Category: QR Codes

AdvertisingInHawaii.com-What’s Hot in NYC

I’m over in NYC this week and whenever I come here I totally dig seeing the advertising and marketing that’s happening here in person. It’s so much more fun and interesting for me to see it in person, then through a blog or on a website. It also brings you a totally non-biased report on who’s doing the best and coolest stuff in town!

Here’s a sampling of What’s Hot Now in Advertising and Marketing in NYC! As witnessed live by advertisinginhawaii.com

1.  Times Square Billboards:  Oh, I can stand for hours and look at the billboards and snap pictures of them.  Back in the Day-The real looking smoke rings that came from the Marlboro man was really good and so was the Chock Full O’ Nuts Coffee Billboard.  Now-a-days T-Squre feels like it’s on mega steroids, with Hollywoodesque art happening everywhere.   Some of the billboards basically show crisp, clean snippets of TV shows that are clearer than the TV I watch at my house!  I saw a :60-:90 billboard snippet of some fun reality show where the ladies were partying and having a great time ala’ NYE, then they got in a cat fight.  I’m not quite sure of the show, but it was really fun to watch on the Mega-Mega-Mega-Tron.  And I really like the girl with the blue lips as seen at the top of this post, she really stands out from the clutter and clatter of the rest of the Billboards. I would say the color palette does if for them. And the boldness of the vision of the art director.

Bloomingdale's makes you an instant Celebrity!

2.Bloomingdale’s Window Display:  OH the FUN that I had here!  Basically I walked along from window to window, pressed the star button next to the window, it took a picture of me, then within seconds, my picture appeared above the window!  It was so much fun, I did it at all 3 windows!  I felt like a star right in the center of the universe (BTW: that’s what I call the area around Bloomingdale’s in NYC).  And what I liked is your/my picture stayed on there for three slots, thus, it gave me lots of time to take a picture of it.  Everyone down there was having a great time! So much fun, I busted out the Bloomie’s card and bought a couple of things. 15% discount on purchases with a  Bloomingdale’s card all day long and lots of things were already 40-50% off.  Here’s the picture of me in the window display at Bloomingdale’s-December 2011-Mid Town NYC.

Me in the Window Display at Bloomingdale's Mid-Town Dec NYC

3.  In Cab Advertising:  As you know, I totally love QR codes and lately I’ve been looking for the best practices on how to use them well.  When I arrived in NYC, I got in the cab and a TV screen came on that told us about some Celebrity Gossip, sports scores, then a really cool ad came on to win Sunglasses.  What I liked about the ad is the lady in the spot, told us at the beginning of the spot, “Get Ready to scan the QR code to win a pair of Sunglasses”  this gave the rider plenty of time to locate their QR code on their phone and by the end of the :30 seconds you would be ready to scan it to win. I scanned it and it took me to their site and told and sold me on their sunglasses and they had a really easy to fill out form to win the prizes-especially wise when using a smart-phone.  Congrats!

4.DESIGUAL Stores NYC:   A Couple of years ago I noticed how fun and exciting this store seemed to be from the mix of dark lighting and bright colors inside the store. Now their marketing is proving their vibe to be true and in synch with their brand’s funness. In their store in Soho, These guys actually had a real red carpet outside on the side-walk, then as I walked in I was treated with bright balloons and thumping yet not overly banging house music and a free red bull!  How fun is that!  They made me feel special and gave me a bit of caffeine to wake up from my non sleep I usually get when I vacation over here in the big city. Note:  the only thing that did NOT match up with the marketing was the people working there.  They could care less about giving me a drink or a balloon or even asking me if I needed any help. So, You guessed it, I bought nothing. Two years ago I bought my first pair of what I would call expensive jeans ($220), at that time they were nice to me and the jeans were really nice and different, fun and exciting like their marketing.  But mainly they were attentive and helped me with my needs. Little did they know, I was back to do some shopping, but nope, not if you’re not going to be friendly forget it!  Double Note:  at Union Square I saw a shirt I was for sure going to buy-I actually still want it. But I asked the lady at the counter a simple question of “do you have any more of these?” she snapped and shouted “NO” so  once again, no sale. I do still want the shirt. But I just can’t buy from employees that suck! I forget her Kiosk name, but do hope she reads this blog sometime. Triple Note to lady:  It was a Black and grey and blue plaid shirt with buttons with X’s on them.  Back to DESIGUAL, here’s a picture of what they had going on this past weekend in Soho in NYC. Their marketing was good, just not their sales people or sales training.

 

 

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QR Codes vs Blippar

Well, a few weeks ago I was thinking what would be a great way to make a QR code look cooler? Mobi has some that are colorful, Macy’s put a Star around theirs, But these guys at Blippar have taken the concept to a whole new level. I received this tip from springwise.com then went to Google-Ize the word blippar and I found us this awesome video.

The video has some slow portions, but I’d advise staying patient through it until you at least see the Omega watch portion. What happens here is he puts the phone on a print ad for Omega and within seconds the man in the video has placed 3 or 4 different Omega watches on to his own wrist! Not real watches, but virtual watches and they do look like they are on his wrist. Blippar is Pretty happening. Congrats on the cool concept to all the folks who work over at blippar. I can’t wait until you get Nike as a client and I can wear all the Jordans I could ever imagine! I wont have to buy another pair of shoes ever again. I’ll be able to virtually wear whatever I want-whenever I want. Too cool!

QR Code Cuts

QR Code Hair Cuts

QR Codes have to be the most fun thing I like to write about this year.  We started off on how easy they are to make, then how to capture them, then many an article on various ways marketers are getting them out to the public.  This Has to be one of the coolest ways yet and it’s sure going to garner a lot of free publicity.

What they have done is hired Wayne Rooney’s hair stylest-Daniel Johnson to cut QR codes directly into the heads of the Bromley FC players.  I’m sure these take a long time to do and you would need a really good stylist to do it right due to the preciseness of a QR code.  By the looks of the video, seems like Daniel Johnson has achieved this.  The QR codes are cut into the player’s heads and the fans are supposed to capture the codes with their QR code Readers and Scanners, which will then take them directly to the Betfair Mobile Site.  I love the idea and the heads look pretty rad, it will be great for publicity, just not sure how many people will be able to scan a running Footballer’s head when he’s trying to score a goal or defend the opposing players. Thanks to Trendhunter.com for the tip.  Check out the Video below, it shows one of the players getting the Betfair QR code cut into his scalp. Pretty Amazing!

*The Bromley FC Footballers will sport these new QR Code Haicuts this Saturday when they take on the Leyton Orient Team. 

With APEC in Town, You Might want to skate to work?

If you need to get around Waikiki, Why not try some alternative methods from your usual car? You could walk, Bike, jog, Rollerblade, hoverboard, sail or boat, Heliport, teleport or even skateboard your way around town. Any of these modes might help you ease your stress of getting stuck in traffic in your car or truck.

Actually, Since I write a few different blogs, I run into many different trends, New gadgets, lots of modes of advertising, and many really cool new exciting things. While I was checking for something to write about on streetzblog.com I found this video. And I decided it was much better for advertising in Hawaii.First-It gave me the idea of alternative ways to get around town this week during APEC. Second and most importantly This Vimeo Video matches my advertising blog the best because, lately I’ve been seeing some GREAT video work coming out on YouTube and Vimeo. These video’s are like mini movies, they are professional looking, usually come with great music and sound effects and give the viewer a great vibe of the brand being portrayed. Like this video, one can totally breathe and feel the brands vibe in less than 3 minutes. I actually bought a pair of Jump sneakers after watching a really cool Vid done by them. I’ll try to dig it up on the net if it’s still there.

The video above is for a skateboard company in NYC called 5Boro. It has a real nice NYC vibe, plus some pretty awesome tricks and I totally love it when they show the guy skating while filming the other skater, that just plain amazes me every time I see something like that. And for once, someone actually does wipe-out in the Vid!It adds some real cool reality to the vid and Not everyone is a perfectly awesome street skater and Yes, they do fall..at least sometimes.

I’m still a big believer in using traditional media to get things done for you, to direct people to take action, promote a concert or event, and TM is especially effective as the best way to let people know that you or your website, blog, Facebook, vimeo or YouTube sites actually exist! I suggest trying a radio campaign with enough frequency on the right station to fit your brand and I will tell you right now-it will work in getting people to your other means of advertising. We recently did a campaign for Bespoke Custom Tattoo and their Facebook likes increased each day the spots ran. We also included a pretty topical Wiz Khalifa promotion to go with it, but that’s what we do and that’s another reason it worked.

As I continue to write these blog posts, I am finding that the quality on the videos are getting better and better and are quite a nice way to brand your product. The point here is it’s another great tool to use or add to your arsenal. And I like it!

Note: From a Blog I wrote a few weeks ago. I still think it makes sense to pick 3-4 modes of advertising and do them well. Like Radio, Facebook and Videos. Or TV, Facebook and twitter. Or newspaper/billboards, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. As you noticed, for now at least I have Facebook in everything-that is the one constant I would use no matter what. Last I checked 800 Million ++ people are using it, the numbers are just staggering. And at least as of today, November 8, 2011-I don’t think you want to do 11-12 different modes, unless you have a really, really big passionate staff or no life. Things change so quickly, but for now, I’d go with the 3-4 modes of advertising and do them well.

If you’re looking for some marketing ideas or want my team to work on a campaign for you, just call or text me at 808 479-9928 or email me at scott.mackenzie@coxradio.com ..Hey and if you decide to skate to work this week, wear some safety gear, I don’t want you getting hurt from something I recommended. Peace!

50500-Instant Electronic Business Cards!

On Saturday I went to another Pacific New Media Class.  The class was entitled:  “How to Use Social Media to Build your Professional and Personal Brand” taught by “Neenz” Faleafine. Neenz was the social media director for Governor Abercrombie, now works at Oceanit, and is the chief evangelist for Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop Website.

I personally think many of you would enjoy taking her class in the Spring, thus I won’t tell you everything I learned, but I will tell you a few pretty cool things:

1.  the Hottest, Newest social media site is called Chime.In.  It’s where all the cutting edge Techies are going to last week and this week. And did you know that there are over 500 Social Media sites in existence!!!  OMG! But Facebook still rules with over 800 Million people on it! So, for marketing purposes, if you only choose one SM avenue, I would still advise using and getting good at FB.

2. Check out contxts.com.  At this site you can set up your own electronic SMS business card.  First just go there. Then after you are set yours up, you just take a new friends phone, put 50500 in the “To:” section then in the text section write your name. Then within 6 seconds, an electronic business card pops on to their smartphone screen. in plain English”text your name to 50500″.  I love it, it’s almost as fun as QR codes, but I’m still pretty attached to those!

3.  Set up Google Alerts for your name at Google.com\alerts, purchase your own domain name with your real name, check knowem.com to see how many you can still get using your own name, tag all your photos, tag your content relevent to your brand and as we learned before…Create Content because as  Dan Z said “Content is King” and @NEENZrecommends that when you create content make sure it conveys what you want your personal brand to be, spell correclty and be specific!

I just got home from work a little while ago, so I need to go now, time to relax a bit before the new day starts.  If you need some free ideas for any type of promotion or marketing campaign you are working on, feel free to email me anytime at scott.mackenzie@coxradio.com  or give me a call at 275-1106.  Take care and have a Great Mega Halloween Weekend!

 

 

QR Codes get Baked

QKies – sag’s mit Keksen from r3 media on Vimeo.

As you know, I love QR codes and have been having fun with them for a few months now. These guys in Germany are really having fun with them. check out the vid or visit their website to check out these brand new QR Cookies. Thanks to springwise.com for the tip!

QR Codes Go Up in Smoke!

Even though QR (Quick Read) codes have been around for a while, this is the year that I’ve personally really enjoyed them.  It started at Christmas When my friend Charles gave me a New York Times and it had a HUGE really colorful QR code on it and I sat at lunch trying to take a picture of it, which of course did not work.  From a Blog earlier, I mentioned that you would need a QR Code reader or scanner on your iPhone to get it to work. Since December, I have made QR code business cards, stuck QR Code Stickers up all over the world and made QR codes for many friends including Non Stop Travel, Power 104.3, and Oceanic Cable. 

Now, check out this video, I know it’s in Croatian, but even in Croatian it shows you how simple and easy it is to use a QR Code.  And as I’ve been studying the usage of QR codes in Advertising, I noticed that many take the customer to a website, which is cool and all. That’s what most of my QR codes do, but as we continue to use them, I love all of the really awesome things we can do with them!

For example this QR code is on the back of a Ronhill cigarette package and it takes you to a regional mobile website that gives the smoker current locations of where smoking is allowed.  And similar to Foursquare-users can also update the list of places themselves.  Thanks to Springwise.com for the tip and for more information on TDR click here.

On the subject of cool things to do with QR codes.  Feel free to use any of these ideas or use them as a springboard to your own QR code Fun,  Advertising, and Marketing!  (These arent real or if they are it’s a total coincidence because I just made them all up today 9/15/11)

1. Red Bull/Energy Drink/Soda Company:  The QR code could click to a site that shows all the cool places Red Bull events are being held this year and you’d be entered to win VIP access. Or even more fun, the QR code would lead you to Travis Pastrana’s backyard-where he could teach us some new tricks on Moto X or Subaru. 

2.Clearthesmoke.org/Lung Association: Since we did an article on cool things you can do with smoking, I figured I’d better add in some PSA type info on quiting smoking.    So,  instead of taking you their websites homepage, the QR code can take you to an entry form to enter the “Quit Smoking Today” art contest.  Here you would upload your art and then the next time you scan the QR code it would take you to the Clear the Smoke dot org Art Gallery where you could see all of the great works of art and vote on your favorites. Winner received a smoking HOT trip to the Bahamas.

3.  Broke2.com/Clothing Company:  Click on the QR code and it takes you to a fun interactive video game where you get to dress up Celebrities in some fun destination appropriate clothes to go on a road trip race all over the world. Changing clothes as you go to each destination. Racing against all sorts of people all around the world.  Fun to do, fun to race and fun to meet new people from around the World. You could get badges, points or money coupons each time you get to a new country and use them to purchase a special limited edition line of clothing designed for the game. 

4.  G-Shock/Watches in general:  Put the QR code underneath the crown or on the band. Wearers of the brand get the exclusive code to be in the VIP Watch Club.  Along with the usual cool VIP things brands like to give you. This Club would check the time and show you a video of the coolest thing happening at that moment in time.  Like an all night party in Ibiza, backstage at Fashion Week, a sneak peek at a celebrity partying in Maui, behind the scenes at a Victoria Secret’s Fashion show, on the set of Hawaii Five-0, Carnivale in Rio, St. Pats Day in Dublin etc. Whatever, wherever is HOT at this TIME, they will take you there!

Oh-What fun to be had with QR codes and just think I couldn’t even download one of these things 8 months ago. The World sure is moving fast!  Best way to get a hold of me this week and weekend is by text at 808 479-9928. Cheers and Aloha! SM

QR Code Fun

 
A few days ago, we chatted about getting your own QR Code. Since then, I’ve been having tons of fun with my code. 
 

Tip on the QR Code reader: Use QR Scanner.

Two of us at work both tried the App for “QR code for I phone” and it didn’t work for either of us.  So we asked around and found out that at least out here in Hawaii, people are having success with “QR Scanner”.  We both downloaded it, me being so silly, I tried to point the picture part of my phone on it to get it to work..LOL.. of course that didn’t work. Then I pretended like I was taking a picture of the code and Voila! it made a cool vibration then took me directly to advertisinginhawaii.com   We went on to make a few more codes at QR Code.kaywa.com  and took pictures of them. The cool thing here is the App remembers the sites, so now All I do is go to my QR Scanner and point my finger at the name of the website and Bam! it takes me to my favorite websites that I have QR codes for.

Promoting my Code:

Well for me, I learned years ago back in H.S that the best way to learn something is by doing it.  I can still remember when the teacher asked us “What is the best way to learn math?” and  I responded “to just do it” So, me being all excited about my new QR code, I didn’t wait around or think up some master marketing plan to promote it.  I copied 30 of the codes on to plain white paper, then went and put them up everywhere.  I taped them to all my notebooks, put them on doors around work, then went *guerilla and slapped them up all around Chinatown, after that I put a few on my car, then in the lobby of where I live, and of course on the walls of my own condo.  This was fun for me to do because I was so excited about how these codes work.  It still amazes me how the crazy looking black and white marks take you directly to where you wan to go.  *Note: Guerrill in Chinatown, probably not the most legal way to advertise in Hawaii, but lots of fun and I’ll clean them up after the weekend is over. I walk the same way to my car practically everyday.

A few upgrades on promoting this way:                                                                                   

I’d spend a bit more time and laminate them or turn them into stickers.  But like my math teacher and I agreed, the best way to learn something is by doing it.  Weather it’s starting a blog, making a new website, starting to tweet, etc my recommendation is-dont sit around and wait until things work or the world is perfect-just go out and do it.  Especially if you can do it for free!

Marketing your QR Code in a more proper manner:

Aaah to funny, I’ve been doing marketing, advertising and promotions way to long to leave you hanging with “just go out and put pieces of paper up around your work, neighborhoods and homes”.  Whenever I need an advertising specialty item or as we used to call them back in the 90’s-Tsotkes(chotskies)-*I’m glad we don’t call them that anymore, was way to hard to remember the word and way, way too hard to spell it.  I go to my favorite provider-Judy Goo at D&J Specialties and ask her what’s hot and happening and in this case Square.

Judy recommended: Key Chains or as they say in the specialty advertising industry-Key Tags.  These will fit your QR code on one side and a fun sentence on the other. And they are pretty inexpensive.  Shoot Judy an email at:  judyg@djspec.com and she’ll take good care of you.

Judy’s “engaging”(Note: engaging or engagement-probably the hottest word of 2011)  sales reps recommended these items:

From Chantel:         chantel@djspec.com:

Luggage Tags-When you travel, good way to meet friends and nice way for them to remember you.

Mints/Gum-Convenient, small, easy to access.

Bottle Opener Key chains-for those who wine and dine with their clients

Golf Items-Such a perfect match-business and Golf.

From Mike Tom:         Mike@djspec.com 

T shirts-what a fun conversation starter!

Screen Cleaners-Reusable, inexpensive and “fun” like stickers

Adhesive notepads, scratch pads

Business cards/flyers and print Ads 

At least a year ago I spotted this on trendhunter.com and loved it even though at the time I didn’t quite know what a QR code even was:

P8tch.com– Rad looking Patches with Mysterious commando designs on top with your QR code on the bottom.  Even a year ago, I almost ordered a few of these, even though I didn’t know what the codes were used for, the patches just looked so HOT!

Have fun promoting your new or old QR code-Have a Great Weekend!

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