Customers of this famous ketchup brand got the chance to win great prizes, thanks to this tiny scannable code! [Thursdays: FYO!]
Heinz is an American food processing company under the parent organization, Kraft Heinz Company.
One of the brand’s famous products is the Heinz Tomato Ketchup, which holds 80% of the market share in Europe and 60% in the US.
In 2017, Heinz added a twist to its ketchup packaging to encourage consumers to play a trivia game and win prizes via the “Guess What We Just Planted” sweepstakes.
The purpose of the campaign was to inform consumers that Heinz cares for the environment and that the brand reflects this value in its PlantBottle packaging, tree-planting activities, and eco-friendly sweepstake prizes.
One of the tools that the brand used to boost its customer engagement rates for the campaign?
The QR (Quick Response) code!
Heinz placed scannable QR codes on the back of its ketchup bottles to direct consumers to the sweepstakes landing page.
[In a past “Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing” article, we featured gaming companies Cygames and Bilibili’s QR code drone show to promote the video game, Princess Connect! Re: Dive.
Read more about the story here: The future of advertising is here! How one colorful lights show captured the attention of many consumers!]
Once consumers scanned the QR code, they were directed to the “Guess What We Just Planted” landing page where they could register and get a chance to win eco-friendly prizes.
All participants needed to do was answer some environment-related trivia questions from Heinz such as the amount of time it takes for a newspaper to decompose.
Those who correctly answered the questions received prizes like the Heinz Ketchup in PlantBottle packaging, an eco-friendly vacation to Costa Rica, a hybrid car, and many more!
Woah, who would’ve thought that scanning a small QR code enabled consumers to win BIG prizes?
That’s plus points to Heinz’s marketing strategy!
According to Laura Marriott, CEO of software company NeoMedia Technologies,
“[QR] codes provide a means for consumer engagement with the brand and given that Heinz is a mass consumer product, the code provides a nice, instant means to get immediate consumer engagement―at a time of impulse… and ultimately, the brand is able to deliver more value to the consumer.”
As a business owner or marketer, should you also consider using QR codes for your brand?
You should!
Aside from being widely-used in many transactions nowadays, QR codes have some other benefits such as:
-
Helping generate and keep track of sales leads.
QR codes enable you to know where your sales leads come from and formulate ways on how to improve your marketing strategies.
You may also use a dynamic code tracking feature so you can automate your sales lead generation and track where most customer conversions happen.
-
Providing convenient access to information.
According to statistics provided by database company Statista, around 59% of the world’s population has access to the Internet.
… and since most QR codes are used for online transactions, that means brands or businesses can reach 59% of consumers through these codes!
One of the good things about this tool?
It’s easy to use and doesn’t give consumers a hard time accessing information online!
All they need to do is just scan the QR code and ta-da! They’re redirected to a brand’s website, landing page, web page, etc.
As a business owner or marketer, you might want to use QR codes to promote your brand as these are a good tool to reach out to customers and improve your marketing results.
-
Referencing data for future marketing research.
Through the code’s scan statistics, you’ll have an idea about the techniques that work well for your brand and those that need improvements.
In other words, you can use your brand’s QR code data as reference for your future marketing strategies. This will help you think of more ways to increase your brand’s online visibility and reach more potential customers.
Below are a few tactics on how to use QR codes to attract more customers to your brand:
-
Host an interactive contest or quiz online. Even if you share QR codes, there is no guarantee that your target market will scan them. That is why you have to make your approach a little more interesting.
One of the ways to do that?
Offering fun games that will compel your target market to scan the QR codes!
These games can be in the form of answering trivia questions or hiding your brand’s QR codes in images that you post on social media―anything that you think is engaging for your customers.
When consumers find your interactive games enjoyable, you will not only motivate them to scan the QR codes but also compel them to share your content online, which also leads to more online traffic for your brand!
-
Link to social media profiles. QR codes are great tools that link your customers to your brand’s social media pages. Aside from that, these codes help boost your business’ online traffic.
… and when your website and social media accounts are booming with traffic, you have a higher chance to enhance your brand’s online reputation.
This can lead to more likes and shares for your offerings and even more sales transactions with your brand!
-
Create mobile app links. Use QR codes to encourage your target market to download a specific app or direct them to a mobile-optimized website where they can browse and shop for your brand’s products or services.
Whatever your marketing objective is, QR codes help promote your brand’s offerings in a seamless fashion!
Let’s go back to Heinz’s story.
If you are wondering about the results of the brand’s QR code strategy, here they are…
For every scan of the code on the back of Heinz’s ketchup bottle, the company pledged to plant a tree in partnership with environmental organization, The Nature Conservancy.
One month after the campaign was launched, Heinz recorded 57,000 scans of the QR code, which meant it also had to plant 57,000 trees.
Imagine the positive impact of planting a large number of trees―more oxygen to breathe, a greener environment, less floods and landslides, etc.!
Additionally, Heinz’s ketchup sales during that time increased by 30%. This showed that strategically placing QR codes on eco-friendly ketchup bottles helped the brand boost its engagement rates with consumers.
Just like Heinz, you may also use QR codes to reach your target market and boost your brand’s online traffic.
But!
Make sure to test your QR code too so you can be 100% sure that it directs to the right website or landing pages.
Otherwise, you’ll waste a lot of time, energy, and resources and your customers will be disappointed when they find out your QR code isn’t directing them to the right pages or is not working at all.
Maximize the use of QR codes in promoting your brand!
With the right strategies and execution, you’ll be able to connect with your target market and give them a more convenient and seamless customer experience like never before!
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Thursdays: FYO! Find You Optimization”
Why should you stop thinking SEO and start thinking FYO?
We’re not saying that you should abandon Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Don’t get us wrong, of course, we know this is something very important, especially in today’s digital marketing age.
The internet landscape is vast, and a world of its own. You really need to distinguish yourself and make your brand/company/website known and easily searchable.
Better yet, get to the top of page one for Top Results on Google or any other search engine.
However, what is the purpose of SEO? It’s that customers Find You!
That’s what matters. So, while SEO is one factor of FYO… it really is only one, and we ought not to abandon all the myriad of ways digitally and offline for improving your FYO.
How can we look at this from a different and better perspective?
Let’s say you have it in the bag! You and your team are experts in SEO. Awesome. But did you ever wonder what else you could do to push it further and give your SEO skills a boost?
FYO! Find You Optimization!
You need your target audience to FIND YOU—your brand, product, service, or offer. This is SEO plus other tools that increase visibility online (and offline).
Every Thursday, we publish content on how you can get your target market to find you, beyond the typical “type and search.” There are other things you can do along with your SEO to give your online advertising process a boost.
Try considering other tactics beyond it—WOMO (Word Of Mouth Optimization), RO (Referral Optimization), and “All-Other-Means-Of-Getting-Your-Target-Market-To-Find-You” Optimization (AOMOGYTMTFY, if you’d like a long acronym).
Part of a great marketing strategy is knowing how to adapt new methods and make use of different types of marketing and promotion that best fit your business goals and which give you the results you want.
Hope you’ve found this week’s insights interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Thursday’s FYO!
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
Powered by Valens Research
www.valens-research.com
