How to Market iPhone Apps via Barcodes
The latest news from a company called iCandy (previous coverage) is a tool that lets you easily create QR codes for iPhone applications. By simply dragging an app out of iTunes and into their iCandy widget, a QR code for that application will be automatically generated. With this code, which could be printed on anything from business cards to posters and stickers, you can market your iPhone application offline, out in the real world.
Marketing iPhone Apps
If there's any set of technology users who could kick the use of QR Codes into high gear it would be iPhone owners. Enamored of the some 25,000 applications now available in the iTunes App Store, iPhone users are happily downloading new apps all the time. The problem for developers isn't coercing people into believing that it's okay to install software on the phone - it's generating awareness that the software they created even exists. In other words, raising app awareness is a marketing problem.
When an application becomes popular, it gets featured on one or more of iTunes' "Top" lists which rank the hottest applications in their store overall and by category. But getting on these lists means first getting the message about your app out there. For some application developers, that means emailing every blogger and journalist who covers mobile technology hoping for a review. Others attend all the tech conferences they can, handing out numerous business cards.
But with iCandy's widget, there's now a third option for marketing an iPhone app in the offline world: QR codes. For those who don't know, a QR code is a type of barcode which can be easily scanned using a mobile phone's camera and accompanying third-party software. (iPhone users can check out apps like Optiscan, Neoreader, BeeTag, Xzing, 2D Sense, Barcode, Snapp, etc.)
How to Create a QR Code for an iPhone Application
For developers and marketers wishing to promote an application, they can do so using the iPhone App iCandy Card. The steps involved are simple:
- Launch iCandy and select "Create Card."
- With iTunes open, find your iPhone app and drag and drop its icon into the iCandy Print window. iCandy will create a QR code of the URL that connects back to the iTunes store.
- Click 'Edit Item' to enter a relevant title and artwork.
- Select your print layout.
- Print to a local printer, disk, or Flickr.
Real-World Scenarios for Use
If creating and scanning barcodes with your mobile phone sounds too geeky for you, keep in mind this technology is inching its way closer to mainstream acceptance thanks to apps that scan the barcodes of products in order to do price comparisons. Consumers may even adopt the technology before the stores even know what's happening! The reason, obviously, is that in a down economy such as this, anything that could potentially save people money is likely to be given more of a chance than before...even these slightly "geekier" applications that may have been ignored in the past. Add to that the ease-of-use of iPhone applications and it's easy to see the still untapped potential of the QR code.
At iCandy, they suggest a couple of uses for their new app-to-QR-code widget, saying "imagine scanning a QR code on the ski lift tower that gets you a ski conditions app, or scanning a poster on the subway for a subway schedule app." But we're sure you can think of many more examples on your own. And with more businesses developing their own custom applications, we may not be too far off from a day when QR codes print on your receipts at your favorite store, show up on the menus at your favorite restaurants, or display in posters all over the city.
Well, perhaps we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here. Although QR code technology has taken off in certain markets around the world, most notably Japan, they've only recently gained popularity in the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S. The problem in these markets may not be the unwillingness of consumers to adopt the technology, but the lack of QR codes out in the real world which are available for scanning. With iCandy, generating the codes is a breeze, but now someone has to convince marketers that they might be worth trying out.
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I love using the QR codes!
This is cool, really worth trying.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I was just telling our dev team about how awesome something like this would be.
For example, I sit on the train commuting to work watching dozens of people messing with their iPhones. How great would it be to walk up and hand them a card for a free download of our app! Bing. Instant marketing.
Works great!
However, when I tried to create the sheet of 10 business cards I'm only seeing 2 images composited into one jpg (front and back of card) and they seem kind of small.
We used QR codes at SundayMorningRides.com to link our print maps to our mobile web app. We found that the QR code had to be on the large side in order for the iPhone's non-macro camera lens. That said, one sized properly it works pretty well - also, we tested with NeoReader.
Hi Ari,
Re: 10 cards problem. I'm the tech lead for iCandy. Sorry about the problem with the 10cards layout. That should not have happened. Check this image on flickr which shows the output from a 10cards print:
http://aha.sh/76
At present you will have to duplicate the drag and drop of the iTunes app onto the iCandy print window 10 times to get 10 cards. We do not have a way to duplicate a card X times once it's in the print window.
Here's what I do when printing iTunes apps with the 10cards layout:
- drag in the app I want to print 10 times
- select each item in the list and edit the name and supply the appropriate image (vertical images work best for now but we're working like crazy to support all images -- see example here: http://aha.sh/77). You can eitehr drag in an image from the desktop or from the web or paste it. I use Jing to grab the images form the iTumes App Store for pasting.
- select the printer you want to print to with Cmd-L (Page Setup); I tell it the name of the printer and to use U.S. Letter (this is Portrait mode).
- then print to your printer or to a PDF (or flickr). The PDF is a nice option since you can then reproduce the whole effort by simply reprinting the PDF file anytime.
Contact us at icandysupport@icandy.ricohinnovaitons.com if you have further questions.
Jamey
love it need it!
Re: 10 cards problem.
Sorry, I just noticed a typo in the support email address I posted above. This is the correct email address for iCandy support:
icandysupport@icandy.ricohinnovations.com
Jamey
Jamey,
Thanks for the clarification of the 10 cards issue.
Works fine now.
Ari
This helps overcome what I consider one of the largest barriers to building iPhone apps for marketing -- the awareness of the apps themselves. Nice!
This is isn't news - check out the app here - http://wubbahed.com/2008/08/10/childrens-pressline-rss-and-widget-for-s60/
I have a Nokia E71 and if I scan the code on the screen (or printed) it will automatically download and install the app.
very nice .I like to use it !
I been using http://www.beqrious.com/ to generate my QR codes, its been great they even have a function where you can upload a logo to the center or the QR code.
Dont forget you can use any QR generator to do this.
Another suggestion is you might want to actually set up a streaming video demo of the application itself (eg see what we can do on one side of the card - buy now on the other).
To see how to do this i've set up a 60 second overview dummies guide to qr codes here.
http://www.Cognation.net/QR
Cheers,
Dean
NeoMedia Technologies grandfathered this technology back in the mid 90's and have been doing mobile code scanning and comparison shopping via barcodes long before any other company in this space.
NeoMedia on ABC & NBC News circa 2004:
http://www.qode.com/videos/PaperClickOnAbc7.wmv
http://www.qode.com/videos/PaperClickOnNbc8.wmv
NeoMedia has a rich patent portfolio that covers scanning barcodes with a camera enabled mobile device to connect to the Internet, comparison shop, and/or retrieve online content.
http://www.qode.com/en/patents.jsp
I think it is problematic, but I need to try.
For some other kinds of eyecandy tags that can be put to a variety different uses check out Vizitag.com
Hey,
Check out http://www.iphonescan.com for the latest news on mobile scanning technology. Recently, pic2shop, the mobile scanning application was rated no. 1 among 5 of its competitors. This is great, because pic2shop is a free barcode scanning application. Visit our blog for updates and more information.
Thanks,
Parker and http://www.iphonescan.com
I love it need it! you can buy a ShanZhan iphone in shenzhen city of China, It's very cheap. less than $100
Skylark Sales Corporation is a leading supplier of Labeling Equipment, Industrial Labels, Printed Labels, Barcode Labels, Food Labels, Security Labels, Packaging Labels, Product Labels, Holograms, Adhesive Tapes etc. In business since 1997, we have the experience necessary to help you with all of your marking and labeling needs.
Skylark Sales Corporation is a leading supplier of Labeling Equipment, Industrial Labels, Printed Labels, Barcode Labels, Food Labels, Security Labels, Packaging Labels, Product Labels, Holograms, Adhesive Tapes etc. In business since 1997, we have the experience necessary to help you with all of your marking and labeling needs.
Barcode Printer
I'm going to test Icandy and I will let you know the results of this unique application! if I like it I will use chouwe.com to make an event about Icandy.