Private: Intelligence

Creativity and insights can emerge from the most unlikely of places. 

Today is a unique date; it’s 2.1.12.  The numbers 2.1.12 immediately bring to my mind one thing, and that is the much-heralded Rush album 2112.  In 2112, a man discovers an ancient guitar, learns to play it, and his subsequent enthusiasm and excitement are crushed by the ruling classes of this dystopian future where technology is routinely abused to control the society and repress its inhabitants. 

While I was thinking of this album, I was also at dinner with my family and in front of me was the familiar visage of a red Heinz ketchup bottle (you know – the new ones that are stored upside down so the ketchup comes out even faster).  On the plastic bottle was a QR code, and one of the people I was with had not seen one of these before and wanted to know how they were used.  Being a technology and marketing geek, I immediately extracted my iPhone from the pocket of my jacket and commenced taking a scan of the QR code to see what magical wealth of information it surfaced.

I held the phone still, waited patiently for the “click” of the scan, and the delivery of the content, however my pay-off was sub-par as it returned a message “Sorry, the sweepstakes ended 9/30/11”.  To me, that wreaked of a missed opportunity and one that could have been avoided with some basic planning.

In that future world imagined by the members of Rush, technology was used for repressive purposes, whereas in our world it is used to provide more information and create more connections.  The entire advent of social and mobile media are intended to create faster connections between people, as well as between people and brands.  The use of the QR code exemplifies that connection, making it possible for brands to provide more detailed information, and an experience for their consumers that they could not have otherwise had.  That being said, when you employ these tools you need to make sure you plan through the consumer interaction carefully and fulfill on the implied promise of that interaction.

Upon further review I noticed that the Heinz ketchup bottle said there was a contest and I could enter by scanning the QR code, which was obviously outdated.  Either the restaurant was holding onto the ketchup too long, or the decision to run the content message on the packaging wasn’t thought out well enough.  I checked the ketchup bottle, and the date was still far enough in the future, so I return to the missed opportunity for the mobile interaction.  If you promise a contest, you need to fulfill upon the contest. 

In a dystopian future, technology can be used to lead along the masses, and create a singular vision that allows for the government to mold and shape the minds of its inhabitants.  Of course, a contest can be used in the same manner, but hopefully with more positive benefit!

Or it might be a stretch to try and unite the two into a common theme.

Either way, its fun to be inspired to think about a mundane occurrence (like a QR code) from a new perspective and that is what the Rush album had me doing.  In the case of the Heinz QR code snafu, why not rotate in a new contest, with regular winners and more information to keep the QR code active and fresh?  What about having the contest initially printed and placed as a sticker on the bottle, so it could be removed after expiration?  More than 3 months after the contest had expired, do you think Heinz would have replaced the contest with something better than the “trivia game” content they placed there?  There’s no pay off to the new trivia contest, and that left me kind of bummed.  I took the time to interact with their bottle, and got nothing in return for it.  Not even a coupon.

CPG companies tend to try things in the digital space, and only invest half way in them.  If you are going to commit, you should commit fully to driving that engagement to ensure the return is a strong one. 

All that being said, I got over being bummed about the lost interaction.  I went home, kicked up my Spotify account and listened to 2112 for the first time in a long time.   

Here’s to hoping that my next social/mobile interaction is a good one!