Radisson Edwardian’s Creative Use of QR Codes

Eating is fab especially if you are eating out in a large fancy restaurant. You order, you wait and then food eventually makes its way (prettily) onto the table right in front of you.

How would your experience change if you could WATCH how the chef came up with it? Would THAT be something you look forward to? We reckon it would make make it all the more fun and that it is a fantastic marketing ploy. But how?

In comes QR Codes.

We took the cue from popular eatery, Radisson Edwardian, who introduced the ‘dish of the month’ strategy. People who order the dish of the month will get a special QR Code and the QR Code is a link to an online video of the chef creating the dish! So, as you are eating the dish, you watch the video too! Awesome ideas DO come in handy when marketing.

However, we do reckon that a month of the same dish might be a little too long. Supposing that it was ‘dish of the week’, now THAT would be something that could potentially attract more people and get them to come more regularly.

According to surveys, consumers appreciate and would like to know stuff that they eat or order came about. What did the kitchen staff do? How fresh the ingredients were and of course, how much care the staff took to prepare the dish. So, in that respect, QR Codes help educate and keep consumers informed. This goes without saying but it also appease consumers’ minds when they decide to dine at said restaurant.

Of course, a little bit of research goes a long way. In this case, it turns out that many of Radisson Edwardian’s customers are already smart phone users and are also tech-savvy. So, if you are an eatery and is thinking about such an idea, we might suggest doing a little bit of a survey first. Find out if your customers are already using apps like Facebook, Twitter or Foursquare – that could help you launch this promotion more easily.

Representatives from the restaurant and the advertising agency in charge of their mobile campaign said that they love the creative use of QR Codes and see that if they pushed a little harder, they might even think of creating a code that links to a web cam showing the dish being created…LIVE from the kitchen.

An interesting and very unique way of using QR Codes for sure.