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Part 3: Simple Expectations of InfoComm 2021 — Use QR Codes

glowing qr code
In Part 1 of my “Simple Expectations of InfoComm 2021,” series of blogs, I explained some of the elements of how InfoComm 2021 will be like no other InfoComm we’ve had in history — for OBVIOUS reasons. In Part 2, I explained why showing only one product in your booth is critical to success at InfoComm 2021. Today’s blog is all about why you should NOT be handing out any physical collateral but, instead, you should rely on a 1990s-era technology known as the QR code.

Due to the pandemic, the barely used technology, known as the QR code, has had a giant resurgence. Ironically, what’s happening today is exactly what the inventors of the QR code intended to happen back in the early 2000s when QR codes found their way onto phone applications. Back then, people thought the QR code was cool, but to use it, you had to download a QR code reader — #fail. Downloading an app just to use something created a less-than-three-percent adoption rate.

Since the Apple iPhone 6 was launched in 2014, QR codes were integrated into every camera app on the phone, yet, it wasn’t until five years and a pandemic later that the QR code finally got its due. Thanks to something commonly referred to as digital transformation, over the past 19 months, any business that formerly handed out physical paper to customers was forced to adopt QR codes, quickly — restaurant menus, bar menus, as a guide to quickly downloading an app, checking into a business or doctor’s office or to order takeout, the pandemic reintroduced us to the QR code. And, everyone became comfortable using them. I’ll bet anyone who’s reading this right now has used a QR code with their own smartphone, too.

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So, integrate QR codes into your booth at InfoComm! But, not just for product information, consider using the QR code for anything and everything. We’re all taking smaller teams to InfoComm 2021; that’s a fact. No matter who shows up to the show as an attendee, they’re invariably going to be perusing the show floor and, unlike past InfoComm Shows, the idea of grabbing (and carrying around) product literature isn’t going to be appealing. QR codes can solve that issue but they can also be your digital concierge. They can launch a potential customer directly onto your InfoComm 2021 microsite to see new product information, they can manage your team’s on-floor appointments or, the QR code can even connect someone on the show floor with an in-field sales rep on the fly. The QR code can even replace your company’s business cards. Finally, the QR code can be in both analog (aka sticker or signage) or digital form (projected right onto the floor, ceiling, wall or even put up prominently on an LCD or LED greeting attendees).

I’d love to see one mystery exhibitor use a QR code for signage so attendees would have to scan a giant hanging code to even see whose booth it is! Be creative with QR codes this year; let’s have fun with it!

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