The shadow QR code

Here comes a new integrated campaign made in South Korea that uses mobile to drive retail and e-tailing sales. Don’t give me the stink eye just because you saw QR code in the title of the post. Read on. The idea is pretty smart, and not too geeky, considering the popularity of QR codes in the country.

Emart is the Walmart of Korea. Their business is obviously huge, but they had a problem generating sales from 12 to 1 pm. So they came up with the idea of giving people a unique shopping experience only during lunch hours. A shadow QR code, that naturally works only from 12pm to 1 pm. Once scanned, the code activated the Sunny Sale promotion, offering discounts and a $12 coupon to be used on Emart’s mobile commerce website or in the its stores.

As usual, the campaign makes more sense when you see the results: 12K coupons were issued during the promotion, new Emart membership increased by 58% and in-store sales increased by 25% during lunch hour.

The agency is Cheil Worldwide, the guys behind Dunkin’ Donuts Flavor Radio and the Tesco subway virtual store.