Have you noticed funny looking icons appearing in strange places lately? You know the ones — they’re square and covered with unintelligible black and white dots. These cryptic little treasures, known as Quick Response (or simply “QR”) codes, offer up to 250 characters of information including text, hyperlinks, contact information and location data.

Skeptical to their practicality, I first experimented with QR codes during the 2010 SXSW Interactive Conference. Chevrolet featured their new Cruze model by tagging the vehicle with numerous QR code stickers. Passersby simply scanned the codes with their smart phones which immediately displayed a mobile version of the Chevy Cruze website — screen captures below:

After a quick scan of the QR code, your mobile phone browser automatically displays the following screens — pulling from the Cruz mobile website.

While I’m confident the Chevy Cruze QR code program was a pilot project, it’s a great example of digital content enhancing the “real world.” In addition to (literally) kicking the wheels on the Cruze, I watched customized videos on the car’s safety features, fuel economy and amenities — all great complements to the hands-on experience.

I’m typically jaded about newfangled gadgets and gimmicks, but I can see QR codes having a surprisingly robust future for the following reasons:

1. Existing Technology — It’s not an “on-the-horizon” vaporware promise. It’s available right now. All you need is a smartphone with QR code reader installed. Some popular and inexpensive QR apps are QuickMark, NeoReader, Optiscan and i-nigma (which I use). With cameras on nearly all mobile phones nowadays, I fully expect QR code reading technology to be a standard component in the near future.
2. Fun – There’s a game feeling when you scan a code to unveil its secret. What an opportunity for marketers to extend the brand “story” off a product tag and onto a personal device!? Imagine a customer watching a “behind the scenes” interview with Bono, a co-founder of the EDUN clothing initiative, after scanning an EDUN t-shirt or point-of-purchase display.
3. On Trend –Museums have been using similar functionality for years. Buy your admission ticket, rent an “audio tour phone,” then punch in specific exhibit numbers as you tour the facility at your own pace. QR codes can allow the same thing — but with next generation video and interactivity.
4. Social Sharing — With built in sharing capability, it’s easy to post your QR findings to Facebook, Twitter, ad nauseam. When my daughter scans various QR codes in Express, she can have the ability to share that activity with her friends via the QR application or or via Facebook connect.
5. Commerce — Can’t find the right product color or size? A QR app could allow customers to check store inventory and order products for home or future in-store delivery.

So keep your eyes open for QR codes coming to business cards, real estate signs, festival schedule banners, product ingredient tags, point-of-purchase displays, print advertisements, movie screens and building locations near you.