Mobile internet services firm Digital Reach Group (DRG) is providing Irish newspaper Metro Herald with Quick Response (QR) codes as part of the newspaper’s advertising portfolio.

Metro Herald will work exclusively with DRG to enable advertisers in Ireland to incorporate an interactive digital response into their print campaigns, through the use of QR codes. Working with the newspaper, DRG will provide strategy input, create QR codes and mobile landing pages, and measure and report on campaign performance.

Last April, DRG launched the QR code service ScanLife in Ireland, giving smartphone owners instant access to extra information on their handsets when they scan a 2D barcode within a printed advert or editorial. As well as giving users additional content, a simple point and scan can also enable them to download mobile apps, enter competitions, or receive a promotional voucher, call or text.

“This will give our newspaper a unique product and service that we can offer directly to advertisers and agencies,” says Metro Herald managing director, Paul Crosbie. “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. ScanLife has already proven highly effective through campaigns we’ve run with DRG since April. Working directly with us, advertisers and agencies can easily, and cost effectively, avail of this service to give their ad campaign an added level of measurability and interactivity.”

QR codes from DRG have already been successfully implemented for a range of brands in Ireland through Metro Herald in the last six months. Users include Sunway, Samsung, Carlsberg, and Jameson.