So, your co-worker coaxes you to watch the trailer for Twilight when you came in for work this morning and it convinced you to be Team Edward all the way. Well, you’ll probably see the preview again in the theater a couple of times and wonder all along why you weren’t Team Jacob in the first place?  Regardless, you’ve seen the trailer twice as many times as you would’ve seen it ten years ago and you’ve invited all your friends to the midnight showing – now that’s how advertising works!

It’s almost impossible to go about your day online and not see an advertisement for an upcoming feature film.  The ad may be a banner across your e-mail server, or a pop up ad on your favorite news page.  It may even be free ticket dancing across your screen or a contest that entices you to check out the trailer.  What ever it is – online advertising for movies has become more and more aggressive since the first preview showed up on our laptops.

Take the movie Paranormal Activity.  This film was made for a dime in 2007 and sat on the shelves at Paramount for two years.  Needing to close out its fiscal year with a bang,  Paramount dusted off a copy and brought in the ad wizards.  With few dollars for marketing, a specific approach was taken: the movie would NOT carry a wide release unless 1 million votes were received on their official website, trailer included of course. And even though the indie hit was slowly making money already, the online approach to getting this film out and about was simply genius.  Once people heard about the scary flick on sites like Twitter who aggressively helped pushed the outcome by telling folks to “tweet the scream.”  People everywhere logged on to the site, watched the preview and made their choice.  When someone tells me I can’t watch a film – you better believe I will see it. And for online ad companies, this was a unique way to track what sites people were surfing, what advertisements linked them to the film’s website, how many people participated and how financially effective the campaign was. To date, Paranormal Activity has grossed $183 million worldwide so, you tell me.

Wikipedia claims that ten billion online videos including movie trailers are watched annually; while previews at movie theaters trail this number by thousands. Over 15 million people viewed the trailer for Paranormal Activity on YouTube, and that’s how online advertising has proved to be changing the film industry one click at a time.

The funny looking box you see above is a not new technology; however the QR Code is pretty foreign to us in the U.S. QR stands for Quick Response. In the next decade, I believe QR codes will start popping up in U.S. media providing our culture with what we love best; content delivery that is easy and FAST.

The QR Code is a kind of 2D barcode that contains a plethora of personalized digital data. It is primarily used to send links to your mobile device. A simple snapshot with your camera phone and the QR Code sends the necessary information to open your web browser to a specific URL site or text message. 2D barcodes allow advertisers and publishers to push relevant digital content directly to consumers? mobile phones when they are most interested in a product or service. This technology bypasses the search engine stage, allowing advertisers and publishers to give people more information at the moment of awareness.

What are QR codes and what are they already doing?
Currently, QR codes are being used as a tool to get more information. You see a code in a magazine, snap a pic, and it directs you to the product site on your mobile phone. Japan and some European countries have taken this technology to a new level. They do use it for informational purposes; however it has opened the door to deeper consumer engagement and interactivity. QR codes are proving that they have the potential to do even more for advertisers and consumers alike.

Some innovative ideas:

• URLs/Coupons – Dick’s Sporting Goods announced its new mobile site with QR coding at the new Cowboys Stadium during the University of Oklahoma vs. Brigham Young University bowl game. This was the first marketing campaign to place a QR code on a jumbo-tron during a sporting event. University of Oklahoma vs. Brigham Young University fans were encouraged to take a picture of the QR code and were directed to a coupon for the store. If your phone didn’t have QR technology, no problem. The website URL and an email address were clearly displayed as other ways to acquire the coveted coupon. A deeper explanation of the campaign and the results can be found online.
• E-tickets – Imagine not having to wait in line for your Austin City Limits Music Festival wristband a week before the show starts or the three hour line on the day of. QR codes can completely eliminate the need for wristbands and tickets. After purchasing your ticket online you receive a QR codes to your mobile phone. A simple scan of your phone will show that you have purchased a three-day or one-day only pass. Once you have checked in, your ticket is marked as used. Also, imagine after you have checked in, your phone directs you to the ACL site, where you are able to view weather, time changes, band line-up, vendor maps, and more. QR codes could even eventually tell you exactly what song your favorite band is playing on what stage in real time. Most importantly, no lost ACL tickets and no need to be worried they won’t scan.
• Business cards & Resumes – An awesome way to set you apart from the crowd. Why not include your LinkedIn QR code on your resume? Or your company’s website on your business cards?
• Tattoos – I would grab some temporary ones for the office party. Or, if you want to go permanent that’s cool too. Just make sure it’s something to last a lifetime!
• Billboards – Disney in Tokyo has Mickey Mouse QR codes that send you to the Disneyland website. Billboards in subway stations allow for easy point and shoot.
• Branded QR codes- include a picture within the code and in color – These QR codes from BeQRious can have color or pictures imbeded in the code! Why not include your face on that resume? Or, put your company logo inside the QR code on that business card?
• Swag and self-branding – Additional information is gained by using QR codes. Therefore, the potential use for them is limitless. The code can contain anything from your information, to your likes and dislikes, to what you like in a guy, to what your plans are for that night. Why not create a coffee mug, a hat, a scarf, even a baby bib. You can create your own patches. Instead of bumping on your iPhone, why not scan someone’s QR code to learn more about them? Hosting a charity event? Raise funds on location with QR coding.
• Geography based tours and reviews – City Search and Antenna Audio launched a test run of geography based QR coding in the spring of 2008. QR codes were distributed around San Francisco in restaurants and at popular destinations. The codes included restaurant reviews, as well as audio tours and historical facts allowing tourists access to distinct decision making information.
• Loyalty points system – In Japan, Coca Cola uses QR codes to reward loyal customers. Vending machines have QR codes imprinted on them, and consumers are invited to earn as many as they can, ultimately redeeming them to get prizes.
• Secrets and acts of defiance – The Pet Shop Boys released a single in 2007 on which they denounced the idea of a British national identity card. On the CD cover, there was a QR code that directed to their attack on the system. Also, the entire music video sports different QR codes that link to civil liberties websites. Pretty cool that QR coding is being used to spawn political debate and protesting!
• Alternative paintballing – No more immediate bruising from the paintballs flying at you at speeds approximately 60mph (at least that’s what it feels like). Players wear t-shirts with their own individualized QR code. A player snaps your QR code from afar and a text message is sent to you informing you of your demise, allowing for a high quality game sans the pain!
• Intelligent advertising – changing the site location to match the weather. Dynamic QR codes are special codes can be updated in real time for businesses that sell products that might potentially have a need to change advertising in response to say, the weather. What if Gap had a billboard in the NYC subway station and the QR code directed the consumer to the GAP mobile homepage featuring a new line of flip-flops? Well, on Tuesday New York has a forecast of heavy rain. No, problem. Just switch out that QR code to direct consumers to the part of the website that highlights Gap’s new swanky umbrellas!
• A great idea by DDB Brazil for Editoras Online – DDB Brazil in a campaign for Online, a Brazilian online bookstore, incorporated almost every valuable player in the media arena. QR codes are the single piece that molded the dynamic parts of the campaign together. This YouTube video explains the intricacies of the campaign far better than I could here. By far my favorite in terms of innovation and success! 33 Interactions has a great post by Jenine Wong that gives an extensive description of the campaign as well.
• Tim Burton’s film “9″ used QR codes that allowed fans to view sneak peaks and hear commentary from the director.
• Green Day‘s album, 21st Century Breakdown featured QR codes in posters, promo items, and ads directing you to a site with exclusive downloads and images of the band.
• L.A. Candy, the newest book by Lauren Conrad sports a QR code on the back cover.

So, will QR codes be the “URL Killer“, as Garrick Schmitt and others have described it? In his article Schmitt says, “QR codes will become the primary bridge connecting real and virtual worlds.” As you can see from the aforementioned examples, these codes are one step in the direction of the inevitable merging and graying of media. One builds on the other builds on the next. The mobile revolution and the saturation of the online space have created a need for simpler URLs and innovative connections. And of course, as I mentioned in one of my previous blog entries, Mobile Marketing Prowess, the mobile consumer wants conversation. QR codes have opened the door to a broader and deeper range of personal targeting and communication, and they have the potential to become a value exchange of relevant, individualized, useful, and interesting information.

1. Mingle2 – In 2007 Matthew Inman (the former CTO of SEOmoz), designed and built the dating site Mingle2. Because of his previous experience with search engine optimization he knew the importance of inbound links, and he had the skills to boost his fledgling site through the likes of Google and Yahoo!. Within four months he generated nearly a quarter of a million links to the site and ranked #1 on Google for the phrases “online dating” and “free online dating.” This success earned him mentions on popular sites such as Digg and MSNBC.com, and generated nearly 2 million pageviews per month. Inman eventually sold the website to, and now works for JustSayHi. However cool Mingle2 is, it would have never succeeded this quickly (and in such a competitive market it may not have succeeded at all) apart from Inman’s skill in generating traffic through search engine optimization. The full story can be found on 0at.org.
2. San Diego Chiropractic – David Klein is the owner of a San Diego chiropractic firm, and when he saw the potential within Google he decided to try to rank for the term “san diego chiropractor.” He attended a couple of PubCon’s and learned some techniques for ranking well for search terms. He then got to work, transcribing the video of a Matt Cutts talk, and generating clever cartoons of some of the people he ran into at the event. These efforts have earned him more than 3,000 one way links and he has achieved his goal. More than two years later he’s still above competitors that have that search phrase in their domain! Matt Cutts was so impressed that he even blogged about Dr Klein’s success.
3. Automobile Recovery Bureau, Inc – This is a Houston auto repossession company that has been in business for more than 60 years and was looking for a boost in business. They contracted an SEO firm which helped them decide on a new domain, update their content and generated links to the site. The plan worked, within a year they ranked #1 for terms such as “houston repo” and “houston repossession.” They must have been pleased with the results because their SEO efforts began in 2002, and over the years they have done the work to maintain a #1 ranking for the targeted terms.
4. Falcon Storage – This is a Red McCombs Media client that leases storage containers in central Texas. In the summer of 2007 they launched a new website that generates quotes, has detailed information about their products, and the businesses which they serve. Six months later they expressed a desire for SEO, so we got to work keyword optimizing their site. Within two weeks they ranked #1 for such terms as “austin connex box” and “san antonio storage container.” The number of quotes generated by their website skyrocketed. Since then they’ve launched a blog, which has helped to solidify their strength in this market.
5. Southwest Airlines – Once again I have to include Southwest. I’m not a fanboy, but I do think that they get modern marketing at a level that eludes many other companies, and this is a great story. Southwest’s social marketing manager, Paula Berg, shared this last week at the Austin Online Marketing Summit. Every year the folks at Southwest’s headquarters, including the CEO, celebrate Halloween with a crazy costume. One year the CEO mentioned that he planned to dress as Gene Simmons. Someone commented that the CEO of USAir had donned that costume a few years ago, and after discussing it for a while they went to Google to prove it. They tried searches such as “doug parker gene simmons,” “usair halloween,” “doug parker costume” and anything else they could think of to find the answer. For every search term they tried, Nuts About Southwest was the top hit. They had blogged about halloween so much that their site was the top hit for terms directly about their competitor. Talk about success!

These are just five stories from a broad segment of businesses. There bottom line is that SEO works, and savvy companies across America are taking advantage of Google’s strength by working to appear for competitive search terms. Don’t be left out. If you think your company could benefit from search engine optimization, please contact us and we’ll discuss the possibilities with you.

1. FreshBooks – I’m going to start with my favorite example. FreshBooks is a web application that helps with invoicing for small companies. They created a Twitter account and began interacting with their clients and the Twitter community there. One night one of their customers tweeted that she had been stood up by a blind date. A FreshBooks employee saw the tweet, recognized that she was a customer, looked up her address and sent her a bouquet of flowers with a note that FreshBooks will never stand her up. The girl was so affected by this gesture that she told all of her friends, blogged about it, tweeted about it, shared the message via every medium that she could. People listened, and took note of FreshBooks. A year later they have an army of devoted supporters answering support questions and comments for them. Calls to their customer support line have gone down, saving them thousands of dollars each month. FreshBooks takes social marketing seriously and uses Twitter as a direct line with their customers, and its working for them. They have brand evangelists to show for it. Does your company have such fanatical support? If not, when was the last time you sent flowers to a client?
   
2. Dell – Dell computers has also had some Twitter success. Recognizing that Twitter was gaining momentum, they created an account to announce specials appearing in their outlet. They kept these specials separate from other marketing endeavors so they could track how Twitter is working for them. A year later they had produced $1M in sales through their Twitter account. This may not be a lot of money for one of the largest technology companies in the world, but keep in mind that the Twitter account didn’t cost them anything other than time. Do your customers know when you offer specials?
3. Attorneys – Let’s turn our attention away from Twitter for a little while. Last summer Michelle M. Friedman recommended to the other attorneys in her office that they connect with other professionals through LinkedIn. As soon as they started connecting with clients and associates new cases began coming in with little effort. They also bring in new business through answering questions in the answers section. How well are you connected with clients and professionals in your industry?
4. Masi Bikes – Tim Jackson is the sole marketer for this small, niche bike manufacturer. Working with a limited budget, he decided to start a company blog with podcast. Within two years sales doubled and Tim is now recognized as one of the people to keep up with in his industry. Even shop owners that don’t carry his brand read his blog because it is entertaining and informative. Do you keep up with trends in your industry? Do your clients and competitors?
5. Ford – Wanting to rebuild its name among young web savvy car buyers, Ford selected 100 people with YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter accounts, gave them the new Fiesta to them free for six months with the stipulation that they share their experiences online. Here’s the kicker, Ford asked them to be honest about their experience, no boilerplate, no censoring, no editing. This certainly has the potential to blow up on them, but if successful they’ll have gone a long way toward establishing themselves as a quality brand among America’s young connected car buyers. So far its working in Ford’s favor, apart from the positive buzz about this marketing tactic the reviews are honest and favorable. Do you believe in your product or service enough to solicit public feedback?
6. Gretsch Guitars – Gretsch wanted to do something different to celebrate the company’s 125th anniversary. They decided to meet their customers where the were, on MySpace. They created an unsigned artist contest on the community site. The contest was a success. The Gretsch website earned an additional 55,000 visits within a couple of months, and fans have created their own Gretsch MySpace layouts, strengthening brand recognition. Would a contest stimulate interest in your brand?
7. Viewzi – Viewzi is a visual search engine. I could try to explain what that means but its easier for you to just click on the link, plus their site it unique enough that its worth seeing at least once. Social media guru Giovanni Gallucci was hired by the company to help with promoting the new brand. As Gallucci was going through his efforts, an acquaintance asked him a couple of questions about the site as well as for permission to write about it. Turns out the acquaintance regularly contributes to CNN, the very next day Viewzi was featured on CNN.com. That effort lead to feature stories on Wired, TechCrunch and several other prominent news sources. Within six months of launch the new company has a healthy stream of organic traffic and it is still growing. Are you connecting with everyone you can to spread the word about your company?
8. Zappos – This online retailer has been blogging and using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook almost since the company started. What’s interesting about Zappos is that while they openly embrace these social mediums, so much so that their employees are trained on how to use them, the executives don’t consider this a marketing effort. They call it a more personal connection with people, whether they are employees, customers or just fans of the company. This company doesn’t want to control the message, they want to connect with people. How refreshing! Zappos now has a fanatical group of brand evangelists, just as FreshBooks does. In your social media efforts are you more focused on selling something, or connecting with people?
9. CoffeeGroundz – This is a Houston coffee shop. Wanting to learn what social marketing was all about, the owner created a Twitter account and began having conversations with people there. One day a customer tweeted that he’d like to pre-order breakfast so that he could zip through the drive through. This one transaction got a lot of coverage because its recognized as the first to-go order on Twitter. The owner recognized the potential and began accepting orders via Twitter. This prompted even more attention, and today the coffee shop regularly hosts Houston Tweetups. This coffee shop used Twitter to double their clientele and generate a lot of buzz about the business. Would your customers feel comfortable asking for a new channel of communication? Would you respond if the did?
10. Southwest Airlines – This is a company that has followed its own path from the start, and this strategy has always worked for them. The company started its corporate blog in 2006, and since then has fully embraced social media with accounts at Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. They also have a weekly podcast. Each of these mediums requires effort, but the net effect is that their customers have many ways of interacting with the company. Customer initiated conversations have led to the company evaluating their position on boarding flights, assigned seating, advanced scheduling and other facets of their business. These are genuine conversations between decision makers within the company and the customers that value their service. This level of communication shows that the company is committed to their customers. Are your customers letting you know what’s working and what isn’t? Are you inviting that conversation?

Above are ten examples of companies that have directly impacted their bottom line through the use of social media. Small companies like CoffeeGroundz and independent attorneys are benefiting from social marketing as much as national brands like Ford and Dell. The bottom line is that there are as many ways of succeeding in social marketing as there are companies in America, and none of them have to cost a lot of money. In fact, in this list of examples it seems that creativity and genuine connections are more important than big budgets.

Don’t sit on the sidelines. Find someone in your company that loves and understands social media and ask them to help you connect with your clients. If that person doesn’t exist, then Red McCombs Media can help you.