Out-of-home digital (OOHD) media company Prime Digital Media (PDM) announced today the addition of QR to their advertising solutions, making them the first Australian out-of-home digital media company to adopt QR technology.

QR (Quick Response) Codes add another new dimension to OOHD advertising. By simply flashing a mobile phone at one of the codes on the PDM screens, a consumer can be directly linked to the advertisers brand messages.

QR works by the consumer using a camera phone that has been equipped with the reader software, scanning the image of the QR Code causing the phones browser to either launch and redirect to a programmed URL, text message, or phone number at no cost to the mobile phone user or the advertiser.

In an Australian first, PDM is using this technology on all their Media Networks including Wellbeing, Lifestyle and Home Electronics. Currently the PDM network has over 6,000 Plasma and LCD screens connected to a centrally managed web-based trafficking system.

We have seen the dramatic take up of QR in Japan by retailers, with almost every retail industry adopting this technology. Our advertisers are eager to embrace QR to build stronger brand relationships with consumers.

Because there is no barrier to entry, the technology is opt-in and there is no cost for the advertiser or the user, we predict QR technology to boom in Australia by 2009, said PDM, planning and creative director, Julie Frikken. OOHD media captures consumers as they dwell. People dont watch OOHD screens like they do a TV, instead they take away high impact snippets of information as they dwell. Now, with QR technology, they can further engage with the advertising by instantly getting further information about products and brands of interest.