Have you had one of the moments lately? You know the “this-is-totally-geeky-how-cool-is-this moment.” As some of you know, I regularly research trends in other industries like architecture, industrial design, and marketing so that I can draw inspiration and insight to use in design, consulting, and implementation of learning solutions. Last week, I attended an amazing presentation, by Andrew Johnson, about the latest trends in interactive marketing. Trends center around these areas: QR Codes, Tags (Microsoft’s and Zxing’s ), RFID, Augmented Reality and Gesture-based Interactivity (see showcase; another). True, these are bleeding edge strategies…in the US. (Coding and scanning are quite popular in Japan.) Still, it’s fun to think about it’s application and how the concept of ”interactive” can be rendered and leveraged. I was struck by the viability these could have in the learning solutions. Particularly mobile or portable learning solutions… 

Are These Scenarios Really Something of the Future??

Scenario 1: Large company needs all employees to complete compliance training. Online training is rolled out complimented with marketing campaign. Posters with codes, hang in halls, by water coolers, near exit doors to underscore it’s importance. Sheila, while quickly walking out the office doors after a busy day, realizes she forgot to complete the training. She scans the code with her phone, uploads the course and completes it in the taxi on the way to the airport.

Scenario 2: Juan is completing his one-day in-person of his sales training course. He likes it and is anxious to connect with coaches and co-workers in the online forums and complete the remaining online modules. After the in-person training, he scans the QR code found on the unusually thin, light-weight training guide (in the past, he’s received 100 page guides to refer to outside of class), and receives all the materials, links to the learning portal, and contact information of everyone in class on his phone he can later download on his PC.

I asked Andrew to share some insights about these trends and what he thinks about the inter-relationship of learning and marketing.

More about Andrew: Andrew produces interactive projects and develops new business for Anode, an interactive communications studio with a 20-year history of integrating new technology into the user experience. Today, the company provides digital media solutions to organizations such as The Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Bridgestone Americas, and The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Currently, Anode is leading a major digital media renovation for the Vanderbilt University Library. 

MA: How has the marketing industry used QR codes to connect with their customers?
AJ: One common goal in marketing campaigns is “extending the conversation”; that is, ensuring that a single customer will return for another brand interaction rather than simply disappearing. Extending the conversation gives marketers another chance to influence consumers in a positive way. QR Codes are great for this because they facilitate future participation rather than just encouraging it.  Instead of saying “visit our website,” marketers can offer a consumer-friendly call to action, potentially with built-in perks for the customer and analytics to measure the effectiveness of their campaign. While QR Codes work great for print, they’re beginning to show up on digital displays, billboards, packaging, and even t-shirts. Any physical experience can be extended into the content-rich digital realm. The next frontier for marketing is seamless mobile experiences that go beyond static ads, and QR codes play right into that. Here are some examples: 
Abilene Christian University Library uses QR codes to allow dynamic access to their catalog
Google Favorite Places uses QR codes to help local businesses promote themselves
Microsoft has posted several case studies about their 2D barcode technology, Microsoft Tags. 
Colorado Spirit Lager is using similar technology to communicate with customers (note that registration may be required to read the article) 

MA: What are the benefits of using QR codes? 
AJ: The 4 most basic benefits: 
1. They connect the physical space to the limitless possibilities of digital.
2. They’re a new way to engage consumers with technology.
3. They’re easy to use—no need to type or remember URLs.
4. They can provide advanced analytics to track usage.
On a more strategic level, buying early on a nascent medium has generally been a high-risk, high-reward game. A recent example of the risk: how much money was spent developing, manufacturing, and marketing HD-DVD technology? Now, it’s totally gone. QR code technology is enticing because it’s high-reward, low-risk: early adopters have the potential to reap the benefits of a new type of engagement, but the low cost of implementing QR codes means that the risk is mitigated. 

Let’s say I see a QR code on some POP materials at Starbucks offering more information about a new coffee blend and a 10% discount on my first bag. It’s a neat way for me to interact with Starbucks and get a little discount on a new product. Regardless of whether or not I participate, I’ve already thought about it a lot more than if I’d just seen a standard ad. Plus, do you know what that little addition cost Starbucks? Nothing. It takes about 10 seconds to make that code. The footprint is small, so you’re not losing a lot of real estate. It’s really a win on all fronts, or—perhaps more importantly—it’s definitely not going to hurt what you’re already doing. 

MA: How would using QR codes impact a company’s bottom line? 
AJ: Depends on when, where, how much, and how effectively you use them. In all seriousness, there isn’t a lot of hard data about how 2D barcode technology affects marketing campaigns. I will cite a recent article from Advertising Age that mentioned Google running a newspaper campaign for a retailer in 3 markets, using the same ads with and without QR codes. Now, I’m not privy to the details of how these results were calculated, but according to the article the code-enhanced ads generated 6.5 times more revenue than the traditional ads. Even if that number were to contain some creative statistical padding, I suspect we would still find a significant increase in revenue from the QR codes. 

MA: How do you see the use of QR codes evolving within the marketing industry? 
AJ: Interesting question. I’m optimistic that QR codes will gain some measure of traction in North America. The main factor limiting the growth of this technology is the presence of a reader on mobile devices. Currently, readers are built-in on some mobile phones with the Android OS, and I imagine that other operating systems will follow suit. If everybody can scan QR codes without having to jump through hoops, then the technology should grow very quickly. If a standalone app needs to be downloaded, then the growth will be slower, and another technology could jump in and usurp QR codes. 

On a global scale, we’ve already seen this happen. Japan has a mobile-friendly user base, and QR codes are ubiquitous. Europe is steadily moving in that direction. If we can develop a similar focus on new mobile technology, I can easily envision the same result here. Google (with QR codes) and Microsoft (with their proprietary Microsoft Tag system) seem to be invested in 2D barcodes, so I think the smart money says that they’ll stick around in some capacity. The reader software penetration percentage is the tipping point. 

MA: Two general goals of eLearning design is to make solutions interactive and engaging. It’s integral that eLearning content and interactives connect, inspire, resonate with learners, employees, and customers. I see interaction and connection as overlapping principal goals within the learning industry and marketing industry. Do you agree?
AJ: Oh, definitely. Interaction is the new norm across all different types of disciplines. The advent of Social Media is supporting the new expectation of a 2-way communication between consumer and brand. In education, the old standard is learning via lecture, but that has lost a lot of ground to interactive courses, seminars, and group projects. Meaningful connections and interactions facilitate comprehension, and the information is also better retained. 

This question made me think of something interesting. In marketing, you’ll often see what is in essence an ad hoc mnemonic device to try and stamp information and concepts onto people’s brains. For instance, think about jingles as a tool to encourage participation and promote interaction. As a kid, I learned how to “stay close a little longer” the same way I learned the 50 U.S. States. The medium works equally well in both areas—and yes, I can still sing both songs start to finish. 

MA: Do you see a further confluence of the marketing and learning industry? Do your customers increasingly want more information about the product, where it comes from, how it’s made, how it words? Etc.
AJ: I think we’re now seeing a convergence of marketing, education, and technology. People are realizing that there are common principles to effective communication. As marketers (or educators) responding to the needs of our audience, the risk for information overload is an important consideration. People want to be armed with as much information as possible. It’s our job to understand how much information our audience can comprehend given the circumstances. Trying to do too little or too much will reduce the benefit to the learner. 

At my company (Anode) we often have potential clients who say, “send as much information as you have and we’ll sift through it”. The problem is that they don’t understand that identifying the important pieces within a large amount of information is a lot of work, and so they’ll just give up in the middle and never understand the whole message. 

The solution here is good information design with your content—package information into layers that lead the learner down a distinct path. We try to find the sweet spot, where we include just enough detail to be thorough without bogging down in irrelevant minutiae. HOW the information is presented makes all the difference. Learning works the same way—the best curricula present the information in digestible parts to facilitate comprehension. 

MA: What can learning professionals learn from marketing professionals? 
AJ: My initial reaction was to go with the importance of tightly focused learning experiences that don’t overwhelm, and understanding the need for a “hook” to get attention. You can find a balance between academic integrity and marketing efficiency. However, I think that’s already been accepted (at least to some degree) by the learning industry, so I’ll go in a different direction. 

Learning professionals can benefit from watching the latest trends in marketing technology. By piggybacking on the efforts of marketers, learning professionals have real-world case studies for what really engages people. Let the corporations deal with the R&D, and then pick the best, most relevant technologies for your specific learning audience. Plus, you know that marketers are going to grease the wheels for you. If you integrate QR codes into a learning environment, you have a built-in understanding with some individuals because the marketing industry has already introduced the technology.

Thanks so much Andrew. Excellent insights. Truly interesting concepts to potentially extend interactive learning.

MA to You: Do you use QR codes in your learning solutions? Would love to hear about it!