Typical advert for driving customers to join Facebook Fan Page within premises.

Back in December whilst strolling around New York, I came across the best pizza place in the entire world called Patzeria, hidden away just off Times Square.

As I was eating 4 slices of the Mama Special I saw a sign on the door that you’ve probably seen a million times before in various businesses , it said ”Join our Facebook Fan Page!” (The similar image above was taken from my gym).

I started thinking how can Facebook mobilise this? 9 times out of 10 I’m going to forget about joining so what can they possibly do to make these signs actionable?

At first I thought maybe SMS but that would be difficult to achieve in all the territories that Facebook covers. And then Techcrunch reported on QR Code options appearing on profile pages and it all became clear..

I’ve got to admit as much as I hate QR Codes, it is a genius move by Facebook because it really is the only way they can cover their global consumer and business user-base. So expect to start seeing signs like this instead:

The historical problem with QR Codes is that you can’t interact with them unless you have the application downloaded on your phone. If it’s the first time you’ve seen a code, the whole experience is going to be filled with problems such as downloading, installing, waiting…the drop off rates are generally quite high, especially for those who aren’t tech savvy.

However this isn’t going to be a problem for Facebook because they already have their application installed on millions of phones. This means with a simple app update Facebook will enable a huge amount of users to be QR Code ready.

And now think about the educational process, 400 million users are going to be slowly taught about QR Codes, what they are, how to use them etc. This is pretty big for mobile and QR Codes in general, the boost will be gratefully received.

The other side to this is the possibility to compete with Foursquare, using the QR Codes to ‘check in’, notifying your friends of where you are and the other token stuff like coupons, special offers etc.

But I still think the real win is location-based status updates, not sure if this is actually going to happen but if it does then we’ll see some amazing services and applications off the back of it.

Check this out, Tokyo-based creative agency SET has developed this sexy looking QR code using artwork from Takashi Murakami to promote the work that the two have done together. The code sends you to this site.

I would say this is exactly the type of work that agencies need to be showcasing to brands to get them on board with QR codes. There is a big need for slaping logos and artwork over these things. It often just requires a bit of creative thought. For example check out the rest of the designs from SET for other brands:

Very cool.

[Via Digital Desert]

Here is the teaser poster for the upcoming movie called ‘9‘ by Focus Features.

They are obviously embracing mobile marketing in a big way by making the QR code the center piece of the poster. I’m guessing they are trying to create a buzz and play on peoples inquisitiveness.

The movie website also has a section about ‘finding more hidden codes around town‘ which refers to these movie posters in various cities.

Here’s a snippet:

Keep your eye out for the hidden QR codes in your city! When unlocked, they give you access to exclusive 9 content.

I kinda think you need a bit more than mobile phone content to bother going up to more than one poster. Maybe a draw for a prize or free premiere tickets would be a more solid incentive (as well as the mobile content).

Check out the trailer here.