AU2012100308A4

AU2012100308A4 - Dynamic QR Code System

Info

Publication number: AU2012100308A4
Application number: AU2012100308A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Phillip D. Talbot
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-03-21
Filing date: 2012-03-21
Publication date: 2012-04-19
Anticipated expiration: 2020-03-21

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for causing a different website address to be transmitted to any smartphone on each and every scan of the same URL-based QR Code, said smartphone being accessible to an online QR Code Campaign system through a long range wireless data network, said method comprising the steps of a user of a smartphone scanning said URL-based QR Code and said smartphone transmitting data representing a website address to the said online QR Code Campaign system via said long range wireless data network, whereby said online QR Code Campaign system verifies the validity of the said website address and on successful verification said online QR Code Campaign system passes the said website address to a URL interpreter, wherein said URL interpreter returns a different said website address based on a set of pre-determined rules then said online QR Code Campaign system dynamically transmits data representing said different website address back to said smartphone via said long range wireless data network. INPUTSAN EOFLONG GENERATES ALL SHORT URL CREATES SHORT URLS DEFiNE ULE TR CODES ANDISSUES LONG JRL EASEDOR GENERATENEW GR I.;RLS BASEDONASSOCJATEDS CODE CAMPAIGN ANDASSOC'ATES ALO RULES MANAGESALLDA I URLS TO A SHORT TRANSMISSIONS TOANJD ____________L URL-BASEDOCROD FROM SMLRTPHONE 50 LONG RANGE WIRELESS DATA PRINTED SHORT U!RL BASED 40 PROMOTIONAl MATERIAL SCAS DIFFERENT l\LONG URL ISSUED URTSD- ONEVERY SCAN iF URLCOSD SHORT UIRL.BASHI) FE _ _ _ R CODE 30 '20 '50 '4 CREATES SHORT URL-BASED OR GENERATES SCANS SHORT CODECAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN ID LONG RANGE URL-BASED WIRELESS DATA DR CODE _ NETWORK NPUTSANUMBER OFLONG URLS GENFRATESALLSHORT DEFINE RULE S TO GENERATE ANY !!L QR'2OOFS AND NEW LONG UR S. ANDASSOCIATES DSSUESLONGURLS RECEIVESDIFFERENT ALL LONG URL S [ A SHORT URL- BASED ON ASSOCIATED LONG URL ON BASED OR CODE RULES MANAGES ALL EACH SCAN O' TRANSMISSIONS TO I SHORT RL 6A SED A N OOR CODE USES SHORT UR-8ASED SMARTPHONE OR CODE AND DESIGNS i ANY OTHER PROMOTIONAL MATERIALOPTION STORES ALL DATA RELATtNG TO THE SHURT URL BASED OR MARKETS PRINTED SHORT CODE. HE LRL-BASED OR CUDE VIA SMARTPHONE DEOCE A MASS MEDIA CAMPAIGN ID AND ALL RELATED LONG URLS AND ASSCIATED RULES

Description

Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 (Cth) DIGITAL EXPRESSION PTY LTD COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR AN INNOVATION PATENT Invention Title: DYNAMIC QR CODE SYSTEM The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing known to us: 1. Dynamic QR Code System FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention broadly relates to Quick Response (QR) Codes. In particular, the present invention broadly relates to a dynamic QR Response (QR) Code system that permits a printed QR Code to serve up dynamic data. BACKGROUND OF INVENTION [0002] Retail outlets, fast food chains, supermarkets, and the like are continuously looking to promote their products and services to shoppers and customers. Moreover, these businesses use a range of different media including TV, radio, outdoor media, print and online media to communicate the promotional offers to their customers. [0003] A common technique used by retailers is to use a mix of different media when running promotional campaigns. For instance, a supermarket chain might run a TV, radio and an online promotional campaign to raise awareness of a particular product offer. The same supermarket chain might also run an outdoor media campaign on billboards and utilise posters within airports and shopping centres to reach customers who are on the move. The promotional offer is invariably supported with some form of print media such as a newspaper ad, magazine ad or a direct mail catalog. At the store the promotional message is reinforced using point of sale posters and visual merchandising displays to remind shoppers of these promotional offers. This last mile in the path to purchase is the most powerful promotional space as you can stimulate impulse purchase behaviour when consumers are in close proximity to the point of sale. [0004] It has now become more difficult and costly for retailers to reach their potential customers as they struggle with the choice of available media channels to promote their products and services. Over the last decade we have seen the fragmentation of mass media, the introduction of subscription TV and set top boxes from which viewers now have substantially more control over TV channels to choose from. Add to this the complexities of marketing online to the younger generation of mobile consumers with smartphones and the retail marketer's selection of the appropriate communication channel has become almost hazardous. It is now incumbent on retailers to carefully select the most appropriate media to reach their target 2. customers and to allocate their scarce promotional dollars to the most effective marketing channel whilst finding new ways to reach and attract customers to their outlets. [0005] With the emergence of technologies such as two-dimensional QR ("Quick Response") codes we are seeing increased consumer usage of QR Codes which are being scanned by camera enabled smartphones. Invented in the 1994 by Denso Corporation of Japan they were originally developed as a 2D barcode for scanning and tracking automotive parts, however increasingly QR Codes are fast becoming a mainstream marketing tool to link consumers with smartphones to web-based promotional content as we see the adoption of smartphone use soar. [0006] QR codes have been used in print marketing for some time where customers with a camera-enabled smartphone and a QR Code reader installed can scan these QR Codes and be directed to a website for further detailed information. With the emergence of QR Code technologies it is the first time we are able to bridge the physical world of promotional print with the online world, creating a plethora of new ways to communicate directly with customers on the move. [0007] However, an inherent issue with QR Codes is that when created they are fixed and once printed on promotional material cannot be modified. For example, a QR Code may be generated and printed in a magazine or flyer and any smartphone user who scans this regardless of location, time of day or device will be presented with the same webpage content. The present invention provides a dynamic QR Code whereby every scan of the same fixed QR Code by many different consumers can result in unique web content being presented to the smartphone. This may be applied for example to a scan-and-win competition where the 1000th consecutive scan could result in the winning of the competition. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0008] The present inventor has found it possible to dynamically generate a different Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or website addresses relating to a static printed QR Code where a short URL is encoded within the QR Code. As a consequence every independent or consecutive scan of a short URL-based static QR Code by any smartphone user could potentially result in a unique website address being presented to the user's smartphone web browser. One example implementation of this new invention might be an initial scan of a short URL-based QR Code 3. resulting in the re-direction to a website with content welcoming you to "Your 1" visit", and any subsequent scan of the same QR Code, regardless of the time interval between scans, results in the presentation of a website which states "Welcome back your 2"d visit". [0009] Furthermore, by having a Unique ID (UID) associated with each smartphone device and a series of pre-determined scanning rules on an online QR Code Campaign system you can track each unique QR Code scan right down to each smartphone device, and based on pre-determined rules present different website addresses to the consumer. By way of another example, a retail marketing company may wish to run a promotional competition whereby throughout any month a consumer can scan a short URL-based QR code and may win either an instant prize, or alternatively be entered automatically into a draw to win a major prize. In order to avoid consumers exploiting the system, a further rule can be established that prevents no smartphone device and with the same UID able to scan the same code within a 24 hour period. [0010] The present invention therefore provides a truly innovative and exciting way for retail marketing staff to create short URL-based QR Codes which contain truly dynamic content. The type of website content presented can be governed by a set of rules established by the marketer which provides a powerful and vast array of different ways that brands or retailers can engage with their customers - directly, engaging and measurable. [0011] A popular sales promotion activity is the use of competitions which allow consumers to enter into a draw or "scratch-and-win" an instant prize. This typically involves the brand marketer printing thousands of "scratch-and-win" cards. This can be a costly exercise particularly if a large number of cards are not used before the expiry date of the competition. We see the increasing use of QR Codes as a sales promotion tool with brands now incorporating QR Codes on posters and point of sale flyers. Most recently a common use has been the launching of new movies with the incorporation of a QR Code on the outdoor media posters located in bus shelters where you can view the move trailer by scanning the QR Code. [0012] By tracking individual smartphone scans of a printed QR Code it provides a powerful marketing intelligence tool whereby you can now measure the frequency and distribution of scans by each device and gauge the effectiveness of a campaign offer right down to an individual user. This is the first time retail marketers can launch a printed promotional campaign, measure in real time the effectiveness of the promotion at increasing sales or customer engagement on a consumer by consumer basis. This information is enormously advantageous for marketing people to develop return on investment (ROI) analysis for every promotional campaign they run.

4. [0013] Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for causing a different website address to be transmitted to any smartphone on each and every scan of the same URL-based QR Code, said smartphone being accessible to an online QR Code Campaign system through a long range wireless data network, said method comprising the steps of a user of a smartphone scanning said URL-based QR Code and said smartphone transmitting data representing a website address to the said online QR Code Campaign system via said long range wireless data network, whereby said online QR Code Campaign system verifies the validity of the said website address and on successful verification said online QR Code Campaign system passes the said website address to a URL interpreter, wherein said URL interpreter returns a different said website address based on a set of pre-determined rules then said online QR Code Campaign system dynamically transmits data representing said different website address back to said smartphone via said long range wireless data network. BRIEF DESCPRIPTION OF THE FIGURES [0014] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of examples only, with reference to the accompanying figures, in which: [0015] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing one example of a dynamic QR Code for use in the method of the present invention; [0016] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram similar to that of Figure 1; [0017] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing specific details of an example of one part of the present invention and its interaction with smartphones which is shown in Figure 1 and 2; [0018] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing specific details of an example of one part of the present invention linking Long URLs to a campaign ID which is shown in Figure 1 and 2; [0019] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing specific details of an example of one part of the present invention generating and linking Short URLs to a campaign ID which is shown in Figure l and 2; [0020] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing specific details of an example of one part of the present invention linking a Short URL-based QR Code to one or a number of Long URLs and 5. setting rules to return a different Long URL to the smartphone when originally presented a short URL from the smartphone which is shown in Figure 1 and 2; [0021] Figure 7 is a table illustrating the information outlined in Figure 6; [0022] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram similar to Figure 1 showing specific details of an example of the present invention where a smartphone receives a different website address from a another scanning of the same short URL-based QR Code; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0023] The present invention provides a method for causing a different website address to be transmitted to any smartphone on each and every scan of the same URL-based QR Code, said smartphone being accessible to an online QR Code Campaign system through a long range wireless data network, said method comprising the steps of a user of a smartphone scanning said URL-based QR Code and said smartphone transmitting data representing a website address to the said online QR Code Campaign system via said long range wireless data network, whereby said online QR Code Campaign system verifies the validity of the said website address and on successful verification said online QR Code Campaign system passes the said website address to a URL interpreter, wherein said URL interpreter returns a different said website address based on a set of pre-determined rules then said online QR Code Campaign system dynamically transmits data representing said different website address back to said smartphone via said long range wireless data network. [0024] A QR Code is inherently fixed and static in nature, created once, printed onto posters and placed in public places where smartphone users are able to scan these QR Codes and be presented a range of data or information on their smartphone. [0025] A QR Code should preferably be incorporated into some publically available mass media such as TV, outdoor media, print, product packaging or online media as part of a national sales promotion campaign. [0026] The attractive features of QR Codes is that they can present actions to the smartphone such as making a phone call, sending an SMS, sending an email, browsing to a website, linking to a geographic location or sharing promotional offers with friends via popular social networking applications. Despite the all advantages of QR Codes in bridging the physical world with the 6. online world, a standard QR Code is fixed and the data or information encoded within it cannot be subsequently changed. If the data or information encoded within the QR Code is a URL or website address, it is possible to change the content on the webpage to which the URL address relates without the need to change the QR Code itself. [0027] The unique and novel aspect in the method of the present invention is the introduction of an intermediary step or what we define as a URL interpretative process. The purpose of a URL interpreter is to look up the original short URL request in a table or database and forward a long URL or website address back to the smartphone. The URL interpreter has two modes of operations. The first is a manual mode in which each one of a number of manually entered long URL's is sequentially sent back to the smartphone in a round robin fashion on each short URL request or alternatively a long URL is sent back to the smartphone based on set of rules. The second is a dynamic mode in which the online QR Code Campaign system dynamically generates long URLs based on another set of predetermined rules. This inventive step significantly increases the commercial value of using QR Codes for sales promotion or marketing purposes when running scan and win based competitions. [0028] The method in the present invention requires the smartphone to scan a short URL-based QR Code, which then directs the smartphone browser to this intermediary URL or website address. This effectively means that a lookup table which contains the forwarding long URL or website address for that short URL can be changed dynamically in accordance with a set of pre determined rules in real time. [0029] The benefit of being able to dynamically change the long URL is obvious and is best described by way of an example. For example, a major soft drink brand could run a monthly QR Code scan and win promotion. Every consumer who purchases a product receives a card with the same printed QR Code. There could be a minor prize winner each week over the 4 week campaign, and a major prize winner to be drawn at the conclusion of the promotion. Customers would scan the QR Code with their phone and each and every QR Code scan could respond either with "You are a winner of the weekly prize, please complete the required information fields" or "Sorry you have not won the weekly prize, but to go into the draw for the major prize please complete the required information fields". The percentage of times the winning result is presented in response to a scan can be the subject of a pre-determined rule. For example, the rule might be set that on every 1 000th unique scan send a winning scan result.

7. [0030] Preferably, for a brand marketer to take advantage of this new method in the present invention, they would login into the online QR Code Campaign system and set-up a short URL based QR code campaign. This would initially involve generating a campaign ID and Campaign name for this QR Code campaign. The brand marketer could select the manual mode for presenting long URLs and then enter in a number of long URLs and create a rule for how to present each long URL. For example, there could be 3 long URLs, one long URL which is a link to a website stating "You have won", the other two URLs are a long URL link to a website stating "You have won a weekly prize" and the other long URL is a link to a website stating "Sorry you have not won" . A rule could be set to present the long URL "You have won a weekly prize" randomly over a 4 week period limiting the total number of winners to 5. [0031] The brand marketer could alternatively choose the other mode of operation dynamic. In this state, the online QR Code Campaign system dynamically generates the long URLs in accordance with a set of rules. If this option is selected as opposed to the manual entry of the long URLs, then a series of rules and conditions is set to allow the online QR Code campaign system to generate the long URLs dynamically. For example, a rule could be established that every hour a new URL is dynamically generated by the online QR Code Campaign system that relates to the time of day. Using this example, the 12-1pm time slot would have the following the long URL "www.abc.com/1200/index.html" and the 1-2pm time slot would have the long URL "www.abc.com/1300/index.html". This means different content would be presented at different times of the day based on a scan of the same static QR code. [0032] Preferably, once the long URLs have manually been entered or a rule to dynamically generate the long URL has been established, the online QR Code Campaign system will generate and encode a unique short URL-based QR Code. Both the short URL-based QR Code and the associated long URLs are all linked to a campaign ID. This then provides the online QR Code Campaign system with the ability to forward the short URL according to the pre-set rules to the appropriate long URL or website address. [0033] The online QR Code Campaign system would contain a database that records every event where a QR Code scan results in a unique long URL visit to a webpage. The data that is recorded includes the campaign ID, the smartphone device ID, the device type, the short URL and its associated long URL, number of scans from the same device and time of scan. Other information like the IP address would also be recorded. [0034] The invention will now be described by reference to the preferred embodiments.

8. [0035] Figures 1 and 2 show the preferred method of the present invention with respect to how a smartphone 40 would interact with the Dynamic QR Code system 10. This particular example of a Dynamic QR Code system 10 comprises an online QR Code Campaign system 20, the client or advertising agency 30, a smartphone 40 and a long range wireless data network 50. In this particular example the step of creating the short URL-based QR Code campaign, the entering in of the long URLs or defining any rules related to the generation of any new long URLs, and associating the short URL-based QR Code image 100 to all the long URLs is done by the client or advertising agency 30. The client or advertising agency 30 would enter this information into the online QR Code Campaign system 20 which would produce the short URL-based QR Code image 100. The client or advertising agency 30 would then arrange for the design and printing of all the promotional material incorporating this short URL-based QR Code image 100. [0036] The online QR Code Campaign system 20 not only generates all the short URL-based QR Code images 100, but also allows entry of a campaign ID, the linking of the short URL to a range of long URLs based on pre-determined rules, and the transmitting of the long URL back to the smartphone 40. The smartphone 40 on receipt of the long URL would then re-direct the browser on the phone to the website contained in the long URL. Each subsequent QR Code scan on the smartphone 40 would result in a different long URL being sent to the phone from the online QR Code Campaign system 20 in accordance with a set of pre-determined rules. [0037] Figures 3 and 4 show the preferred method of the present invention of how the client or advertising agency 30 uses the online QR Code Campaign system 20 to manage all aspects of the short URL-based QR Code campaign. The first step for the client or advertising agency 30 is to create a new short URL-based QR Code campaign by entering a campaign ID and a campaign name into the new Campaign form 110. A campaign ID identifies the overall campaign and the campaign ID is the unique identifier in the database. Once a campaign ID is created, the next step in the method of the present invention is to either manually enter one or a number of long URLs or dynamically allow the online QR Code Campaign system 20 to automatically generate long URLs. [0038] Preferably, in the method of the present invention the long URL generation module 60 allows for the creation and management of all long URLs. The long URL generation module 60 has two modes of operation, manual or dynamic. In the manual mode, the client or advertising agency 30 enters one or a number of long URLs into the manual URL form 120. In dynamic mode, the client or advertising agency 30 can create a rule within the rule engine 130 which allows under certain conditions to generate a new long URL. Once a rule has been created, the 9. dynamic long URL generator 140 receives the rule from the rule engine 130 and can now automatically re-generate long URLs in accordance with the current rule. Each time the dynamic long URL generator 140 re-generates a long URL it writes the data representing the long URL and the campaign ID into the campaign database 90. [0039] Figure 5 and 6 shows the preferred method of the present invention to activate a live Dynamic QR Code campaign. Once the campaign ID and long URLs have been created, the client or advertising agency 30 can then run the short URL QR Code generator 70 to produce a the short URL-based QR Code image 100 for use on all promotional marketing material. The short URL QR Code generator 70 provides 2 main functions. The first function is to generate a unique short URL and the second is to encode a QR Code with the short URL and output a short URL-based QR Code image 100. When the short URL-based QR Code image 100 is created, the URL QR Code generator 70 writes the short URL to the campaign database 90, along with the associated campaign ID. [0040] Once a QR Code campaign is saved the URL interpreter 80 creates a link that associates the unique short URL-based QR Code image 100 to one or more of the long URLs. The URL interpreter 80 then updates the campaign database 90 with the link between the short and long URL(s) and the online QR Code Campaign system 20 is set to active for this campaign. This activates the URL interpreter 80 which starts listening for short URL requests from any smartphone 40 via a long range wireless data network 50. [0041] Figure 7 represents an example of the campaign database 90 and the data values of a range of attributes. It illustrates that for each unique campaign ID the online QR Code Campaign system 20 can record the device ID, the device type, all short and long URL codes associated with the campaign ID, the number of consecutive requests of a short code URL from the same device and the time of each scan of short URL-based QR Code image 100. [0042] Figure 8 is similar to Figure 1, but illustrates more clearly that when a smartphone 40 scans the short URL-based QR Code image 100 and sends the short URL over the a long range wireless data network 50 to the URL interpreter 80, the URL interpreter 80 communicates with the rule engine 130 to obtain the established pre-set rules, and based on the rules either looks up the database for the corresponding long URL if in manual mode, or in dynamic mode obtains the appropriate long URL and transmits the data presenting the long URL to the smartphone 40. In either case a subsequent scan by the same smartphone 40 of the short URL-based QR Code 10. image 100 would repeat the above process except in so far as the URL interpreter 80 would return a new different long URL in accordance with the current rule to the smartphone 40.

Claims

1. A method for causing a different website address to be transmitted to any smartphone on each and every scan of the same URL-based QR Code, said smartphone being accessible to an online QR Code Campaign system through a long range wireless data network, said method comprising the steps of a user of a smartphone scanning said URL-based QR Code and said smartphone transmitting data representing a website address to the said online QR Code Campaign system via said long range wireless data network, whereby said online QR Code Campaign system verifies the validity of the said website address and on successful verification said online QR Code Campaign system passes the said website address to a URL interpreter, wherein said URL interpreter returns a different said website address based on a set of pre-determined rules then said online QR Code Campaign system dynamically transmits data representing said different website address back to said smartphone via said long range wireless data network.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said URL-based QR Code has been encoded with a short Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said URL-based QR Code is printed on any advertising, product packaging or promotional material.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein any consecutive scan of the same said URL-based QR Code from the same said smartphone returns a different website address from the previous said website address.

5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said long range wireless data network is a publically available mobile telephone network.