Have you seen any good QR code uses

QR codes are becoming the new black.

In browsing through a Saturday edition of the Winnipeg Free Press there were 10 ads that contained qr codes.

Using my blackberry messenger scanner I clicked on all 10. First off, I had success scanning only half of them. I couldn't get the others to produce a result even with using a different scanner called I-nigma.

Here is some food for thought for three of those qr codes:

1. For the Ballet featuring the next show, shoot a short video with the the principal dancer or say artistic director discussing the show.

2. To the car dealer, how about a video of happy car buyers or how about a click on the qr code take me to a page and win an oil change with a 40 point inspection all for just leaving my contact information.

3. For the educational facility looking for students, have the qr code take me to a video of the school and what you offer. Or how about a video of students and why they choose your institution to attend.

I have yet to see an ad with a qr code that has done anything more than send me to the main website. I have seen a qr code on a bus board and thought, "what was the marketing manager thinking". But I digress.

Leave the shiny new digital marketing tool off your ad if your website address is in the ad.


Tony Mariani

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

You pay enough money and any SEO guru can get you ranked at the top of Bing, Google or Yahoo.

It's a big waste of money when I get there an your website sucks and it doesn't move me along the selling process.

Spend the money on building a great website that will convert visitors to buyers. Don't put the cart before the horse.

Tony Mariani

The art of schleping

Winners.ca is a fashion store known for carrying name brands at discount prices.

Their current radio ads are for Christmas shopping and use of the word, "schlep".

Now schlep is a Yiddish word and used as a noun means, awkward and stupid person. It can also mean simple, simpleton and a person lacking intelligence or common sense. For example, "My brother in law is such a schlep!"

Schlep can also mean a a tedious or difficult journey. "Driving from Winnipeg to Florida is such a schlep".

Schlep as a verb means to pull along heavily, like a heavy load against a resistance. For example, "Oh Vey the thought of schlepping your parents to Florida!

The word doesn't work in this ad nor did it make the ad funny.

As for the schlep who came up with the idea, it's a Christmas shopping ad!

Tony Mariani

Your biggest expense

Labor? Rent? Cost of Goods?

All right answers but not the biggest.

Biggest is an empty restaurant. Empty bays at an oil and lube joint. Empty show room at a car lot. Get the picture.

If empty describes your business, you may want to look at your advertising or lack of it.

Tony Mariani

Facebook And Advertisers

Brilliant blog from Bob Hoffman, The Ad Contrarian.

Share it with your colleagues and anyone else who thinks facebook and social marketing et al, is the be all and end all.

It will save you a pile of money or it will turn you into the next Dippin' Dots,

Facebook And Advertisers

Tony Mariani

The Future of Social Media

Is the Ad Contrarian just an old "mad man" who has lost touch with the advertising world? You decide in his latest blog on social media and its future.

The Future of Social Media


Tony Mariani

What Steve Jobs Taught Us About Advertising

What Steve Jobs Taught Us About Advertising