Designer QR Codes used to promote Indie-Rock Documentary

Shaker Films jumps on the mobile bandwagon
Designer QR Codes used to promote Indie-Rock Documentary
by Beth Silverstein

August 4th, 2011 - Los Angeles, CA -- Indie-Rock documentary "Bob and the Monster" played to enthusiastic crowds earlier this year at SXSW in Austin Texas. It was one of the highlights of the event, especially for fans of LA's music scene in the 1980's. Interestingly, QR Codes were also widely embraced by attendees at SXSW this year. So, it comes as no surprise that Shaker Films would make use of QR Codes to promote "Bob and the Monster" in cities where it is scheduled to screen.

Filmmaker Keirda Bahruth spent six years creating this engaging documentary chronicling the rise and fall of Bob Forrest - front man for L.A. band, Thelonious Monster. Rock legends including Anthony Kiedis, John Frusciante, and Courtney Love give valuable insight into a story about Bob Forrest's drug addiction and the promising career it destroyed. It's a story we have heard all to often but, this film ends with a recovered Bob Forrest helping addicts overcome the same obstacles he once faced.

Santa Monica based creative agency Warbasse Design developed the digital one-sheet that leaves a lasting impression. "Designer QR Codes allow give consumers something to remember. In a sea of symbols that all look the same, it's a natural tendency to try and stand out. The trick is staying functional," said Philip Warbasse - Warbasse Design. The Designer QR Code is prominently placed on the poster, sparking a number of positive articles and blog entries regarding best practises for QR Code implementation (ie http://randymatheson.com/bob-and-the-monster-and-a-nice-use-of-qr-code/).

When scanned, the code takes the user to a mobile site featuring a synopsis, the trailer to the movie, the ability to order tickets and share with friends via Facebook and Twitter all from their handheld device.

"I noticed QR codes for the first time at SXSW this year and was intrigued by the concept, but didn't fully understand it's use or value. Mobile media is obviously taking over our culture and quickly becoming the conduit for how we interact with audiences but it wasn't until I started working with Philip that I began to comprehend how exciting and how immediate this interaction can be. It's one thing to scan a code that goes to a website that is hard to navigate around, but Warbasse Design created a mobile site for us that made it so easy for people to find out the facts instantly in a mobile friendly environment. This has given the public the ability to find a screening and buy tickets while standing at a train station where they have scanned the code in a matter of minutes. It's very exciting and I would venture to say that Warbasse played a hand in helping us sell out both of our Los Angeles screening by creating a bold QR movie poster for the public to interact with. It's eye catching and easy to understand which is something I wasn't seeing back when they first arrived on the scene. The Bob and The Monster QR movie poster is bad ass! It helps to invite people into the future with this new technology by giving you the tools to succeed without feeling like an absolute Luddite! Then again maybe that's just me, it took me a month to figure out Tivo," said Keirda Bahruth Director / Producer "Bob and the Monster".

"Bob and the Monster" will be screening on the following dates in August and September:
08/08/11 Bob and the Monster in Great Neck, NY
09/25/11 Bob and the Monster in Philadelphia, PA
09/30/11 Bob and the Monster in Kansas City, MO

About the Movie
Six years in the making, this documentary film follows outspoken indie-rock hero Bob Forrest, through his life-threatening struggle with addiction, to his transformation into one of the most influential and controversial drug counsellors in the US today. "Bob and the Monster" crafts contemporary footage, animation and compelling interviews with archival performances and personal videos from Bob's past to reveal the complex layers of this troubled, but hopeful soul. Testimony from his peers, including Courtney Love, Anthony Kiedis and Flea add texture, but it's the depth of Bob's music, interwoven throughout the film, that illuminates this unforgettable and inspirational story.

About Warbasse Design
Since inception, the goal has remained unchanged - to help clients become better known and better understood. Warbasse design is known for its research methods as much as its award-winning design and it has a track record of providing clients internet technology that is consistently ahead of its time. Warbasse Design began streaming audio in 1997, was creating "web 2.0" strategies by 2003 and sold a minority interest in its Pc-to-phone company ClickCall(TM) in 2005, long before the acronym VOIP was commonplace. Located in 5 U.S. markets and representing one of the largest networks of designers and developers in the United States, Warbasse Design is growing at the speed of the internet.

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Philip Warbasse interviewed for KTLA's weekly Technology Report

Philip Warbasse talks about QR Codes and shows examples of Designer codes for TV news story.
by Beth Silverstein

May 11, 2011 - Los Angeles, CA -- Philip Warbasse of Warbasse Design was featured on KTLA's Technology Report with Rich DeMuro on Wednesday, May 11, 2011. The piece aired on Tribune Media morning shows and newscasts across the country at both 5:00AM and 7:30AM. The piece will also be featured on TechCrunch later this month.

Warbasse Design is known for creating some of the most recognized Designer QR Codes in the industry. Now, Philip Warbasse - CEO / Warbasse Design sits down with Rich DeMuro to explain the benefits of this new marketing channel. "It is always great when we can get exposure for this budding technology," said Warbasse. "I believe the more people are acquainted with QR Codes through news stories and real-world examples, the sooner we will see more quality campaigns in the marketplace."



Video of the story may also be found online at http://ktla.com/technology/QR Codes

Please contact Warbasse Design in the United States at 310.883.4258 for additional information.

Museum gets boost from QR Codes

Print 2D's Museum Program helps the Santa Monica Museum of Art promote its annual fund raising event to a mobile audience.
by Beth Silverstein

April 5, 2011 - Los Angeles, CA -- Attendance at Museums and Art Galleries is down. In fact, a report released by the National Endowment for the Arts said that the number of American adults attending arts and cultural events has sunk to its lowest level since 1982 (LA Times Blog Dec 10, 2009). Philip Warbasse is known for award winning QR Code campaigns in the entertainment industry and now his integrated media firm, Print 2D, has developed a mobile strategy to help increase awareness and support for The Santa Monica Museum of Art's annual fund raising event, Incognito, to be held the evening of April 31, 2011. 

The Strategy
The goal of the campaign is to increase attendance at this year's event. Print 2D has created a mobile strategy that works on several levels to do just that. The focus is on "ease of use". The mobile experience points to a video clip at the top of each page of a four page micro-site. The video entitled "How to prepare for Incognito 2011," combined with the About section, provides the user with a quick, yet comprehensive overview of this years event.

The Tickets & Information section provides several ways to order tickets straight from the user's smart phone. Print 2D implemented this strategy because, according to Philip Warbasse, "any time you can successfully pair the offer with a call-to-action, in real time, you increases the probability that the user will engage in the process."

The Sponsors section acknowledges the generous contributions to SMMOA, while lending credibility and a broader identity to the event itself. The Contact & Directions section links to Google Maps, providing a handy tool to help attendees find there way to the event.

Lastly, but most important, are the social gateways for Mobile Facebook and Twitter. Here, every user is silently recruited to help promote the event to people who will pay attention to them - their friends and followers. "Leveraging social mechanisms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter is extremely important because it enables us to reach a much larger audience who is receptive to the offer since it's coming from someone they are acquainted with," said Warbasse.

Getting the right reader to the user's smart phone
Print 2D recognized, early on, that no single QR Code Reader works well on every device. In response, they have created the 2DGO platform which automatically detects the user's smart phone and provides them with options for free readers guaranteed to work well for them. User's simply TEXT 2dgo TO 368674 (DOTORG) to receive a link to 2DGO found at http://2dgo.org. Equipping user's with a reader effectively doubles the reach of a campaign. Now integrated media advertisers can use one call-to-action to cover every phone.

The Code
Print 2D's designers are behind some very recognizable designer QR Codes already, including some of those for Disney and HBO. They continue to challenge the symbology typically associated with bar codes by applying aesthetic components and brand attributes to their codes, creating unique markers as on ramps to the mobile experience.

Measuring the campaign, not the code
Measuring the campaign effectively means tracking user behavior not the code itself. Good mobile campaigns start with good mobile metrics. Create and track platforms only provide the number of scans and the time of scan, when it's the user experience that needs to be considered. Most create and track platforms do not host or track mobile sites. One only sees who comes through the code.

Print 2D offers full mobile metrics to let you know all kinds of things about the user experience like how long the user stayed, what they looked at, if they shared with friends, and, if those friends came by. "A QR Code is like the front door to a store," said Warbasse. "When someone scans the code, they are effectively walking through the door. It's not enough to know someone stopped by. You want to know what they looked at, how long they were interested, if they actually took action, et cetera. Using mobile metrics to measure the entire user experience and see where it might be going wrong, enables advertisers to change the message or treatment of the campaign while it's live, not as an afterthought."

Print 2D declares the month of April - Museum & Art Gallery Month
During the month of April, Print 2D will create a designer QR code and mobile contact page for Museums and Art Galleries - free. This offer includes 6 months of mobile hosting and full access to user statistics. Some restrictions apply, please consult Print 2D at (424) 229-1404 for more information.

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Chipotle Gets a QR Code

Who says healthy food isn't on the cutting edge?

Warbasse Design and Print2D team up to promote Chipotle's Boorito 2010
by Beth Silverstein

October 14, 2010 - Santa Monica, CA -- Warbasse Design & Print2D work together to bring Chipotle's vision for a healthier America to a mobile audience. A functional Designer QR Code introduces the mobile micro site to promote this years Boorito Costume Contest and healthy eating outreach campaign. "My design team and I eat at the 3rd Street Promenade - Chipotle every week," says Philip Warbasse CEO - Warbasse Design. "We love the quality at Chipotle and were happy to donate our expertise and services to a company that truly cares about the health of their patrons. My team really wanted to support this cause and I was all for it."

The QR Code is intricately designed with pattern fills and splashes of Autumn colors. Directions to download a reader are clearly displayed below the code.

The micro site contains a mobile streaming video that is served based on the user's device. The video is a fun look at Steve Ells and Jamie Oliver's shared interest in healthy eating. Those who wish to Tweet about, or post the video on Facebook can access links to both mobile social environments. The site also contains information about "the horrors of processed food", Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, the Boorito costume contest and counting calories.

"This integrated Chipotle Boorito mobile campaign represents a fraction of what's possible in mobile marketing," continues Warbasse, "Chipotle is clearly ahead of the curve. They see what other brands will soon realize, that the challenge for advertisers today is to focus less on communicating to their audience and more on interacting with them."

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2D Barcodes for use in television commercials. New York Times interview with Philip Warbasse

September 27, 2010 - Los Angeles, CA -- Philip Warbasse of Warbasse Design talks with Elizabeth Olson of the New York Times for an article on the use of QR Codes in television as a potential new advertising channel. The article, found here, which appeared in today's Business section of the New York Times under Advertising and Media, features a look into the future of television advertising with examples of Bluefly.com's latest marketing effort using QR Codes.

Read the full press here http://www.bonovoxpr.com/warbasse/nytimes_warbasse.shtml

I just found out QR codes are not hot today!

....perhaps Mr. Kaplan's comments should not be disregarded as completely ridiculous.

I noticed a post today in the Mobile Marketer titled "QR codes are not hot today: CTIA panelist," by Rimma Kats.
http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/advertising/7635.html

My first inclination was to dismiss the comments made by Mark. Kaplan - GEM regarding fragmentation in the marketplace and the utility of 2D bar codes. But, on second thought, I believe they bring up important points that often need to be re-iterated.

As with all new technology, there are stages of acceptance that consumers go though before they make it a part of their everyday lives. The reasons Mr. Kaplan sited for not using QR Codes represent issues we have had to address from the start and can be easily mitigated with a clear strategy in place to deliver the appropriate reader to a user's handset.

Printers, agencies, large brands and a lot of tech-savvy people are already leveraging the benefits of Integrated Media - here and now. Most of us accept that 2D bar code advertising is on the way and there is nothing to stop it. Perhaps we all need to be reminded that the real channel is "mobile" and 2D bar codes are a specialized channel within the mobile channel (after the information contained in a 2D bar code is decoded, the bar code has little if anything to do with the rest of the experience).

But, let's look at the bigger question. How do consumers come to accept and use a technology? The Technology Acceptance Model suggests that when users encounter new technology, the most notable factors that influence their decision about how and when they will use it are:
-Perceived usefulness (PU) - The degree to which a person believes that using a particular system will enhance his or her ability to experience a desired result or outcome.*
-Perceived ease-of-use (PEOU) - Defined as "the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free from effort".**

So, when we consider this model and "perceived ease-of-use", perhaps Mr. Kaplan's comments should not be disregarded as completely ridiculous. I feel strongly if one reads Mr. Kaplan's comments with an open mind they will serve to make your campaigns better.

When my firm embarks on a new Integrated Media campaign, one of the first questions my developers ask is "who's the audience?" I jokingly reply, "the audience is our Grand Parents, make them feel as comfortable as possible."

INTEGRATED MEDIA TIPS FOR THE NEXT YEAR
-Make the user feel comfortable and totally in control,
-Always include simple instructions to download the appropriate reader,
-Make sure whatever is behind that code makes the user feel good about the process!
-Remember the challenge is not the bar code, it's the mobile experience behind it.

*TAM PU modified Warbasse
**Bagozzi et al., 1992; Davis et al., 1989

2D Barcodes turn movie posters into point of sale displays

Here's the latest ad in our "with, without" campaign. This ad features Warbasse Design's QR Code and mobile strategy for Iron Man 2. Please click http://www.warbassedesign.com/I2_qr_ad.html to view the ad.