One very rainy Sunday afternoon I decided to browse through the newest O magazine. I like O, The Oprah Magazine because Oprah and I have several things in common: we are the same age, we both love Maui, we both battle with weight issues and we are both CEOs of our own company. The similarities, however, end there. She is the ultimate marketing genius, and I am just in marketing. When she speaks, I need to listen.

Reading it is a pleasurable form of work. My pre-reading ritual is to cull the magazine of its double-sided advertisements, which makes the 216-page magazine more manageable. On the rainy Sunday in question, I pulled out 58 pages and reviewed them before tossing them into the recycle bin. While doing so, I noticed that something was missing. Of the 113 advertisements, only 3 had been QR coded.

I am sure you have seen the QR code – an ugly little black box with squiggles that is appearing on more and more products and advertisements. The Quick Response code enables owners of Smartphones (with the right app) to immediately access the webpage of any labeled product; you simply take a photo(scan) of the QR Code with your phone and the product webpage pops up on the screen. Since analysts predict that 50% of American cellphone users will own a Smartphone by the end of 2011, using a QR code makes sense. Taking a scan of this little box is much easier than going to a browser on your phone and typing in a web address for the product. Every ad in my O magazine should have had a QR code.

So how does this relate to you? If you have business cards, rack cards, or even recipe cards, be sure to include your QR code. If you place an ad in a phone book or magazine, try to include your QR code. If you don’t have one, get one. We can help. When we design your collateral print pieces, we’ll add your QR code for FREE. We will also email your QR code and then you can use it in your advertising, which is one more tool in your marketing toolbox to guide people to your web site.