人人都愛二維碼

Forget the bad press， the QR code seems like such a clever idea： Like a smarter barcode for the 21st century， it hooks up through your smartphone or computers camera to some code that reads it， and translates its spotty pattern into a URL， or a phone number， or a passage of text， or a digital business card—all instantaneously. Theyve been used all over the globe for ages， but the tech is having a moment in the U.S.

Check out 2）Victorias Secrets new“Sexier Than Skin” ad campaign—I bet it already grabbed your eye. Its new， undeniably clever， certain to tempt many a viewer into trying QR codes in a way that perhaps no other ad ever has， and its so “3）meta” （with the tech itself acting as part of the visual joke） its hard to imagine the ad campaign working any other way. By holding a smartphone up to the ad， snapping the QR code and waiting to see what happens， the interested “viewer” is automagically taken to a URL for an image that fills in the gap， not with saucy pink 4）pixels but with saucy underwear.

撇開負面新聞來看，二維碼看起來像是一個極為聰明的想法：就如為21世紀而生的更加智能的條碼，它能夠通過智能手機或電腦的攝像頭來與那些能夠被識別的代碼相連，然后再將這些星星點點的圖案翻譯成一條鏈接地址，或者一個電話號碼，或者一段文字，又或是一張數碼名片——全都在瞬間完成。二維碼在全球范圍內已被應用多年了，但這項技術如今在美國才算達到了其極盛時刻。

查看一下“維多利亞的秘密”那名為“比肌膚更性感”的新廣告——我猜你必會一下子被它吸引住。這廣告確實又新鮮又聰明，采用了一種其它廣告從未試過的方式，肯定能吸引許多看客去嘗試二維碼。而且它極具詮釋性（采用的這項技術本身已使之成為視覺幽默中的一部分），因此很難想象這個廣告以任何其它的方式能達到這樣的效果。通過拿著智能手機對著廣告，快速拍下二維碼，接著就是等著看有什么事情發生，感興趣的“看客”會自動奇幻地被帶到一個鏈接地址去，然后看到一幅剛好填滿空缺的圖片，上面不是情色的粉色馬賽克，而是俏麗的內衣。

Then check out the odd news from a recent survey by Vizibility Inc. of legal professionals in the U.S. in July and August. Among the various results： 85% of legal marketers surveyed were aware of QR code technology； 35% already use them； and a further 45% plan on using them in the next 12 months. That means 80% of legal professionals could be using QR codes inside a year. In the data-rich world of lawyers in the U.S.， the codes are useful for marketing （so a simple advert can link to rich biographical data and contact info） and also enable a simple paper business card to link to a website， or transmit useful contact details directly to a prospective clients cell phone.

A firm called Pet Check is taking dog walking into the 21st century， with clients able to track their 5）poochs progress around the walking route online， via GPS. QR code tags are a crucial part of the model， enabling hassled walkers to quickly “check in” a dog and check them out again at the end of the walk. The firm just launched in California， and has plans to go nationwide.

In the fashion world， iconic American fashion brand Polo Ralph Lauren was a superearly adopter of QR codes for use with mobile shopping and marketing.

再來看看由Vizibility公司于七月和八月對美國法律專業人士近期做的一份調查，其中反映出的情況值得關注。在各種不同的結果中顯示：受訪的法律營銷人員中，有85%都知道二維碼技術；有35%的人已經在使用；另外有45%的人打算在未來的一年內使用。那也就是說在一年內可能將有80%的法律專業人士使用二維碼。……