Drone and QR Code: A New Way of Marketing and Advertisement

Have you ever seen a drone flying in the sky during an event or wedding?

On seeing one for the first time, some of you might even have confused it with a bird or a plane. But no, that’s a drone.

Though drone light shows are yet new to the public, they have been in the use since 2013.

And there’s yet another all-new innovation that’s on the rise with drones. It’s QR Codes!

Keen on learning what happens when two technologies come together? This article will discuss in detail how QR Code technology and drones come together to empower your promotions.

A. Drone-based campaigns for promotions

Sky advertising is a non-conventional technique for promotions. The amazing projections they create in the sky for beholders grab the audience’s attention like nothing else. And that’s one of the key factors driving the success of such campaigns.

After all, nothing beats enthusing content and technology to engage the target audience. Sky banners, skywriting, and QR Codes are some of the popular projections that drones often create in the sky.

As per statistics, drone marketing has set flight on a new airy stage for all eyes to see. This has helped the US market to increase from 2.63 billion USD in 2020 to 12.31 billion USD in 2028.

Back in 2012, 50 such aerial instruments took flight like a flock of birds. And in 2022, thousands of drones often come together to create not only visually appealing but functional projections too.

No wonder why such projections in Shanghai, Miami, and Dallas have made it big into the news headlines. Let’s see what exactly can a drone-powered QR Code do high up in the sky.

B. Possibilities with a QR Code

We’re officially in the era of marketing where QR Codes have a new stage to perform in the dark sky. Let’s see how:

1. Drive downloads for your mobile app

Did you know that a QR Code can help get people to install your mobile app? They no longer need to look for your app on the App Store or Play Store manually.

A simple QR Code scan can take them to your app in a second or two. This is called an App Store QR Code.

Taking advantage of the same, a Chinese gaming company (named Bilibili) put on an aerial performance. It took place in Shanghai and used 1500 drones to display a QR Code in the sky.

On scanning the QR Code, people were redirected to download the mobile game from the App Store or Google Play.

2. Share teasers and trailers

You might have seen flyers and banners that aim to promote an upcoming movie or series. And to do that, they mention the trailer link or name.

Now the problem here is that people have to manually type the link or video name on their phones to find the video. This is a long process. That’s where the campaign engagement rate drops.

But with a QR Code, you can readily redirect the end-users to the required teaser or video. They just need to launch open their phone’s camera to take a quick scan. We call it a Video QR Code.

Travis Scott used one such QR Code to promote his single called ‘Escape Plan’ during his live performance. About 250 Drones came together to create a QR Code that took the audience to the song on Spotify.

Along the same lines, artists can use QR Codes to share their upcoming work with the audience.

3. Easy website redirection

QR Codes can be used to direct your viewers to your website portals. This one is the most common use case of QR Codes after all!

Giant Spoon ran a campaign to promote the popular Xbox game. They used 400 drones together to morph into a QR Code in the sky.

Scanning it helped people open a website to watch the Halo series trailer.

4. Build social media followership

QR Codes can also be used by brands to let people follow them on social media handles. With a Social Media QR Code, you can take the end-users to a landing page with button links to all your social media handles.

They can then choose which one would they like to follow you on.

In Apr 2022, Genesis (an automobile company) entered China with a blast! They had their inauguration party where they projected their logo in the sky with 3,281 drones.

We think they could also have used drones to project a Social Media QR Code. It could have helped them build social media followership and know how many people were interested in their brand.

5. Get people to book tickets

Ever thought of getting people to book tickets for your show on the spot? Well, Giffoni Film Festival in Itlay has done it successfully!

They got drones to lit up the sky making a QR Code. It also had a CTA ‘Scan to Book Tickets’. Isn’t that simply amazing?

C. What more do QR Codes have to offer

There are many perks that a QR Code can offer besides crafting interactive experiences for your audience.

1. Track your campaign performance

Did you know that QR Codes help you gauge the campaign performance too? Yes, the Dynamic QR Code allows you to edit their content and monitor the scanning activity too. For example, you can see the number of scans based on:

a. Operating system used
b. User location by city and country
c. Time and date of scans
e. Devices used by the end users

With all this data, you can take data-backed decisions for your future campaigns.

2. Amplified engagement

It’s no brainer that QR Codes make your campaign interactive for the audience. And that helps hook them to your content.

Hundreds of blinking lights from the drones mid-air forming an oversized QR Code looks brilliant! It instantly leads the users to pull out their phones to scan and share their experiences with others.

That means you take their attention from the sky to the digital world to take an action.

Now is the next big question—how to create a QR Code that drones can project?

D. Creating a QR Code in two minutes

For this, you just need a QR Code generator. There are many players on the internet. And to help you make a sound decision, here’s a detailed comparison chart.

In this article, we’re using the Scanova QR Code generator for a step-by-step demo:

1. Go to Scanova and select the content category of your choice.

2. Enter all the required data to be added to the QR Code and click Continue

3. Enter the appropriate name for your QR Code and proceed ahead

4. On the next page, you’ll get a preview of the QR Code. Under it, you’ll see the Edit Design button. It’ll help you design the QR Code. However, you can choose to skip it too

5. After finalizing the design, click Download

6. You’ll be prompted to sign-up for a 14-day free trial. Don’t worry. You’ll not have to give away your credit card details for it

9) After you’re done, click on the Download button again. You’ll then have to enter the size and format of the QR Code image. After doing the needful, click on Export

That’s all you need to know about QR Code projections in the sky with drones. Ready to create one such interactive experience for your audience too? Get started here: