To explore the potentials of mobile marketing for advertisers, ad agencies and retailers, Irish free commuter daily Metro Herald has partnered with a mobile Internet service company to provide users with quicker means to respond to advertisements on print by scanning QR codes, SiliconRepublic.com reported Tuesday.

As a part of the deal, the newspaper will work in tandem with the Digital Reach Group to use Quick Response (QR) codes on print advertisements. The Irish Independent explained how QR codes work: "QR codes are barcodes embedded in advertisements that can be scanned by a reader using their smartphone to access extra information on their phones." While enabling users access to additional content on mobile devices, a simple point and scan will allow them to download mobile apps, enter competitions, receive a special offer or voucher, call or text.

This move by the newspaper is aimed at boosting its advertising portfolio, by integrating the digital interactive response element to the print ad campaigns, according to SiliconRepublic.com.

"Metro Herald's audience is a perfect fit for QR codes due to the high level of smartphone ownership and the regularity with which our readers access the internet via their handset," Paul Crosbie, managing director of Metro Herald, stated in a press release posted on PRLog.com.

Having launched the QR code service, ScanLife for Ireland in April 2009, the mobile internet service company has been offering smart phone owners access to all possible information about a brand on their handsets, by just scanning a 2D barcode on print advertisements or editorial, according to the press release. The Digital Reach Group in collaboration with the free daily will provide strategy input, create unique QR codes, mobile landing pages, and also measure and report on the digital aspect of the print ad campaigns.

"QR codes provide the ability to directly engage with customers in a unique and interactive way whether they are out and about, at home or in the office," Colm Grealy, CEO of Digital Reach Group was quoted on MobileMarketer.com. "They provide the opportunity to create a valuable opt-in database of users through mobile data collection forms and immediate mobile response allows them to increase campaign response rates and capture more opt-in data from customers."

The Irish free daily's readership is 70,000, and the newspaper claimed that advertisers are observing a 5 to 15 percent of the overall readership responding to print advertisements with QR codes, and the conversion rate of users signing up for competitions after scanning the code on mobile devices was recorded the highest at 97 percent, according to MobileMarketer.com.

The QR codes from DRG have been successfully implemented on a range of brands in Ireland, through the newspaper's print ads, that include Sunway, Samsung, Carlsberg, and Jameson in the last six months, according to the press release.