This was a humorous and insightful post on MediaPost today about the mobile experiences that many QR codes lead to:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=156030#

So I turn the tables on my better, skeptical half and pose the question to her. “How would your smartphone best serve you here?”

She is a lifetime shopper. This is actually a no-brainer for her. She points to the cosmetics counter as we pass. “Tell me what shades match my skin color. There are too many choices here.” We pass by the women’s clothing section. “Tell me what that skirt goes with that you also have in the store.” We go to a restaurant and she suggests, “Tell me what the nutritional value of this menu item is — and whether it has any ingredients my kid might be allergic to.”

In other words:  Let the customer ask a contextual and relevant question and give them a reply.

This is exactly what our MOBILE FAQ product offering is designed to fulfill.  In fact, we’ve started prototyping a cereal product that touches on the specifics in the quote (allergies, nutritional value, etc.).

Carrying this one step further, this is why we believe that personalized mCoupons are going to replace the one-size-fits-all model — Customers don’t want to be pushed the same offering that everyone around them is receiving — They want their smart phone to deliver “smart” to them.

The closing paragraph is worth inserting:

Why would we as an industry squander that opportunity on half-measures and disappointing brand puffery that runs the risk of poisoning the well and turning people off to the prospect of a clickable world. They can tell us what they want to know, apparently without breaking a sweat, once we stop trying to impress them with what is new and cool — and instead focus on answering their simplest questions.