Triple Digit Growth in Mags' Use of Mobile Action Codes

Mobile

January 26, 2012 -- Magazines use of mobile action codes -- QR codes, Microsoft Tags and 2D barcodes -- that may launch a video, promote a contest, offer a coupon or deliver an interactive shopping experience on a mobile phone have "exploded" in 2011, rising 439%, according to a study from mobile marketing services provider Nellymoser.

The Mobile Action Codes in Magazine Advertising 2011 study found that 4,468 mobile action codes were printed in the top 100 U.S. magazines in 2011.  The total number of action codes in the top 100 U.S. magazines by circulation jumped 64% quarter-over-quarter in Q4, rising from 1,155 to 1,189. November’s 681 action codes was the most of any month in 2011, up from 278 appearances in July and 88 in January.
 

Source:  Nellymoser, QR Code and Tag Study, 2012

What the Study Evaluated

To understand how action codes are being used in magazine advertising, Nellymoser surveyed the top 100 U.S. magazines by circulation.  The study included all issues dated during 2011.  The study was limited to monthly issues available on newsstands nationally, purposefully eliminating membership-only magazines, as well as regional titles. In most cases, Nellymoser subscribed to the magazine. 

To compile the data, Nellymoser surveyed and analyzed all of the pages within the Top 100 magazines.  They reviewed every single page counting 47,788 total magazine page and 21,790 total advertising pages.  For the survey, every QR Code, Microsoft Tag, SnapTag, BEE Tag, JagTag and Digimarc watermark found was scanned with an iPhone or an Android.  Nellymoser activated every campaign, ran every video and visited every webpage.

Mobile Action Code Growth
 

• The proportion of top 100 magazine titles containing at least one action code remained at 96% in Q4, a level it attained in July.
   
• During 2011, both the average number of action codes per issue steadily increased: in Q4, 6.5 action codes appeared in each issue that contained at least one action code, compared to an average of 4.83 in Q3 and 2.33 in Q1. The last quarter of 2011 experienced the greatest number of codes in an issue (74), up from the previous peak of 54 in Q3.

• Total number of QR codes and other action codes in magazines grew 439% from Q1 to Q4.
   
• The top 10 magazine titles included 28% of all codes (1,255 instances).

• Advertising continues to outpace editorial for action code growth.  In January there were 7 advertising action codes for each editorial code. By December 2011, the ratio was nearly 25:1.
   
• There has also been a relatively steady increase in the percentage of ad pages containing at least one code. In December 2011, 8.36% of ad pages contained at least one code, representing 45% growth from 5.76% in September and 135% growth from 3.53% in March.

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QR Codes and MS Tags Continue to Dominate

• Throughout 2011, advertisers overwhelmingly preferred QR Codes and Microsoft Tags to other types of action codes such as SpyderLynk and JagTag. Ninety-seven percent of the action codes printed in the top 100 magazines in Q4 were either QR codes (72%) or Microsoft Tags (25%).  The proportion of QR codes rose 11% from 65% in Q3, while the proportion of Microsoft Tags fell 17% from 30%. Digital watermarks first entered the top 100 list in December, which Nellymoser believes to be the beginning of a trend.

Biggest Uses for Action Codes
 

• Video (54%) and sweepstakes /opt-ins (30%) were the the biggest uses for action codes. Sharing a video via social media (23%), e-commerce (19%), and store locator (13%) were also popular code uses.

• By Q4, more than two-thirds of all action codes (1327) were accompanied by information that described what happens after the scan.
   
• In Q2, 48% of all action codes contained an instruction regarding how to download a code reader, in Q4, that dropped to 23%. Similarly, in Q2, 17% were accompanied by an icon showing a smartphone scanning the code. By Q4, that had dropped to 5%.
   
• More than 90% of action codes were placed on the bottom half of the page, the "traditional location for a call to action."