QR Codes: What You Can Learn from Bananas

I took this photo of a Del Monte banana I was about to eat on my commute into the office last week. As I sat in my car,  before pulling out of the driveway, I scanned the QR Code out of sheer curiosity and was taken to a well-done 5-minute video on YouTube. And I can now say that I know more about Del Monte than most people would care to know. The corporate video took me from the trees and fields where their produce grows to the stores where you can buy their produce, and showcases Del Monte’s dedication to quality control, food safety, and social responsibility.

Not the most riveting content, but a good story to tell nonetheless. I now feel pretty confident about the freshness of the food Del Monte produces, and I feel good about the company’s practices as well.

It was a stark contrast to Dole’s entry into the QR code world 6 months earlier, which used the code to promote the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Not sure what bananas and chipmunks have to do with one another or how they can elevate the brand, but I think it’s safe to say that Del Monte’s approach is a bit better.

Chiquita had also thrown its hat into the QR code ring late last year, inviting banana eaters to enter a banana-specific recipe contest, but now uses QR to promote other, non-banana related contests. Off to the right start with relevant info, but hasn’t really followed through with relevance.

Hats off to Del Monte for being the top banana – so far – in the QR game, at least as far as payoff is concerned.

There are other things to consider. For instance, the call to action on the Del Monte Banana – Watch Us – may be too vague. The number of viewers of the video so far is less than 10,000, and it’s been up for three months.

So, in summary, what can we learn about QR codes from our bananas? Three very simple things:

  1. This is a fun, relatively new technology. Get creative with it.
  2. Don’t just get creative with the landing page or video – use creativity to drive your customers too it.
  3. If you’re doing a promotion, make it relevant to the product.

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