Let’s Reduce Paper Usage in Boarding Passes: Choose KLM and Receive Your Boarding Pass Right To your Facebook Messenger!

KLM has started to utilize messaging apps to simplify customers’ airline journey. As mentioned before in one of our articles, KLM began to offer their passengers the availability to rebook their cancelled flight through WhatsApp at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. This time, they are working with Facebook Messenger! It is a known fact that currently, airline passengers are increasingly using QR code boarding passes on their phones to pass boarding gates. Alongside the rising awareness of environmental concerns and increasing widespread knowledge and use of smartphone technology, paper use in airlines can be reduced.

How it works:

When the passenger books their airline ticket via the KLM website, they must check a box to receive messages through Facebook Messenger. Consequently, KLM will send a booking confirmation. When the flight date comes closer, a check in update will be sent for the passenger to access their boarding passes in the chat thread. This QR code boarding pass with all the flight information will then be used by the passenger to pass through security and the boarding gate. It will decrease passengers’ stress of thinking about accessing their information through their email and downloading their boarding passes onto their mobile phones or rather, printing. This ease of use also arrives with the availability of communicating with KLM customer service staff right from the chat thread. Passengers’ questions will be answered 24/7 in 13 different languages which are: Dutch, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Norwegian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Thai.

In an interview by Conde NastTraveler with KLM’s Senior Vice President for Digital, Tjalling Smit, he mentions that airlines can have a more efficient contact with their customers through the apps that they use on a daily basis rather than pushing them to download the airline’s app. This increases their exposure.

As mentioned earlier in one of our previous blog posts, a transactional relationship between brands and customers through messaging applications may not be ready to evolve just yet. However, they can definitely be used for information purposes and increasing the ease of communication between the company and its customer. It seems like we will definitely see KLM taking the front in this trend with other social media programs.

By Gizem Tüdes and Tomasz Wawrzeniec

References:

http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/30/11331168/klm-facebook-messenger-boarding-pass-chat-integration

https://messenger.klm.com/

http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-04-01/you-can-now-get-your-boarding-pass-on-facebook-messenger

QR Codes: A New Era in Advertising

QR codes (quick response codes, QRCs) have been around for decades but are just gaining popularity in recent years due to the increased use of digital and mobile technology. Unlike the one-dimensional barcodes, QR codes have a two-dimensional matrix design which allows them to store much more information.

Initially, QRCs were used by manufacturers in order to optimise production capacities. In recent years, QR codes have become a novelty marketing tool which allows customers to access product- and company-related information on-the-go. All you need to do is scan the code with your smartphone and a special app will do the rest. Contained data can be transformed into a predefined message, an image, documentation or a hyperlink. Buses, billboards and magazines are already common places for QR codes. This technology attracts attention with its modern graphic design and provides a centralised database which can be accessed anytime and anyplace as long as you have a smartphone and an internet connection.

QRCs provide endless opportunities to inform, advertise and attract people to virtual and real-life destinations. No wonder that they are becoming the new thing in the tourism industry.



source: Creativeview.co.uk

In the summer of 2012, the city of Lisbon brought together traditional craft and modern marketing by creating a pavement QR code campaign. Walking along the street you may stumble upon a mosaic which is more than just street art. It provides tourists with information about major attractions in the area. Strategically located QR codes inviting visitors to Portugal are also to be found in Barcelona. The campaign was unveiled on 10 June 2012 at a tourism trade fair in Barcelona, during the commemorations for Portugal Day.Similar initiatives are undertaken in Rio de Janeiro and Seoul.



source: Soehnepartner.com

Another urban application of QR codes will be created in Dubai. Austrian architects Söhne & Partner have designed not only a building but also a medium. The Code Unique Hotel, currently under construction, will contain a giant QR code incorporated in its facade. Situated in Dubai Studio City, the building is intended to attract members and fans of the local and world film industry. The hotel will provide premium service to travellers and is already becoming an attraction itself due to its futuristic design.





source: Missionhillschina.com

QR codes may also appear in natural landscapes. In January 2013, the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen choreographed a giant human QR code in the golf premises. The idea is to promote global sustainable eco-tourism and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the club. The code was comprised of 2000 employees carrying umbrellas and could be seen from the sky. When scanned, it redirects to a campaign website and engages visitors in a sustainability survey. Participants then have the chance to win a holiday package courtesy of the company.

 

All these examples are a testament to a new trend in marketing and advertising which pushes the boundaries of creativity and engages people to act.

Indeed, the simple and emblematic design of any QR code allows creative application and placement. Many forms of traditional marketing have become too intrusive while people struggle to go through the information clutter. Concerning tourism, visitors are often disturbed or even overwhelmed by advertising messages which “pollute” urban and natural landscapes. QR codes are self-service tools intended to arouse curiosity - they create a gateway to information and merely invite people in.


Sources:
BeQRious, n.d. A Hotel All Wrapped Up in QR Code. BeQRious.com, n.d.
<http://beqrious.com/a-hotel-all-wrapped-up-in-qr-code/>

TPN/LUSA, 2012. Cobblestone QR Code a World First. The Portugal News Online, 30 August 2012.
<http://theportugalnews.com/news/cobblestone-qr-code-a-world-first/26701>

BBC News. Mosaic QR codes boost tourism in Rio de Janeiro. BBC.co.uk, 31 January 2013.

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21274863>

Lima, P., 2012. QR Code Made with Portuguese Cobblestone. CreativeReview.co.uk, September 2012.
<http://www.creativereview.co.uk/feed/september-2012/25/qr-code-made-with-portuguese-cobblestone>

BeQRious, n.d. South Korea Boosts Tourism with QR Codes. BeQRious.com, n.d.

<http://beqrious.com/south-korea-boosts-tourism-with-qr-codes/>

Söhne & Partner, n.d. Studio City Hotel. Code Unique. Soehnepartner.com, n.d.

<http://www.soehnepartner.com/projekte/studio-city-hotel>

Mission Hills, 2013. World’s Largest Golf Club & Spa Resort Creates the World’s Biggest QR Code. MissionHillsChina.com, 28 January 2013.

<http://www.missionhillschina.com/en-US/mediacenter/news_archive/the-world-s-biggest-qr-code>

Key words: QR codes, tourism, marketing, advertising, technology, sustainability, creativity

Written by: STOILOVA, Lilyana & OUYANG Xiaozhao

The QR Code, an added value to your business.

What is it exactly ?

A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional bar code) first designed for the automotive industry in Japan. Bar codes are optical machine-readable labels attached to items that record information related to the item. Recently, the QR Code system has become popular outside the automotive industry due to its fast readability and greater storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes. The code consists of black modules (square dots) arranged in a square grid on a white background. The information encoded may be made up of four standardized types ("modes") of data (numeric, alphanumeric, byte / binary, Kanji), or through supported extensions, virtually any type of data. Users need to scan the QR Code with their smartphone or tablet and will directly be diverted to the link or content defined in the QR Code.  

Can the QR code be used in every tourist area ?

Yes.

In big cities, through the QR code, transportation areas (train station, bus station, airport) provide immediate information to the users such as the schedules, the stops or the traffic state.

Also, museums and recreational places are using this tool to allow visitors to get information about paintings or maps to facitilitate their moving. It has been a revolution for blind people since QR code offers a lot of audio explanations.

Hotels have started to develop the QR code as a marketing tool, diverting the customer to hotel blog, that summarizes nice restaurants around, events or activities recommended by the staff.

Finally, QR Code can also be a promotional tool where visitors can find coupons for activities or tickets to events.  

Just follow the trend as cities do.

According to the statistics agency Comscore, the number of people in Europe who scanned QR Code increased by 96% during the year ended July 2012. This is a huge trend that pushes cities to integrate the tool into their infrastructure. Here below is an example of Lisbon, where a QR Code is integrated into the basalt and limestone streets.

The 5 QR Code commandments

·      The QR Code is always working.

·      The QR Code is always going directly to the right content and not to the home page. 

·      The QR Code always bears an explanation.

·      The QR Code is never found on a website.

·      The QR Code is always optimised for smartphones and tablets. 

If you want to know more about QR Code : : 

http://www.docnews.fr/actualites/etude,usages-codes-hausse,32,14324.html

http://www.qrmobile.fr/applications-pratiques-toursime-ville-site-21.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19544299  

http://www.tag.microsoft.com/community/blog/t/lisbon_portugal_uses_qr_codes.aspx  

Written by Arnaud Dupond De Dinechin and Bénédicte Grima.