How to Use QR Codes: Example Angry Orchard Hard Cider
Posted on by Timothy Boyle
So there I was Ace, King in hand and I was all-in pre-flop going up against a Queen, Ten off suit during an intense poker night. Flop came with nothing. Turn came with nothing. River hit a Queen, and my night was over. Rough. Luckily I was then handed a Angry Orchard Hard cider for the first time, and found it quite delectable. My night had just taken a turn for the better.
One of the first things I noticed about the Hard Cider bottle was the QR code on the back. My first instinct was to assume it was a lousy QR code use like you might see on many other alcoholic bottles out there, but the good call to action convinced me to scan it nonetheless. I was pleasantly surprised.
Not only did Angry Orchard have a solid call to action, they also had a mobile optimized landing page, and a very good looking one at that. These two things alone usually are enough for satisfactory QR code use, but even more than this they had a creative and interactive landing page, making it one of the better QR code uses I have seen.
Typically most companies will simply link the QR code to their desktop webpage or, if they are slightly ahead of the curve, their mobile optimized home page. This doesn’t do a whole lot for the customer or the business. What works best is if there is some purpose for the customer at the landing page, ideally something interactive or some sort of offer.
What I discovered by scanning the Angry Orchard QR code was a landing page that let you post what you thought of the Hard Cider you were drinking and post it for the world to see. This is a great QR code use because it allows the customer to interact with the brand and promote the brand to others on social media, giving them an inexpensive advertising medium, and hopefully a solid ROI.
It is creative uses like this that more companies and 
organizations need to start utilizing, otherwise you are losing out on customer interaction with your brand and potentially sales. Just make sure you are using a platform that will ensure your QR campaign is running efficiently, you have all the data you need to learn from your campaign to adapt it to changing conditions, and allows you to manage it all in one place.
