Hello, Please Scan My QR Code: The Offline and Online Worlds Collide
Envision this. You are at a social gathering. People are mingling, chatting, and exchanging cordial pleasantries. Suddenly you overhear two people talking. One says to the other:
“Hello, nice to meet you. Please scan my QR Code.”
What?! Scan my QR Code? Really?
Yes, really. What you overheard could in fact happen. QR Codes are no longer a “what’s next” innovation from Popular Science. QR Codes are reality. As we discussed in one of our earlier blog posts, “Twitter, RSS Feeds, Facebook, oh my! Is Printing Getting Run Off The Press?” the offline world continues to seek stronger communion with the online world. QR Codes are a manifestation of this communion. The surge of online innovation has spurred a resurgence of offline innovation. And this is only the beginning.
Take Facebook for example … recently TechCrunch reported early rumors that this behemoth of a social network was experimenting with the integration of personalized QR Codes with online profiles. Print the code on practically anything and all your friends will be able to take a picture of it and instantly view your Facebook profile in all its glory.

See the Types of Products That Help Make March Madness Come to Life
Who doesn’t love March? The NCAA basketball tournament kicked off yesterday and everyone is checking their tournament brackets wondering who is going to be the next Cinderella story.
Arguably the month of March generates the most exciting, dare we say, “maddening,” moments in all of college sports. The passion, affinity and excitement you feel throughout the season, and especially over the next few weeks, are why we at Banners on a Roll® enjoy working with colleges and universities around the country promoting events all year long. It’s really quite infectious.
Scroll down to see the types of products that help make March Madness come to life!
Twitter, RSS Feeds, Facebook, oh my! Is Printing Getting Run Off The Press?
Every year more and more new technology emerges and those who live and breathe the printing world are faced with the question “Is print going to be replaced by a new technology?” Will the digital products of Amazon, Apple, Google and others replace the printed word? Everyone knows this is a controversial topic. Clay Shirky, in fact, wrote a provocative piece on this topic last year and his post spurred 1,200+ comments. And so it goes ….
We would be myopic if we were to ignorantly gloss over the forces of the digital age and their implications on the way we do business and the new types of business models that are emerging. There is no doubt that there is a macroeconomic and technological big shift, but in our microcosm of printing promotional materials, we feel the printed word is here to stay.
Advertising and business will forever be interconnected and the modes of advertising are changing, however the Internet is not the panacea. Not everyone is as Internet savvy as the 18 year old college student who spends an hour a day on Facebook. Yes, it’s safe to say that the older generations are gaining significant traction when it comes to the web and social media and those 18 year olds will one day rule the world, but the key to this entire puzzle is figuring out how digital and print compliment each other not how one can destroy the other.


