• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, December 15, 2011

QR codes are just about everywhere now, so the challenge for marketers is rising above the black-and-white noise. In “Tailgate for Tickets," a recently concluded campaign with 2ergo, U.S. Cellular got college students to snap 2D mobile codes emblazoned on Seqways to discover if they were instant winners. In this novel combination of mobile and human-powered one-to-one marketing, the U.S. Cellular representatives driving the Segways could engage the students with more information.

U.S. Cellular and 2ergo say results of the program exceeded goals. The Segway-powered codes enticed 4,321 scans and delivered 1,074 winners. Nearly 3,000 opted in to enter for a grand prize through scans at U.S.
Cellular store outlets. The companies report that participants showed heightened brand awareness and  intent to switch providers.

The raw numbers seem modest, but Michael Scully, Managing Director, 2ergoAmericas, explains that the ROI comes in the depth of communication and multiplier effects of this kind of one-to-one marketing. "When a brand commits to interact with consumers face-to-face, there is inevitably an investment of time and effort,” he says.   “However, the person-to-person conversations that were had between fans and U.S. Cellular representatives were extremely valuable in establishing a brand/consumer relationship, getting real-life feedback, and creating positive word of mouth referrals, which was the carrier’s goal."

By producing memorable experiences with a brand, the companies say they were able to connect an onsite marketing channel with mobile. “It also created an innovative way to measure the effectiveness of a
marketing medium that is traditionally extremely hard to capture,” adds Scully.