A nice linking technology for a Class 5 Meta Product is the QR code. This two-dimensional barcode found its birth already back in 1994 and stands for Quick Response code. Formerly, its main purpose was to quickly identify goods, such as car parts during the manufacturing process.

With the coming of web connected mobile phones having an integrated camera, the idea was born to link QR codes to URLs. Just take a photo of a QR code with your mobile phone and automatically surf to the linked website without having to type in difficult URLs. An easy way to connect the online world with the offline world. But how come it took so long for QR codes to break through? This is probably due to the fact that broadband internet and flat fee telecom subscriptions have only been introduced a few years ago. I remember a client of ours who owned a technology comparable to QR codes, called the Shotcode. They were having a hard time selling it to a wide public. While this was only a few years ago, the timing was just off. That QR codes are now alive and kicking can be seen in a dedicated Flickr group pool. Everything from QR code art to merchandise can be found there.

It’s fairly easy to integrate QR codes into your own business. There are a multitude of QR code generators throughout the web. All you have to do is enter your URL and get it coded into a QR code, after which you can place it on whatever print item you like. In order to decode QR codes with your mobile phone, you probably have to install additional software. For the iPhone, there are several apps available in the iTunes App store.

Concluding, when there is no dynamic information flow from your product to the web needed, but you do want your audience to experience both the online and offline parts of your product, QR codes are a nice and efficient way to go!