UK: The Sun plugs print bar codes for mobile access

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on December 10, 2007 at 3:44 PM

The Sun is linking its print version to mobile phones, in an attempt to make the paper more interactive and enable better measurements of returns for advertisers. Using Quick Response (QR) bar codes in the paper, readers can access online content through their mobiles.

QR codes, when photographed by a mobile equipped with compatible software, bring the user to a linked website.

You can read more about mobile bar code technology here.

The technology makes it much easier to insert – typically lengthy – links in the print paper. It also enables the newspaper to precisely track readers as they go from the print to the digital edition.

"Most users are not interested in entering long Web addresses or navigating menus on their mobile," Ian Samuel, head of digital advertising for News International (parent of the Sun). "QR codes offer a fast track to the exact information they are looking for."

Bar codes can be used for various reasons: in the case of quickly-changing news or data, printing a bar code will bring the user to an up-to-date figure. QR codes can also be used as vouchers.

"We have had a huge amount of interest, and it's highly likely that we will be using them across News International titles in the future."

QR codes are already widespread in Japan, and reportedly drove 25% of French magazines’ online traffic last summer.

Source: Clickz.com through IFRA Executive News Service