Every so often there is a trend in media and technology that gives us access to more information and makes us do less to get that information. With the Internet, all we have to do is type in a website address or run a search; however, something else is now making waves among the top brands, and even among smaller businesses – no more typing required, just take a picture with your web-enabled smartphone and get access to more information.

QR (Quick Response) codes fulfil the instant gratification needs of consumers; they are similar to bar codes, but hold more information. Consumers simply need to download a free QR code reader or app to their web-enabled smartphone and they’re good to go. QR codes have made interactive multimedia digital content much more accessible than it already is, and have been actively used by a subsidiary of Toyota, Denso Wave, in Japan for more than 10 years.

Denso Wave didn’t patent the technology and have encouraged its use. Gartner, an American market research firm, conducts an annual “Hype Cycle Report” which provides strategists and planners with an assessment of the maturity, business benefit and future direction of technologies; in the 2011 report, QR codes were placed on “the slope of enlightenment when it comes to mainstream adoption of technology” (http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1763814). Similarly, a study by Mobio Technologies Inc. revealed a 9,840% spike in the use of QR codes by American big brands for marketing purposes in the third quarter of 2011 (http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/spike-in-qr-code-usage-driven-by-big-brand-marketing-study/143588).

From business cards to marketing material and even airline boarding passes, the 2D QR codes are becoming a standard for sharing data; even mediums for consumer communication, like Facebook, are rumoured to be integrating this unique technology (http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/16/facebook-qr-code/).

Some of Leading Brands clients have already expanded their information platforms through the use of QR codes, and it’s time that more regional brands started adopting this new media as quickly as their consumers do.