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Using Dynamic QR Codes to Deliver Variable Content

By now, most people know what a QR Code® is.  They’re everywhere – in magazine ads, newspapers, billboards and direct mail pieces.  By-and-large the code, when scanned with a mobile device, takes the user to static content.  Typically it points to a web page containing an advertisement, a static discount coupon or a company’s mobile web site.  The static code can be generated from any number of free sources and usually takes its content from a URL formatted something like http://domainname.com/somepage.html.

Did you know that it is also possible to create dynamically generated QR Codes to be used on a mail piece that will take the user to variable content?  By “dynamically generated” we mean that each QR code is different.  The code, after all, is a two-dimensional bar code that can be rendered as a font.  In this case the URL used to create the code would contain a query string to differentiate it from others.  It might take the form of

http://domainname.com/somepage.asp?id=1234.  That query string on the end “?id=1234” is different for each code.  Using ASP (active server page) technology, the scanned code interacts with a web server to deliver a web page with dynamic content like “Hi Bob” and other personalized content.                                                                                                                                                                                                     Here’s an example.  The QR Code below was generated from a URL + query string similar to the one above.  Scan this code with your smart phone and see what you get.

QR Code

We created this sample code for a fictional casino to deliver a free slot play coupon to a guest.  The name, coupon and other data are all dynamically generated, enabling our casino to deliver variable offers based on the guest’s attributes.  The code generated is a simple 3of9 bar code that can be read by any optical bar code scanner at a POS terminal.  We used a casino for our example but this technology can be used for retail, automotive, healthcare or any business segment where the delivery of variable data to a mobile device is relevant.

So, when you’re ready to use a QR Code on your next promotion, why not make it come alive with variable content?

® QR Code is a registered trademark of Denso Wave, Inc.

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2 Comments

  1. Clay Loges
    March 25, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    Thanks for the good example of the QR code leading to a customized bar code. I’m looking for ideas for tourism application where a purchase can generate a QR code for redemption — similar to your example. How do you create an on-the-fly QR code? And how do you close the loop between the QR code and the displayed bar code? Thanks for sharing this example.

  2. gofranklingo
    March 27, 2013 at 9:29 am

    Clay,
    Thank you for your comment. In the case of a tourism promotion, you could send the individual a Thank You postcard after the purchase that would contain a dynamic QR code that, when scanned, would generate a personalized coupon on their mobile device that they could then use for redemption. This is all server side technology that we can help you with. Please email michael@gofranklingo.com details of your project and we’ll see if we can help.