QR Codes - In or Out?

[john.quinn]

my motivation is not the QR code itself but the fact that we--e-car people--are becoming the best at destroying e-marketing avenues for the dealers.

I think that's a silly thing to say. Dealers are not early adopters of anything. The reality is that marketers constantly bombard dealers with everything from the Amazing to the Inane because dealers have a lot of money. Marketers shoot themselves in the foot, they don't effect a given media or strategy. If something is a good idea, it will find its way into the dealership.

 

[yagoparamo]

I think that's a silly thing to say. Dealers are not early adopters of anything. The reality is that marketers constantly bombard dealers with everything from the Amazing to the Inane because dealers have a lot of money. Marketers shoot themselves in the foot, they don't effect a given media or strategy. If something is a good idea, it will find its way into the dealership.

OK, I can see that we live worlds apart.

My company works with over 1800 dealers. Some are conservative, some want us to bring the latest and the greatest. "Dealers are not early adopters" is a thing of the past. Many dealers nowadays are looking for ways to innovate and stay ahead.

Marketers don't bombard dealers with things because they got money; B2B happens to work that way. We get bombarded everyday by IT companies, hosting solutions, printers, etc. But I have to say that the worst thing that can happen to a dealer is that vendors stop going to see him--if that happens; then what? How do you stay relevant.

Digital marketing is composed of hundreds of little pieces, unlikely TV or radio where one guy can get it all done, produced, bought, and delivered. Some people keep over analyzing the little things in digital and always deem all of them not to work... then the money goes into another TV commercial. We the digital geniuses keep the newspaper alive by our own contradictions.

 

[joe.pistell]

So a pal of mine shows me his post card tradein mailer. Offer invites recipient to register for free gift by scanning the QR. Day one, 50 people show up in store, never heard of a QR and thought they have to present the card to be scanned to see if they won.

Ooops...

Hey, 50 in the show room means the post card had a good hook, but, If 1% is a common success conversion, then that means 5,000 people thought the same thing and never showed. So far, walk-ins are out numbering scans by 10:1.

Also... Marketing is all about optimizing real estate. A post card has precious little real estate. Adding the QR simply means something else gets smaller, or, has to go. IMO, when real estate is tight, QR is 1st to go.

 

[yagoparamo]

So a pal of mine shows me his post card tradein mailer. Offer invites recipient to register for free gift by scanning the QR. Day one, 50 people show up in store, never heard of a QR and thought they have to present the card to be scanned to see if they won.

Ooops...

Hey, 50 in the show room means the post card had a good hook, but, If 1% is a common success conversion, then that means 5,000 people thought the same thing and never showed. So far, walk-ins are out numbering scans by 10:1.

Also... Marketing is all about optimizing real estate. A post card has precious little real estate. Adding the QR simply means something else gets smaller, or, has to go. IMO, when real estate is tight, QR is 1st to go.

Was your friend's mailer done in a rural area like perhaps Syracuse (and I don't know that era so no phun intended) or NY City. In WA you can probably do well with QR codes in Bellevue and find no smart phones at all if you drive less than an hour north to Concrete, WA.

I would love to know what someone like Pepsi gets on something like the pic that I added above from their drinking cups.

 

[ed.brooks]

OK, I can see that we live worlds apart.

My company works with over 1800 dealers. Some are conservative, some want us to bring the latest and the greatest. "Dealers are not early adopters" is a thing of the past. Many dealers nowadays are looking for ways to innovate and stay ahead.

Marketers don't bombard dealers with things because they got money; B2B happens to work that way. We get bombarded everyday by IT companies, hosting solutions, printers, etc. But I have to say that the worst thing that can happen to a dealer is that vendors stop going to see him--if that happens; then what? How do you stay relevant.

Digital marketing is composed of hundreds of little pieces, unlikely TV or radio where one guy can get it all done, produced, bought, and delivered. Some people keep over analyzing the little things in digital and always deem all of them not to work... then the money goes into another TV commercial. We the digital geniuses keep the newspaper alive by our own contradictions.

Yago, I hope you aren't referring to QR Codes as the "latest and greatest" anything. Almost 20 year old Japanese technology re-purposed for their market because many smart phones in Japan don't have a QWERTY keyboard is hardly "latest" or "greatest".

Slapping a QR code anywhere you can put one isn't smart or innovative, it's simply ugly clutter.

 

[yagoparamo]

Yago, I hope you aren't referring to QR Codes as the "latest and greatest" anything. Almost 20 year old Japanese technology re-purposed for their market because many smart phones in Japan don't have a QWERTY keyboard is hardly "latest" or "greatest".

Slapping a QR code anywhere you can put one isn't smart or innovative, it's simply ugly clutter.

No Ed, I wasn't. I was refering to the comment that dealers are not early adopters of technology (how the hell did that get missed!).

 

[john.quinn]

I would love to know what someone like Pepsi gets on something like the pic that I added above from their drinking cups.

I've been to the Exact Target Conference in Indianapolis a coupla times. What I really, really liked about that conference is that I'd be sitting in a workshop, and introduce myself to the guy from McDonald's on the right, and the guy from Pepsi on my left. We were ALL there -- not just automotive -- trying to learn and innovate and keep abreast of the latest and greatest as well as reinforce the practical.

Whether it was Graeters's Ice Cream or Pepsico or MileOne or Molly's Hair Salon, we're all just people doing what we can to figure all this stuff out. It's naive to think that "Pepsi" or anyone else for that matter has it all figured-out because they are "big."

No Ed, I wasn't. I was refering to the comment that dealers are not early adopters of technology (how the hell did that get missed!)

What planet are you from???

There are vendors our there trying to sell SCANNING technology to Parts Departments. You know that technology that arrived in your local SuperMarket, what, 25-30 years ago? That's still not in most dealerships.

How many businesses you know still running on mainframe data platforms?? (Know any dealers who are not??)

On THESE VERY PAGES we have dealers who, in 2012, DO NOT HAVE A CRM SYSTEM!

The biggest advertising expense for dealers? NEWSPAPER and TV.

How many dealers can tell you the ins-and-out of Display Advertising? The nuances of BT vs. CT and RT/RM? Can any discuss their target CPM?

Just, what? 2 weeks ago? On these very pages we heard from a NJ dealer who poo-poo's market-based pricing for a strategy that calls for $4000 mark-up or $1000 over KBB, whichever is higher.

Don't misconstrue "Boys and Their Toys" for technological infrastructure investment or technological innovation. Just because a dealer is the first one on the block to buy a 4S or iPad2 in no way means that they have a bent toward technology acceptance or innovation in the store.

Are there exceptions? OF COURSE! This forum is FILLED with them, but then again, that would be the nature of an online forum, now wouldn't it?

 

[yagoparamo]

I've been to the Exact Target Conference in Indianapolis a coupla times. What I really, really liked about that conference is that I'd be sitting in a workshop, and introduce myself to the guy from McDonald's on the right, and the guy from Pepsi on my left. We were ALL there -- not just automotive -- trying to learn and innovate and keep abreast of the latest and greatest as well as reinforce the practical.

Whether it was Graeters's Ice Cream or Pepsico or MileOne or Molly's Hair Salon, we're all just people doing what we can to figure all this stuff out. It's naive to think that "Pepsi" or anyone else for that matter has it all figured-out because they are "big."

Great, you went to a food conference!

My comment was "I would like to know" which by no means implies that they know what the are doing or that they can measure things better than people in the car biz. What it implies is that other industries may have found a better way to implement it or not.

You still approach this from the POV that I'm pro-QRcode and you are against-QRcode and that is not the case. I'm pro-open mid about what is out there and how that could improve my business.

What planet are you from???

There are vendors our there trying to sell SCANNING technology to Parts Departments. You know that technology that arrived in your local SuperMarket, what, 25-30 years ago? That's still not in most dealerships.

How many businesses you know still running on mainframe data platforms?? (Know any dealers who are not??)

On THESE VERY PAGES we have dealers who, in 2012, DO NOT HAVE A CRM SYSTEM!

The biggest advertising expense for dealers? NEWSPAPER and TV.

How many dealers can tell you the ins-and-out of Display Advertising? The nuances of BT vs. CT and RT/RM? Can any discuss their target CPM?

Just, what? 2 weeks ago? On these very pages we heard from a NJ dealer who poo-poo's market-based pricing for a strategy that calls for $4000 mark-up or $1000 over KBB, whichever is higher.

Don't misconstrue "Boys and Their Toys" for technological infrastructure investment or technological innovation. Just because a dealer is the first one on the block to buy a 4S or iPad2 in no way means that they have a bent toward technology acceptance or innovation in the store.

Are there exceptions? OF COURSE! This forum is FILLED with them, but then again, that would be the nature of an online forum, now wouldn't it?

Every industry has its anachronisms, from the car business to NASA. All your points can be argued forth and against.

We own a paper magazine and we have a dealer that pays less than $15,000 per month and gets over 1,000 phone calls (I can provide K8 screen shoot). For reference, I have seen Ford dealers in my market paying $15,000 to autotrader and getting less than 100 calls.

Every dealer is a ltitle bit different than the others, every market has its own unique things, and all advertisement works if the cost is affordable. Newspapers work--if a full page on Sunday was $100 every single dealer would be on it next Sunday. It doesn't work because the cost Vs. return is not in line with other things you can get nowadays.

The top Subaru dealer in my market doesn't use a CRM tool, and several of the ones that signed with Vinsolutioins are barely making it. That doesn't mean that a CRM is a bad investment, on the contrary. What that means is that the car biz is more than a tool and a geek that can use it. If there is one thing I can isolate as the main game changer in the car business is attitude--no tool provides that.

I think the car business is filled with more than exceptions. We were one of the first i industries to stream line Internet marketing, websites, CRM systems, etc. The fact that a company like vAuto (besides being a great tool and having fantastic marketing) has been adopted so fast by the industry reflects positively in the attitude of the modern dealer that technology has to be integrated and used to its fullest.

 

[Kelly Wilson]

View attachment 866 We'll see if having a bit different looking one will help at all...

Update: 1st use: replacement sticker on posters we have throughout the ScottTrade Center w/StL Blues (in the restrooms-where you wash hands or wait in line) With a heavy away schedule this month, this weekend saw the 1st & 2nd times the ad was seen. Only 1 scan during game times (18 posters apx 38k ttl attendance)...but that scan generated a lead...now that lead has an appointment.
Was 1 scan worth the ad space? I also saw my mobile site traffic maintain it's level, avoiding a typical drop.
sticker: Yes there is no direction to "scan" or how to use the QR...the full site name is on the full poster
...Life under the rock has to leave something to be desired right

 

[john.quinn]

View attachment 906

Is this just a partial screenshot, or is there really no URL on the sign(s)?Really interesting opportunity: buy/do a vanity URL for the next round -- LuvYaBlues.net or something like that specific to your audience, link to a splashpage with an incentive just for Blues fans... see if you get more engagement. I doubt you'll get less