestnut in Philadelphia relevant? I waited an hour at the construction site and didn’t see a single passer-by scanning.
It could have been the wrong hour. Even so, any new digital thing can’t be just a gimmick, Chun said. It has to deliver something valuable.
