Who doesn’t love a great cricket match played by the world’s most renowned players with a side of fun commercials? The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league that offers marketers a unique opportunity to advertise on digital platforms to a massive audience. And the stats speak for themselves.
As per Google’s Year in Search Report 2020, the most searched term globally was ‘Coronavirus’. But in India, the most searched term was ‘Indian Premier League’. With a viewership of over 405 million out of the total TV viewership of 836 million across the 21 channels where Disney Star broadcasted the game, this sports extravaganza is set to be the center of attention for marketers yet again this year!
Top brands across e-commerce, automotive, and fantasy sports are vying for the spotlight. This is great, but it’s common for marketers to have concerns on how to best show the ROI from these ad spends. This is due to a lack of data visibility and proper tools to measure it.
How can brands leverage QR codes during the IPL season 2022?
With the resurgence of QR codes, there could be an opportunity to bring measurability to viewers — as well as instant gratification — in that ten seconds a viewer sees an ad. Brands have been integrating QR codes across multiple channels to bridge the gap between offline and online user experiences, especially in the post-COVID era. Scanning QR codes has become second nature to most people while shopping, making payments, or downloading apps.
The question is, with this rampant usage of QR codes, are we as marketers really measuring the impact from different mediums like website, email, social, TV, and print ads to accurately attribute conversions?
Consider that many viewers watch IPL while “second screening” on a mobile device. Advertisers can leverage this opportunity to entice viewers to scan a QR code that appears during commercial breaks. Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, ran a commercial during the 2022 Super Bowl that resulted in over 20 million hits on its landing page in a single minute.
While this garnered a lot of attention, there were some missed opportunities that could have positively impacted the overall results. We captured these in our detailed review.
QR codes on TV commercials aren’t a new idea, but marketers have recently been using QR codes to level up their campaigns. This helps drive traffic to their websites, increases app downloads, redirects scanners to make purchases, boosts social media presence, and much more.
Let’s look at some of the ways brands implement QR codes in their marketing campaigns:
1. Get viewers to purchase instantly with shoppable QR codes
The international clothing company, Lacoste, takes advantage of televised QR code advertisements to drive instant purchases.
A QR code ad pops up on the bottom of the TV screen during a live tennis match. When viewers scan the QR code, they are directed to Lacoste. There, they can shop and purchase the brand’s product.
If you use a mobile linking platform, such as the one Branch provides, you can integrate the Branch mobile SDK. This will allow you to attribute installs, implement custom onboarding behavior, and even connect down-funnel events all the way back to the original QR code.
2. Hook viewers with interactive content
An example of this is Burger King’s “Win a Whopper” offer that urged mobile users to scan a floating QR code in TV commercials. After scanning the QR code, users were redirected to a web page offering coupons for a free Whopper if they made the purchase using the Burger King app.
The floating QR code provided a gamified experience for mobile users as they had to “catch” and scan the QR code. This enabled Burger King to drive higher user engagement levels and offer a seamless way to purchase meals through the Burger King app.
3. Share incentives to drive brand awareness
A great way to entice users while offering value through QR code TV commercials is to make the experience fun and interesting for viewers while simultaneously nudging them to engage with your brand. For example, you can provide value-rich content as an incentive to purchase your products. Check out how this fictional brand entices users to scan the QR code to unlock fun and easy recipes:
Once users scan the QR code, they’re routed to the recipe’s landing page. Here they can also purchase the ingredients offered by the brand. This marketing strategy is highly effective and can easily drive hot leads ready for conversion. This is because it makes viewers feel like they’re part of the brand itself!
4. Drive mobile app downloads via print media
A great example of QR codes being used in print is by GoMechanic, India’s biggest auto aftermarket startup. It leverages Branch’s mobile linking platform to offer QR codes with deep links that encourage users to download its mobile app.
When readers scan the QR code, they are sent directly to the relevant content in the app. Alternatively, they are redirected to the App Store to download the GoMechanic app and then redirected again to their desired app content.
Read how GoMechanic drives 137% higher orders by using Branch.
5. Use offline channels to encourage mobile app purchases
Lowe’s and Wendy’s placed QR codes in direct mail campaigns to drive purchases with their mobile apps. QR codes across other channels like direct mail can also help boost your campaign and drive traffic to your mobile app. Here’s how Wendy’s placed QR codes in direct mail campaigns to drive purchases with its mobile app.
Another example is EatSure. It uses Branch-powered QR codes across its offline and online channels to drive greater app adoption among its users. If users scan the QR code on the EatSure food truck, they are automatically redirected to EatSure’s mobile app or website to place an order.
6. Help users enjoy the benefits of your referral program
THE ICONIC integrated QR codes into its referral program to seamlessly direct users to the app.
Once a user scanned the QR code, the discount was automatically applied to their account. No promo codes required. This is as convenient as it gets for users to sign up using referrals.
7. Grow your social media following
As a versatile marketing tool, QR codes can be integrated into multiple campaigns. An ever-increasing number of social media users means you can tap into massive events like the IPL. You can drive users who are always on the go to grow your social media followers.
A custom QR code with your brand’s logo that connects to all your social media handles can offer viewers a frictionless way to engage with your brand. When users scan the QR code, they can easily follow the brand on different social media platforms. You, as a marketer, can in turn track each conversion to see the channels that brought in the highest number of followers.
For instance, in the above example, the brand offers a 50% discount to users when they scan the QR code on the TV commercial and follow pizza&hungry on social media.
Best practices for QR codes on TV commercials
A common mistake many brands make while using QR codes in marketing campaigns is a
lack of brand integration. Simply adding a logo to your QR code can increase its credibility and also provide confidence to customers who want to scan the code.
As much as integrating a branded QR code can contribute to a great user experience, the quality of the deep link powering the QR code is just as crucial, if not more so. It’s important to ensure your QR code has the ability to detect the user’s OS and deep link (or defer deep link) on both Android and iOS.
When you use a mobile linking platform like Branch, you can deliver a tailored user experience to your audience based on their interactions with your brand, interests, cart abandonment, etc. For instance, Branch-powered QR codes can intelligently route users to the correct destination based on whether they have the app installed or not.
The Branch mobile linking platform allows you to update the links behind your QR code at scale. This means if you decide to change the content or the promotion behind the QR code, you can easily refresh the links without actually changing the QR code.
Ready to tap into innovative marketing campaigns during the biggest sports season in India? Get in touch with our team to learn how you can execute these cutting-edge solutions!
Branch provides the industry’s leading mobile linking and measurement platforms, offering solutions that unify user experience and attribution across devices and channels. Branch has been selected by over 100,000 apps since 2014 including Adobe, BuzzFeed, Yelp, and many more, improving experiences for more than 3 billion monthly users across the globe. Learn more about Branch or contact sales today.