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(shù)碼名片——全都在瞬間完成。二維碼在全球范圍內(nèi)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(fā)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(nèi)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(yè)人士近期做的一份調(diào)查，其中反映出的情況值得關注。在各種不同的結(jié)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(jīng)在使用；另外有45%的人打算在未來的一年內(nèi)使用。那也就是說在一年內(nèi)可能將有80%的法律專業(yè)人士使用二維碼。在美國律師們那信息豐富的世界里，代碼對于營銷來說非常有用，（如此簡單的一個廣告就能連接到大量的傳記式資料和聯(lián)系信息），還能使得一張簡單的紙質(zhì)名片連接到一個網(wǎng)站，或是把有用的聯(lián)系方式直接傳送到潛在客戶的手機上。

一家叫做“寵物追蹤”的公司把遛狗一事推進了21世紀，通過全球定位系統(tǒng)客戶們可以在線跟蹤他們的小狗在既定路線上的行動。而二維碼標簽則是這個系統(tǒng)中關鍵部分，能讓充滿困擾的遛狗者迅速地給狗進行“登記”，然后再在行程結(jié)束時給它退出系統(tǒng)。這家公司剛在加利福尼亞州開始這項業(yè)務，并打算向全國推廣。

在時裝界，美國服裝大牌拉夫·勞倫則在手機購物和營銷上一大早就采用了二維碼。

6）Quaker， a food firm you may not necessarily think of as being hugely 21st century， has just launched a QR code-enabled promotional campaign to push sales of its Chewy Granola bars via a digital personal message from Nick Jonas. The clip is accessed by a QR code printed on the box， and the campaigns pinnacle is a personalized message to the buyers child for a birthday or good luck message in which Jonas uses the childs name.

Temple City Chamber of Commerce just installed its first QR signpost—the first of many planned—as a way of sharing information about the city， and navigating tourists and locals to relevant parts of the citys website. Microsoft is embracing the tech as a dynamic and superswift way to link game data from a console like the Xbox 360 to partner games on a 7）Windows Phone smartphone. And there are countless other companies of all sorts， right down to real estate agents in the U.K.， inspired by rapid adoption by U.S. firms， thatre rushing to embrace the tech.

桂格，一家你未必覺得非常時髦的食品公司，剛剛啟動了一場用二維碼進行促銷的活動，活動方式是通過（當紅歌手）尼克·喬納森發(fā)送的個人數(shù)字短信來推銷它的可嚼格蘭諾拉燕麥條。這段短片需要通過讀取包裝盒上的二維碼來獲得，而這項活動最吸引人之處則是消費者的孩子可以收到一條來自喬納森的生日或好運祝福短信，短信中還個性化地用上孩子的名字。

天普市商會剛安裝好它的第一個二維碼路標——計劃中還有很多個——以此作為一種分享城市信息的方式，還可以為游客和居民提供連接到城市相關網(wǎng)站的導航服務。微軟公司很喜愛這項技術，視它為一種充滿活力的超級快鏈接方式，通過它就能將游戲機Xbox 360等游戲機上的游戲數(shù)據(jù)連接到微軟系統(tǒng)智能電話上的合作游戲上去。還有數(shù)不盡的其他各行各業(yè)的公司，甚至到英國的房地產(chǎn)代理，皆從美國的公司獲得靈感并迅速應用上這項技術。

Theres one simple reason for this： The smartphone revolution. Were buying them by the billion， and pretty much every one comes with a camera thats good enough to quickly and easily snap a photo of a QR code and pass the data to a relevant app—instantly linking a real-world piece of data to a digital portal for enhanced content. Yes the technology is about to be replaced—with a bevy of alternatives， from 8）RFID-tagged stickers， posters， and products to real-world object recognition in augmented reality smartphone apps. But QR codes， now seemingly booming in the U.S.， arent likely to be going anywhere soon.

Compared to some alternatives theyre supersimple to integrate into products （requiring merely a spatter or two of ink， and thus easily incorporated into typical printing runs） and cheap too. And as we highlighted previously， in comparison to 9）AR object recognition in which a real world object is unidentifiably “tagged” until it reveals itself in an app， QR codes are visible and self-advertising...consumers know what to do with em.

在這個現(xiàn)象背后有一個極為簡單的理由：智能手機革命。人們購買智能手機的數(shù)量以十億計，而且?guī)缀趺恳徊渴謾C都帶有足夠快速并且能輕易拍下二維碼的攝像頭，并能把數(shù)據(jù)傳送到相關的應用程序去——瞬間就將一張真實世界中的編碼連接到一個充滿增強內(nèi)容的數(shù)字門戶。沒錯，這項技術很快就會被取代——有很多替補者等著，從含射頻識別標簽的貼紙、海報及產(chǎn)品，到增強現(xiàn)實智能手機應用程序中的實物識別。然而二維碼，如今似乎正在美國蓬勃發(fā)展，不太可能那么快就退出。

與一些替代品相比，二維碼極容易與產(chǎn)品相結(jié)合（僅需要一兩滴油墨，因此很容易與標準印刷品整合）而且也價格低廉。而且正如我們前面強調(diào)過的，在增強現(xiàn)實實物識別技術中，如果某件現(xiàn)實物品不能先在應用程序中被呈現(xiàn)出來則無法辨認，無法被加以“標簽”，與此技術相比，二維碼明顯可見又能自我推廣……消費者懂得如何使用。