4 Innovative Pop Culture QR Code Campaigns We Love

QR codes are the unlikely trendsetters of this decade. Their popularity kicked off during the pandemic when they provided no-contact alternatives for items like restaurant menus and shipping boxes. These funky scannable squares soon found their way into pop culture. Artists on Spotify integrated them into publicity and outreach; fashion companies incorporated them into bespoke murals, and celebrities embraced them in social media and business endeavors.
QR codes have endured for practical and cultural reasons. At first, they mirrored the radical new normal ushered in by the pandemic. Then they prevailed as symbols of an era. Phones and technology govern our day-to-day interactions, social media makes previously untouchable public figures accessible, and the intersection between art, commerce, and technology is at a new peak.
But the bedrock of QR codes' zeitgeist appeal is their functionality. QR codes make sharing information effortless. They bridge the gap between online and offline marketing strategies, scale easily, and can flex in real time to meet consumer needs. They also offer valuable insights into audience behavior via user metric reports. It’s no wonder everyone from pop stars to corporations has embraced them.
To celebrate the QR code’s versatility and prevalence, here are four of our favorite QR code campaigns in pop culture and why they work.
Taylor Swift’s QR code campaign for her new album
Taylor Swift is almost as famous for her business chops as she is for her songwriting. The publicity accompanying her most recent album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” was no exception. A week before the album's release, Swift’s team plastered giant murals containing QR codes onto buildings throughout US cities and 13 other global locations. When scanned, each mural revealed a clue about the upcoming album.
As the week progressed, each scan revealed different information. Over time, fans pieced together the clues from the various destinations. Eventually, the campaign revealed the name of her single, “Fortnight.”
Why this QR code campaign excels
Swift’s marketing team made expert use of the smart QR code. This type of QR code combines two cutting-edge capabilities. It personalizes the users’ experience by directing them to targeted destinations based on contributing factors such as their location and preferred language. A smart QR code is also dynamic, meaning that the owner can change the destination at any time via an online portal.
This campaign was a slice of marketing genius for several reasons:
- It set the bar high for smart QR code campaigns: Swift’s campaign showed different content depending on where the user was based and the time it was scanned. This personalized element drew fans in, making it feel like they were part of a global mystery. The dynamic element of the QR codes also allowed Swift’s team to gather data-driven insights into audience behavior that can help build future campaigns.
- It’s omnichannel marketing at its finest: QR codes can bridge the gap between online and offline channels. Swift took advantage of that to get people on the ground to go online and create buzz. The scavenger hunt setup of the campaign also encouraged fans to compare notes on social media, further increasing pollination between channels.
- It raised brand loyalty: One of Swift’s calling cards is dropping Easter eggs in her songs. By using QR codes as part of that strategy, she fed into her fans’ hopes and expectations to solidify their ongoing loyalty.
We love how this QR code campaign demonstrated a master level of marketing awareness. Swift utilized every salient feature of the QR code–its accessibility, dynamism, and creativity–to raise publicity, engage her followers, and grow her audience.

QR code campaigns in the football stadium
Another indicator of QR codes’ growing popularity is their presence at sporting events. The cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase made headlines with its Superbowl commercial featuring a neon-colored QR code bouncing around a black screen. This campaign resulted in the company’s landing page receiving over 20 million hits in a minute. The campaign shined by capturing viewer’s attention and driving their curiosity with a minimalist approach.
Of course, most companies won’t be purchasing Super Bowl ad space. However, QR code campaigns can light up stadiums in other ways. The University of Central Florida bucked tradition when its football team replaced the numbers on players’ jerseys with QR codes. Scans led viewers to a page with the player’s biography.
These campaigns employed several smart marketing strategies:
- Driving user engagement with interactive content: Football and technology trends don’t necessarily go together. These campaigns succeeded because the organizations already had audience buy-in. In the first, football fans maximized their entertainment levels. In the second, they learned more about a team they care about. In both cases, the interactive content drove audience engagement levels.
- Expert application of marketing attribution: Marketing attribution is the process of using data-driven analytics to identify which marketing techniques work best. When it comes to TV commercials, it’s hard to measure success because the medium lacks data-collection abilities. By incorporating QR codes, CoinBase turned that paradigm on its head. Each scan provided key insights into audience behavior. The same logic applies to UCF’s campaign, which provided real-time insight on fan’s interests.
- Innovating traditional marketing techniques: The Super Bowl is famous for its mega-flashy commercials, and football players have always worn numbers on their backs. These organizations overturned tradition by advertising a super-simple image and replacing players’ numbers with QR codes. This appealed to new, younger audiences without losing the loyalty of older ones.
These two campaigns excel at demonstrating QR codes’ versatility. Because people spend so much time on their phones–even at a live event–QR codes can capture a user’s attention and convert passive onlookers to active consumers.
Katy Perry’s QR code tattoos
Katy Perry recently made headlines with two QR code campaigns to promote her new album. Unlike Swift, Perry relied on an uber-personal version of the QR code: a tattoo.
When Perry walked the red carpet at the VMAs, she showed off a QR code tattoo on her lower back. When scanned, the tattoo led to a pre-save website for her upcoming album. A few weeks later, Perry again modeled a QR code. This time, she flashed it on her palm at a Balenciaga fashion show. When scanned, the QR code led to a page with merchandise for her album.
Why this QR code campaign shines
It’s unclear whether Perry’s tattoo is a dynamic QR code or a static one. (It’s also unclear if the inks are permanent or not.) In either case, anyone following her lead would do well to take advantage of a dynamic QR code. This means that the URL destination can change, and the owner of the QR code can direct users to new, meaningful content as their brand or product evolves.
In Perry’s case, she could leverage the tattoo to promote her next album (or any other cause she wants to draw attention to). A more general takeaway from her QR code tattoo is its novelty. A QR code tattoo creates a great marketing hook. By literally branding herself with this funky black-and-white square, Perry took the concept of a personal brand to a whole new level. She collapsed the boundaries between her image and music, leading to more press and more exposure for her music.
SiteDetour offers dynamic QR codes to help organizations boost their marketing efforts. Our platform allows you to quickly and easily set up smart QR codes that can:
- Build your audience: Target engagement with customized QR code destinations based on user demographics.
- Track user metrics: Dynamic QR codes grant valuable insights into audience behavior including location, time scanned, device used, preferred language, and more.
- Offer real-time updates: Keep your audience informed by updating the QR code’s destination page with news, alerts, and other relevant information.
To learn more about SiteDetour’s products, contact us for a demo or get started with a free trial.
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