Originally, QR Codes were developed by the car brand Toyota in 1994 for the automotive industry to monitor products, manage documentation, verify items, and general marketing. QR Codes have a huge capacity of more than 7,000 numeric characters, making them highly effective compared to barcodes. Now QR Codes are everywhere!

Did you know? The counterfeit threats in the US Automotive industry is estimated that the total global economic value of counterfeiting and piracy could reach $2.3 trillion by 2022 as per World Trademark Review (2022). Shell Malaysia did random sampling and found out that 33% of Shell Lubricants sold through hypermarketed and online marketplaces were identified as counterfeit. Among so many many cases of fraud in the Automotive industry, businesses decide that it is time to take some concrete action.

QR-Marketing GmbH offers a holistic solution through QR Fingerprint® which provides the option to check the authenticity and track and trace counterfeits around the world. It mitigates the risk of fake features through the creation of unique product signatures. It offers brand protection services to customers and a way to verify the integrity of a product by scanning the unique QR Tag. Further, it can help to reduce the risk of component theft by tracking and trace of counterfeit products through our cloud services. Find out more about QR Fingerprint® or just contact our experts.

QR Tags can give you exact information about the location, time and how many times it has been scanned. Unique QR codes can be used for various use cases and industries.

1. Integrity check by customer

Of all the motor vehicles stolen, 74.5% were automobiles- It amounted to a theft of more than $6.4 billion according to this FBI study. This is a frustrating news sure for auto parts manufacturers but also for the entire automotive industry. By simply using our QR Fingerprint® solution which helps to track and trace high-value car components. Conventional QR Codes do not contain a unique ID. They are good to share information, but neither users nor products can be traced back. However, as QR Tags contain microscopic differences which creates a huge difference. With the unique serialised ID it is possible to track and trace users and products. Monitoring grey market and brand protection are only possible with Smart QR Tag. Find out more about the benefits of QR Tags over QR codes for brand-protection ? Integrated with cloud analytics solutions to generate, manage and trace IDs - QR Fingerprint™ is the most cost-effective and efficient solution for the Automotive industry.

2. Create a digital shopping experience

By simply placing a QR Code next to each vehicle with all its specifications one can easily create more leads in car brand showrooms. Car specifications can be communicated to customers and ease the burden for sales representatives in the Auto parts market in general. QR codes in Automotive industry can even assist the sales staff and they won’t need to go through the tiring process of asking customers to fill out manual forms to generate data insights on customer behaviour: scan rates/location/time etc.

The conventional QR Codes are only good for creating landing pages, where the customer has to enter the information themselves or in form of a pop-up window. This creates a barrier and often demotivates customers to write their information. On the other hand, GDPR-compliant QR Tags can automatically collect efficient customer data with a single scan. This helps companies to generate better data insights. This is possible because QR Tags have a unique serial number, and each product gets a unique identity this serialisation makes it possible to record exactly where customers come from, which product they are interested in, and whether are they returning or new customers. Find out more on difference between QR Code and unique QR Code, the so-called ‘QR Tag’.

3. Ensuring passenger safety

Mercedes-Benz's solution is to put QR Codes on cars’ b-pillars and fuel doors and to help rescue groups get information to make a fast recovery and encourage other car manufacturers to do the same. ADAC- the German Automobile Association promotes the use of simple sheets which promotes rescue sheets that work as a manual for rescue groups to find the positions of airbags, batteries, high-voltage parts, etc. However, it is often a problem in the automotive industry to access these sheets which are often kept inside the car itself. In the frightening episode of a car crash, often creates friction in easy rescue.

Source: www.newatlas.com

4. Ensuring the highest brand protection: Level up with holograms labels

When we talk about authentication and brand protection services at QR-Marketing GmbH, we cannot forget to mention our special Nanogram ™ technology.

Nanograms are holograms that are 100% forgery-proof. They offer a high resolution and five levels of security. We use nanogram technology. Labels are available in variable sizes and designs. To understand more about hologram labels, book a free call with us.

What is authentication of products about?

Authentication gives your customers a guarantee of a product's authenticity before and after purchase. At the same time, it ensures customer trust and brand integrity for your company. Because the integrity of products is so important, our solution is as straightforward and sophisticated as possible. The interface is user-friendly as customers can use their smartphones to determine the authenticity of their product by scanning the QR Tag in the label.  At the same time, our solution is cost-effective, because you can integrate all ACF features from our brand protection services into your existing label technology, giving you a lean supply chain.

Our brand protection solution is based on preventing counterfeiting by monitoring the entire production process. Therefore, our Label Analytics Solution (LAS) Cloud software represents the heart of the solution. Using cloud services, product IDs can be serialised even for great numbers, which allows businesses to track and trace products around the world.

Anyone who buys and pays for a brand product also wants to receive an original product. Counterfeit products result in losses of billions of dollars for companies, have a negative impact on brand image, and in some cases even pose a real health risk to consumers.

Via QR Tags, users have the chance to verify the integrity of products and can thus be sure that it is not counterfeit product.

But does my product need multi-level security?

The rapid increase in counterfeit products should not be underestimated. Track and trace solutions alone are not enough to protect your brand. We provide the appropriate protection for your brand integrity through our state-of-the-art technologies from a single source. QR Marketing offers a combination of features to meet your unique needs while enhancing copy protection with overt and covert security levels. Multi-level security combats counterfeit products by making it more difficult and expensive, while additionally tracking grey market activity. 

Here's how it works: The user scans the QR Tag and is taken to a landing page with a certificate of authenticity. After the check, companies can provide further content or opportunities to engage with the customer, e.g. leading to a shop, game, or educational content.

This is what the QR Tag does: Products need clearly identifiable IDs to make their origin traceable. Every product - whether sold online or offline - can be verified in this way - even premium spirits and high-quality wines, for example, which are often faced with high-risk exposure to fraud.

In Summary,

Impact of counterfeiting on your brand/company 

• High profit losses

• Damage of brand equity 

• Bad reputation and image damage 

• Loss of consumer trust 

Authentication via unique QR Tag is key to brand protection

• Guarantees customers and official retailers the integrity of products 

• Strengthens customers' trust in your brand 

• Monitors grey markets through product tracking 

• Prevents and fights losses due to counterfeiting

At QR-Marketing GmbH – a brand by All4Labels, we have developed solutions to create innovative customer interaction, and build brand protection and interactive retail. You can book a free call with our expert to help build a marketing strategy. industry-specific solutions to create innovative customer interaction, build brand protection, and interactive retail. You can book a free call to let us help build a marketing strategy.