QR Code Research

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Somerville Parking

Prepared by:

John Liao

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Table of Contents

Background………………………………………. 3

Research Objectives……………………………. 4

Research Methodology………………………... 5

Audience Description…………………………... 6

Key Findings………………………………………. 7

Creative Brief………………………..……………. 10

Limitations…………………………………………. 11

Recommendations…………………………….... 12

Summary…………………………………………... 13

References………………………………………... 14

Appendices...………………………………...…... 15

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Background: Somerville Parking is in charge of enforcing traffic and parking regulations, managing

street sweeping and snow preparations, maintaining all traffic signs and the normal upkeep of

curbs, sidewalks, and streets in the city of Somerville, Massachusetts. The city of Somerville has

more than 11,600 registered vehicles per square mile, which makes it one of the most densely

populated cities in New England. Aside from general traffic & parking regulations, Somerville

Parking also focuses on issuing permits for the city. They currently offer approximately 1,000

permits for business use, and want to increase this number. Somerville Parking aims to enhance

the Somerville community by maintaining an organized and sustainable transportation system for

residents and drivers. They stand by their guiding principal of “The Customer Comes First” by

aspiring towards safer streets, orderly traffic flow, and parking accessibility.

Over the years, the department has begun to offer more online capabilities, which has

made it more convenient for residents of Somerville to pay or appeal parking tickets online, and

apply for permit parking programs.

Despite these technological improvements, the department’s efforts in getting Somerville

business employees to apply for Business Permit Parking Program have fallen short. Most

Somerville employees are unaware of this program and continue to remain parked for long

hours at metered parking spots, which creates traffic congestion due to limited parking

availability. Somerville Parking is looking for new ways to reach these business workers and hopes

that new advertising initiatives will encourage them to sign up for the Business Permit Parking

Program.

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Research Objectives: Somerville Parking has encountered the following challenges:

• Somerville’s most popular hotspots, such as Davis Square, have limited parking

availability because Somerville employees who park their cars in these spots all day

constantly occupy metered parking. This causes traffic congestion, resulting in

complaints to the Somerville Parking office.

• To solve this problem, Somerville Parking advises Somerville employees to utilize the

Business Permit Parking Program, which will allow for more metered parking for customers.

This will lead to an increase in work productivity because employees won’t need to

constantly refill the meter.

In order to find a solution to these challenges, the Account Planner developed a research

plan to:

• Understand the effectiveness of QR Codes as a medium to encourage more Somerville

workers to sign up for the Business Permit Parking Program.

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Research Methodology: Qualitative Research

• The Account Planner conducted three in-person interviews.

o One interview was conducted with a 21-year-old Boston University student who

grew up in Somerville (held November 15, 2012).

o One interview was conducted with a 34-year-old male working in Somerville (held

November 20, 2012).

o One interview was conducted with a 33-old Tufts wife who currently resides in

Somerville (held December 2, 2012).

o 13 questions were asked to analyze the current attitude towards traffic and

parking in Somerville and their digital consumption habits.

Quantitative Research

• Survey

o Survey polls on people’s perception of QR codes

• Secondary research about the current status of QR codes in the advertising market

o Statistics on consumer’s usage of smartphones and QR codes

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Target Audience Description: The target consists of Somerville business employees between the ages of 30 and 50.

o The target audience commutes to work in Somerville everyday and parking has

been an issue for them over the years. Some do hold parking permits while others

utilize metered parking, which decreases work productivity because they need to

constantly refill the meter. These businessmen are frustrated with parking in

Somerville and aren’t aware of the numerous beneficial programs Somerville

Parking offers.

o The target audience is tech-savvy and is active on social media. These business

employees are busy trying to balance their business’ need with pending time with

their family. Because of their busy lifestyles, they prefer to do everything online,

from booking plane tickets to registering for jury duty, because it is faster and

more efficient.

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Key Findings: 1. A large portion of the target audience owns smartphones that have QR-code scanning

capabilities

o According to Mashable, Over 50% of all smartphone users are over the age of 35.

o According to Mintel, smart phones are expected to dominate the market with

64% of mobile phone unit sales.

o All one-on-one interviewees own a smartphone.

o According to Mintel, the most popular smartphone brands are Apple, Samsung,

and Android.

2. QR Codes are free, efficient and easy to set up.

o In 1994, Denso Wave Inc. invented the QR (Quick Response) Codes to track

vehicle parts in Japan. QR codes are 2D matrix bar codes capable of storing up

to 4,296 alphanumeric or 7,089 numeric characters.

o All major smartphones offer free apps that allow consumers to scan and utilize QR

codes. Websites such as www.qrcode.kaywa.com offer free QR Code generation

that can link the barcode to websites, PDF files, phone number, SMS, and

contacts.

o For $45/month, companies can sign up for Kaywa’s QR Management, which

offers data analytics that provides information on who, when, where, and what

device consumers used to scan your QR Code.

3. In the US, QR Code interest levels have declined since 2010.

o According to Google Insights, in 2004, the US showed a steady increase of

interest in QR codes. This grew until 2010, when the US saw a 1400% increase in QR

Code usage.

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o The exponential growth from 2010 to 2011 dramatically decreased in 2012, but

QR codes show slow growth.

o According to Mobio Q3 2011, QR Code users are 62% males and 38% females.

The most active users of QR codes are between the ages of 18-34.

o According to Lab42, only 27% of respondents have created a QR code before.

4. Most people are not familiar with QR Codes, and those who are, are unlikely to scan them.

o According to Lab42, 58% of respondents are not familiar with QR Codes.

Additionally 43% of them don’t know what a QR code is, and 13% feel that they

are inconvenient.

o According to an Ogilvy survey, 58.1% of the respondents are very unlikely to scan

a QR code when they see one, and only 14.9% of the respondents are likely to

scan a QR code when they see one.

o One interviewee stated that: “I downloaded the QR code reader app on my

iPhone, but I never use it. If I want to look something up, I’ll just search it on the

Internet using Safari. It’s much faster for me to search it than to scan a code.”

o Another interviewee stated: “I used a QR code reader to scan a friend’s BBM

contact on my old Blackberry for fun. But that’s the only interaction I have had

with QR codes.”

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5. QR codes are popular in magazines and retail discount offerings

o According to Lab42, 67% of people have seen QR codes in magazines and 62%

in retail stores.

o 46% of the people say the highest incentive for them to scan a QR code is if they

get a discount on certain retail products. 44% of the people say they scan QR

codes to get information on products or services.

6. Most individuals will not take the time to look at an advertisement or notice QR Codes.

o According to NBC, 75% of consumers feel overwhelmed by the amount of media.

Many people feel bombarded with information on a daily basis and will not take

the time to learn more information on things they don't need.

o One interviewee stated that she immediately, “throws out any flyers that are

placed under the windshield of my car, I wouldn’t even notice if there was a QR

code on that flyer.”

o People are desensitized from ads and it takes strong visuals to attract their

attention.

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Creative Brief: What is the purpose of this communication effort? Somerville Parking focuses on issuing permits for the city. They currently offer approximately 1,000 permits for business use, and aim to increase this number. The main objective for this communication effort is to create awareness in the Somerville community about permit parking options, specifically the Business Permit Parking Program. An increased awareness of this program will drive sales and create more meter parking spaces in Somerville. Who are we talking to, and what is their mindset? The target consists of business owners between the ages of 30 and 50, as well as employees working in Somerville. They commute to work everyday and parking has been an issue for them over the years. Some do hold parking permits while others do meter parking, which decreases work productivity, as they need to constantly refill the meter. These businessmen are frustrated with parking in Somerville and aren’t aware of the numerous beneficial programs Somerville Parking offers. What problem, need, or desire does this communication effort need to address? This communication effort needs to reach out to people who work in Somerville. Ad Lab needs to communicate that these people should participate in the Business Permit Parking Program instead of meter parking. Somerville Parking needs to increase awareness on its Business Permit Parking Program to free up the limited meter parking spaces Somerville has. What is the essential point the audience is supposed to take away from the communication? By participating in Somerville Parking’s Business Permit Parking Program, businessmen can increase their work productivity without having to constantly refill the meter. This would also create more meter parking space for their customers, which would ultimately drive more traffic to their business. What makes this believable? Somerville is the most densely populated city in New England and has over 11,600 registered vehicles per square mile. By increasing awareness in the Business Permit Parking Program, more meter spaces will be available for customers. What is the desired personality of the brand? Somerville Parking is your 50-year-old city councilman who lives with his family down the road in your neighborhood. He is extremely cheerful, hard working, and optimistic. You seek his advice and guidance on any home and neighborhood improvement projects, such as retiling the roof or setting up a recycle center. He is a great source of information and is always happy to answer any of your questions, no matter how simple it is. Somerville Parking is fully committed in making his small town the best place to live in. What are the executional considerations? One possible execution could consist of flyers that can be placed on cars parked in meter parking. Ad Lab should also increase Somerville Parking’s online presence as the company is currently transitioning the application process for the Business Parking Permit Program. Rather than applying at the Somerville Parking Office, customers will now apply online.

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Limitations: • Unable to conduct a Focus Group

o The Account Planner had initially planned to host a focus group for primary research.

Due to the difficulty in organizing a group of people within the target audience

profile, the Account Planner was unable to set up the focus group.

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Recommendations: • Set up a QR Code that links consumers to the PDF file of the Business Permit Parking Program

Application on Somerville Parking print ads.

o Key insights have shown that it is easy to set up a QR code and most of our target

audience own smartphones that can scan QR codes.

o While most of our target audience will not take the time to scan QR codes off of print

ads, they are familiar with QR codes and understand how to use them.

o All three of the one-on-one interviewees say that they would scan the QR code if

they were aware of the Business Permit Parking Program.

• Set up QR codes on popular parking areas around Davis Square that would spark curiosity

among consumers to scan it.

o According to QRmedia, 88% of respondents are more likely to scan a customized QR

code than a basic QR code. Somerville has the opportunity to create outdoor

advertisements that feature a customized QR code that will catch people’s

attention.

• Create an incentive for the target audience to scan the QR codes located on Somerville

Parking advertisements. This can be done through the application of discounts to the

Business Permit Parking Program for those who scan the QR code. People who scan the QR

code can access a code that can be used to unlock the discount offer.

o Research shows that 47% of people’s reasons for using a QR code are for retail

discount incentives. People are more likely to utilize a QR code if it offers discounts to

the things they need.

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o Providing a discount to the Business Permit Parking Program will increase consumer

interaction with the advertisement, and increase the number of participants in this

permit program.

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Summary: Somerville Parking’s biggest challenge is to get more Somerville employees to apply for

the Business Permit Parking Program so that there will be more parking spaces available for

visitors. This would also ensure a decrease in overall traffic in popular hotspots and would make

commuting in these areas easier. The department has combated this challenge by introducing

more technological capabilities in handling driving and parking regulations.

Most of the target audience is comprised of tech-savvy people who appreciate the

convenience Somerville Parking has provided when paying tickets or applying for permit

programs online. While smartphone penetration and familiarity with apps among the target

audience is quite high, their QR code usage habits are quite low. Somerville Parking must create

more incentives in order to encourage more use of their QR codes on advertisements.

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References:

Primary Research

• Three in-depth interviews with people who either work or live in Somerville

o Interviewee A (November 15th, 2012)

o Interviewee B (November 20th, 2012)

o Interviewee C (December 2nd, 2012)

Secondary Research

• Somerville Parking website, http://www.parksomerville.com

• Mobile Phones – US – February 2012 Mintel Report

• QR Code Statistics, http://www.slideshare.net/bertheymans/qr-codes-2012-beyond-the-

hype-a-look-at-statistics#btnNext

• QR Code Usage, http://mashable.com/2011/08/07/qr-codes-infographic-2/

• QR Code History, http://mashable.com/2011/03/04/qr-codes-infographic/

• QR Code Polls, http://fmgplan.com/wp-

content/uploads/2012/05/QRcode_infographic4e1.jpg

• Killer QR Code Campaign: http://qrmedia.us/6-pillars-of-a-killer-qr-code-campaign-part-

4-of-5/

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Appendix A: Survey Key Charts and

Graphs

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Appendix B: Interview Questions

Interview Questions

1. How often do you drive in Somerville? 2. In which areas and what time is it hardest to drive and park in? 3. What issues do you encounter most often when parking in Somerville? 4. How do you usually get information about parking and driving? 5. Do you own a smartphone? 6. Do you regularly use the apps available on your smartphone? 7. Are you familiar with QR codes? 8. Have you ever scanned a QR code? 9. If yes, which instances have you used QR codes? Why did you scan the QR code?

If no, what made you not want to scan the QR code? 10. Do you think advertisements with QR codes helps you access the information you want

about the ad faster? 11. Have you ever used the Somerville Parking website to access information and/or

conduct business? 12. Would you consider using a QR code placed on Somerville Parking advertisements to

access traffic and parking information or permit programs? 13. What other suggestion do you have for Somerville Parking?  

Demographic Profile

Three interviewees included:

• One 21-year-old, female Boston University college student who grew up in Somerville.

• One 36-year-old, male who works at Somerville and commutes everyday to work.

• One 26-year-old, male graduate student at Tufts University who commutes to Somerville

from Cambridge everyday for class. This interviewee also holds a part-time job at a café

at Davis Square.

• One out of three interviewees claimed a moderate level of proficiency on the Internet.

• Two out of three interviewees claimed a high level of proficiency on the Internet.

• Two of the three interviewees have heard of Somerville Parking and the services it offers.