Six Serving Men Blog

I have been meaning to write a blog post on QR codes and how to use them since I saw this poster advert whilst waitingfor the Tube in London.

QR (or Quick Response) codes are increasingly being used by marketers to link theoffline world to online content. Other applications such as Blippar exist that areaimed to facilitate the use of Mobile phones and tablets.

The idea behind placing the QR code on the advert is to enable me to scan it with mymobile device and to navigate me to a suitable website landing page 

However in the rush to embrace new technology it is worthwhile recalling that "Whilstthe roads Marketers are getting people to travel are changing, the people travellingthem (and their needs)  are not".

In the example vital aspects do not appear to have been taken into account whensetting out the activity i.e.    

1. The location of QR Code on Poster, (Bottom Left) means part of it cannot be seenor scanned 
2. The complexity & granularity of the QR code - From a distance of 10 yards my iphone (other mobiles are available)had no chance of picking up the complex QR code.
3. I'm on the underground and can get no mobile connection so even if I can scan the code I have no ability to accessthe designated content.

Other examples of poorly planned activity are found in this post  eConsultancy Post - 11 Dubious uses of  QR Codes

So before falling down a similar trap if you are considering running a QR initiative 3 things you should consider

1. Plan the customer journey - try it out and see if the roads you want people to follow are clear and well lit 
2. Include tracking code - link it in with your destination tracking e.g. Google Analytics. Include a specific source codeor medium. 
3. Simplify the resolution - The more data you include the more complex the image. Use a URL shortened QR link

For Example both the QR codes below lead to the same destination but highlight

In 1519 Hernán Cortés landed in Mexico with 600 men, 16 horses and 11 ships, looking to conquer the Aztecs and seize their riches for Spain.

According to legend Cortes knew that he had a number of disadvantages. He was in a foreign land, massively outnumbered and his well organised enemy the Aztecs had survived & flourished for almost six centuries. The night prior to the initial battles Cortes allegedly sent a few men to burn all their boats.

  

His men awoke with their ships on fire and Cortes explained to his men “If we are going home, we are going home in their ships.” With their no means of escape, or fall back position, Cortes and his men had a simple choice "Succeed or die". They went on to conquer the Aztecs! and are attributed with the phrases "To burn ones boats or bridges"! 

After seeing Jimmy Wales founder of Wikipedia speak this week in London and it made me review two specific conflicting things that business leaders need to focus upon

• Decision making can be regarded as the mental processes (cognitive process) resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios.
• Procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of low-priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time

Any decision is based upon the quality of the information available and what is considered but sometimes too much focus is spent upon collating information before making a decision! Apparently 72% of all statistics are made up (that one is!) and any figures quoted need to be sense checked against who is providing them – and why. If you are involved in business today then you will be trying to understand & evaluate how you can benefit from Digital media channels e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Before burning your boats and jumping into a Digital Strategy based upon "gut feeling" or that is easy to start, its worth ensuring that you focus your time & resource upon the areas that your customers use rather than the tools "evangelists" promote.  We've extracted some data from three recent information sources that we hope help you in your decisioning.

So what are UK consumers using for communications ? 

So how are UK consumers doing on Social Media ? 

Whilst the blogosphere may suggest everyone is using social media for everything recent research conducted by Exact Target suggests that consumers are not necessarily engaging with brands in the same way as US consumers.  

How are UK Businesses using Social Media and how well ? 

Econsultancy & LoudMouth Media's report the State of social highlights how UK companies are embracing social and how well they believe they are doing it .

So what does this mean for you?

Feel like Cortes ? In a foreign land, with a vast array of options and against an increasing number of competitors at a time when consumers are becoming more familiar with the range of communication channels and with rising expectations.

Strategy is ensuring you do the right things - Operations are doing things right! However the correct strategy for your business depend upon a number of factors unique to you. To guide you digital strategy we recommend focussing upon the Who and What questions

1. Who you are wanting to communicate with
2. Why and What you want them to do

This can then drive the How, Where and When of how you implement your strategy.

 You could choose to burn your boats and dive into social media or you can choose to do nothing although bear in mind that when you have to make a choice and don't make it - that is in itself a choice ! Tell us what you think ?

In the late 1980's Jan Carlzon published "Moments of Truth" one of the defining management books of the late 20th century. It details the transformation his pholosophy to customer service made to the profitability of the Swedish Airline SAS.   

In it he highlighted the importance of "Moments of truth" - The times when their customer came into contact with SAS employeees. "SAS is not a collection of material assets but the quality of contact between an individual customer and the SAS employees who serve the customer directly"

On the assumption that each their 10 million customer came into contact with five SAS employees fr aproximatly 15 seconds at a time it created 50 million "Moments of Truth" The moments when SAS had to prove to their customewrs taht SAS are the best alternative.

In the book there is no mention of the internet, websites, social media, iphones etc. but as we move towards 2010 the principles discussed have even greater resonance or should have !

Continuing the Airline Analogy further, two recent examples of how companies have not covered themselves in glory are highlighted by United & American Airlines.

Frustrated with the (lack of) client service following the mishandling of one of their guitar's at Chicago airport between flights the band "Sons of Maxwell" promised the last person to finally say no to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that they would write and produce a series of songs about the experience with United Airlines and make videos to be viewed online by anyone in the world.


6 million views later this mishandled moment of truth has come back to and continues to haunt United. 

Big business and Social Media rubbing up against each other are highlighted further by American Airlines who recently fired a blogger who responded to a comment relating to the poor usabilty of the AA website. "A Clueless company flailing" headlines resulted and exposed weaknesses in the silos in the company

As the communication channels open to and preferred by customers grows the number and importance of moments of truth grows - if not handled properly it's no longer just one customer lost.        

Social Media continues to challenge Financial Analysts and Business Owners alike. As the use of social media develops and evolves there is much debate to understand the time, effort and money they should invest and the business results they should expect.   

Stephen Baker in his Business Week article - Is Twitter worth $1 Billion highlights the conundrum of placing a financial valuation on the business whilst the commercial model continues to remain unclear.

Meanwhile business owners and managers are trying to establish how to capitalise upon the increasing range of technologies.

However in the rush to "join in" it appears that many businesses are falling into the trap of Ready Fire Aim. 
Working on the basis that "Strategy without action is futile, and action without strategy is fatal", the key question that need addressing are 

• What do you want to achieve, before determining the tools to implement it.
• How do you measure, monitor and manage your activity ongoing.  

A precursor to strategic objectives is understanding your market and social media can povide an insight into a subset of your existing & propective customers. But how important is that subset ?   

An interesting tool is the  Forrester's Social Technographics® that classifies consumers into six overlapping levels of participation in Social Media - Creators, Critics, Collectors, Joiners, Spectators and Inactives - Further info click here
 
It provides a simple high level snapshot that won't povide all the answers, but will help identify some of the questions to address 



Let us know what you think or to contact us to discuss how your business should / could benefit from Social