Calvin Klein uses QR codes to access mobile video
Calvin Klein incorporated QR codes on select billboards throughout New York and Los Angeles as part of an advertising campaign promoting the brand’s jeans.
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Billboards at Houston and Lafayette Street and West 20th Street and 10th Avenue in New York, and one in Los Angeles at Sunset Boulevard and Havenhurst Drive, displayed a Calvin Klein QR code that gave device users access to a mobile video featuring model Lara Stone with male models A.J. Sid Ellisdon, Grayson Vaughan and Eric Anderson.
“It was very successful and you will see QR codes continue to be integrated into our upcoming campaigns,” said Jennifer Crawford, vice president of corporate communications at Calvin Klein, New York.
The brands’ Fall 2010 global print and outdoor advertising campaign was photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, also working in conjunction with Baron & Baron and CRK.
“Mobile bar codes are becoming a necessary element for brands to integrate into their cross-media initiatives whether out of home, online, television or print,” said Laura Marriott, board member at NeoMedia and former president of the Mobile Marketing Association.
“Mobile bar codes, whether QR or Datamatrix, allow a brand to energize their traditional or digital media buys,” she said. “For example, by embedding a mobile bar code on a billboard, they are able to activate the advertisement and engage the consumer on the go.”
NeoMedia was not involved in the Calvin Klein campaign. Ms. Marriott commented on the campaign as a third-party source.
Ms. Marriott said that analytics based on the consumer scan of a code could include time of day and location.
QR codes can help brands such as Calvin Klein make better purchase decisions around their advertising and ensure optimal use and communication of message. Although in their infancy, the potential for brands to leverage mobile bar codes in all of their initiatives is enormous.
Calvin’s code
The QR code included in Calvin Klein’s billboard allowed consumers to scan at street level to view the exclusive :40 spot on their mobile device.
Once the video played, viewers could share the QR code with friends on Facebook and Twitter.
The use of a special QR code to access this exclusive Calvin Klein Jeans video is another way for the brand to deliver engaging content to consumers in an interactive way.
Advantages of QR codes
One of the biggest advantages of QR codes is brand activation.
QR codes activate traditional and digital media by providing an opportunity for the consumer to engage directly with the brand at time of viewing.
The ease of consumer experience is another advantage.
By leveraging mobile bar codes, consumers are simply able to scan the code and immediately be directed to their desired information, application, call center, coupon or video without having to enter long URLs or phone numbers from their mobile device.
In the case of Calvin Klein, the QR codes were a means of optimizing advertising real estate.
By embedding a mobile bar code on the billboards, Calvin Klein was able to include more information in a single visual code than it would if it had to include the product information.
“The analytics which are available to the brand through the bar code campaign will also enable them to measure statistics around the consumer’s interaction with the product or advertisement,” Ms. Marriott said.
Read MoreDeploy your App through SMS (text)
Complement a mobile app
SMS can complement a mobile application strategy through interactivity that only SMS can provide.
In addition, SMS provides the opportunity to build a mobile database to market to again in the future, as opposed to mobile application downloads where no valuable user-information can be obtained.
A good example of SMS being used in tandem to a publisher’s mobile application strategy would be to place a call-to-action on traditional media or on a publisher’s Web site that allows the user to text-in, and receive a link to a mobile version of the same content found in a mobile application.
This extends the reach exponentially to those who do not have devices capable of downloading mobile applications, for example.
The universal accessibility of SMS, combined with the ability to provide information in real-time, creates opportunities for publishers/developers to connect with their audiences.
Publishers/developers can use SMS to:
- Reach consumers/players who do not have a smartphone
- Reach consumers/players who have not played recently
- Keep consumers/players engaged in the game
- Acquire consumers/players who did not even know a specific game existed
- Retain consumers/players
- Monetize their interactions through incentivized offer paths
A limited number of messages can produce significant ROI, and combined with a nearly 100 percent open rate for opted-in messaging, it provides a means to build brand awareness, two-way communication and interactivity that are unmatched by any other mobile channel.
SMS can be used to distribute similar mobile content found in mobile apps to a wider audience, while giving that audience a choice in how a publisher’s content is consumed on the go. SMS can be used to provide timely information that can be ‘pushed’ to the user as opposed to relying on the user to open the app and ‘pull’ the content themselves.
SMS is key to having a 360-degree mobile strategy. A 360-degree mobile strategy means creating opportunities for mobile interaction, whenever the consumer wants it and wherever he or she may be.
Ubiquity of SMS
With billions of SMS messages sent every month in this country alone, it has become the most effective and cost efficient mechanism to communicate and market.
Virtually all handsets are capable of sending and receiving SMS messages. It is simple to use and is universally available. For these reasons, it provides the key to unlocking all other mobile media.
Ringtones, video, applications and purchases can all be pushed through SMS.
The phone has become less a method for making phone calls, and increasingly a device for sending messages, playing games and getting information.
As a marketing vehicle SMS is critical for user acquisition, retention and monetization.
By surrounding the user with opportunities to connect, any SMS can lead to multiple interactions over SMS or other mobile channels.
Offline calls to action (signs, POS display, packaging) featuring an SMS action are universally acceptable.
An invitation to text a keyword to a short code is a welcome diversion when waiting in line at a retail store, and the content received in return is relevant to your interests.
Mobile Web banners can lead to WAP sites that offer SMS alerts. Or an SMS ad can bring the consumer to the WAP site.
A brand might be featured in a display ad within an application; with a click the user can receive a coupon via SMS.
Including SMS as part of application marketing is critical.
CMP Mobile can help your business plan and deploy your SMS Campaign to bring awareness and collect data.
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