Fox Codes Uses Ads To Pitch Shows

by Wayne Friedman , August 2, 2010

New scanning technology will be attached to specific Fox advertising materials for consumers to use to access more content of Fox shows.

Known as Fox Codes, the effort comes from a technology called "quick response codes" -- more of an update on barcodes, a square-ish looking computer graphic.

Using a camera-enabled smartphone -- from a downloadable "QR Scanner" app -- consumers can scan magazine ads and static billboard ads. They will be taken to an Internet destination to get additional show material -- videos, first-look photos, behind-the-scene footages and exclusive cast interviews.

The Fox Codes mobile campaign will start up this week with Fox shows for the fall season, such as "Lone Star," "Fringe" and "Glee."

For safety reasons, a camera-enabled smartphone will not be able to snap a photo of a digital billboard, since most of those billboards are displayed near fast-moving roads and highways.

CBS has also been using the technology for some of its shows.

advertising, digital-out-of-home, mobile, television, trends, web sites

3 comments about "Fox Codes Uses Ads To Pitch Shows".

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John Parsons from Byte Media Strategies, August 2, 2010 at 5:34 p.m.
The codes work well, and the micro-sites have a good selection of fan-oriented videos (slightly distorted -- too narrow -- on my iPhone. However, the engagement ends at playing videos and reading summaries. To see how much more can and should be done, check out Warbasse Design (http://www.warbassedesign.com) and their Iron Man 2 campaign.
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Dean Collins from Cognation Inc, August 3, 2010 at 8:20 a.m.

I haven't seen the Fox marketing in the wild yet but lots of PR just from people breathlessly talking about QR codes....that have been around for years.

I came up with a term a while ago about how to describe QR codes to "suits" who might not grasp the magnitude of their potential.

"QR codes are the right mouse click to any physical item to provide you more contextual information"

In simple terms you can take a static object and give it more virtual dynamic information on a mobile handset with just one click.

If you need more basic information i posted a 60 second "dummies guide to QR codes" at http://www.Cognation.net/QR

Cheers,
Dean

Courtney Nelson, August 4, 2010 at 2:42 p.m.

These are great codes. I can't wait to try them out for Glee and Fringe this year (my personal favorites).

They do seem to be a hot topic recently. I know I saw one on a post that had more information about the wildlife in the area in Long Beach, Washington.

I remember seeing many articles around SXSW where people were talking about QR codes on the name tags. I know Eric Anderson from White Horse added an extra QR code to promote his new book.
Check out his post on it at the White Horse blog: http://bit.ly/bTJLQH

I should say that I work for White Horse but I thought you might like the complimentary information.

Thanks again for the information on different ways to download and us QR codes.