Anthracite offers advertisements with QR code
Anthrazit is the first Swiss print publication to offer advertisers the opportunity to place interactive ads with QR codes.
As is well known, the free newspaper Cash has recently been equipped with a so-called QR code, which combines print with mobile and the Internet. QR stands for Quick Response. In the case of Cash, the code makes it possible to download the entire magazine or parts of it to a cell phone and read it there or send the articles to your own PC.
The trade magazine Anthrazit began systematically tagging its articles with QR codes a good year before Cash. And now the magazine, which has a certified circulation of 27,627 copies, is already one step ahead of the industry when it comes to mobile tagging: under the name Cross Response, it offers its customers the option of adding such codes to advertisements so that consumers can order the advertised product or request additional information in a similar way to SMS. The November issue of Anthrazit already contains three such interactive advertisements. In one case, you can order a drink to your home, in the other a pack of Pampers and in the third a fashion catalog. Anyone interested takes a photo ("tags") of the relevant code with their cell phone and a connection is established via mobile Internet to the relevant website, known as the landing page, where the consumer can enter their name and postal address. The order is then sent to an e-mail address specified by the advertiser.
Lots of service for advertising customers
It's simple for advertisers: all they have to do is provide a picture of the product to be advertised, a logo, a text and an e-mail address. "We do the rest at Anthrazit: we layout your advertisement, generate a QR code and design your landing page for the cell phone," says the Anthrazit documentation 2009. Cost: 3,500 francs (introductory price: 2,900 francs). The Anthrazit service goes even further: the QR code is always provided with an SMS address so that consumers without a camera phone can also use the advertisements. The SMS service is included in the price. "We have received initial feedback on the advertisements, but we don't have any figures yet," says Anthrazit publisher Christian Schwengeler. The only thing that is certain is that the December issue will also contain three QR code ads.
Schwengeler is also vague about the experience with tagged articles: Anthrazit has recorded a five-digit number of users in total since September 2007, and the trend is rising, he says. Half of them have requested the texts via code, the other half via SMS. Schwengeler believes that one reason for the slow start is the "still non-transparent cell phone tariffs for mobile Internet". "That is the number one inhibiting factor," he says. However, Ringier's cash would now provide new impetus.
By the way, what if Anthrazit customers wanted to place their ad with a QR code not only in the magazine, but also elsewhere? "There's nothing wrong with that. As the landing page has a term of one year, it is available," says Schwengeler. And if a customer prefers to entrust the creation of the advertisement to an advertising or media agency, he is also open to this. "If the agency is not technically capable of generating QR codes or landing pages, we will of course offer them this service," he says.
Markus Knöpfli
The trade magazine Anthrazit began systematically tagging its articles with QR codes a good year before Cash. And now the magazine, which has a certified circulation of 27,627 copies, is already one step ahead of the industry when it comes to mobile tagging: under the name Cross Response, it offers its customers the option of adding such codes to advertisements so that consumers can order the advertised product or request additional information in a similar way to SMS. The November issue of Anthrazit already contains three such interactive advertisements. In one case, you can order a drink to your home, in the other a pack of Pampers and in the third a fashion catalog. Anyone interested takes a photo ("tags") of the relevant code with their cell phone and a connection is established via mobile Internet to the relevant website, known as the landing page, where the consumer can enter their name and postal address. The order is then sent to an e-mail address specified by the advertiser.
Lots of service for advertising customers
It's simple for advertisers: all they have to do is provide a picture of the product to be advertised, a logo, a text and an e-mail address. "We do the rest at Anthrazit: we layout your advertisement, generate a QR code and design your landing page for the cell phone," says the Anthrazit documentation 2009. Cost: 3,500 francs (introductory price: 2,900 francs). The Anthrazit service goes even further: the QR code is always provided with an SMS address so that consumers without a camera phone can also use the advertisements. The SMS service is included in the price. "We have received initial feedback on the advertisements, but we don't have any figures yet," says Anthrazit publisher Christian Schwengeler. The only thing that is certain is that the December issue will also contain three QR code ads.
Schwengeler is also vague about the experience with tagged articles: Anthrazit has recorded a five-digit number of users in total since September 2007, and the trend is rising, he says. Half of them have requested the texts via code, the other half via SMS. Schwengeler believes that one reason for the slow start is the "still non-transparent cell phone tariffs for mobile Internet". "That is the number one inhibiting factor," he says. However, Ringier's cash would now provide new impetus.
By the way, what if Anthrazit customers wanted to place their ad with a QR code not only in the magazine, but also elsewhere? "There's nothing wrong with that. As the landing page has a term of one year, it is available," says Schwengeler. And if a customer prefers to entrust the creation of the advertisement to an advertising or media agency, he is also open to this. "If the agency is not technically capable of generating QR codes or landing pages, we will of course offer them this service," he says.
Markus Knöpfli
