Hallmark is using QR code technology on a line of children's greeting cards, Mobile Marketer reports. The company's rationale - that the technology extends the life of the card as well as increases engagement - certainly makes sense for a general audience. However separate statistics about QR's demographic use suggest the impact might be limited when aimed at children.

Hallmark recently developed mobile apps for the iPhone and iPad and has plans to launch an Android app. The line of QR-enabled Hallmark Halloween cards, being sold at Walmart, sport such characters Disney's Cars, Warner Brothers’ Scooby Doo and Marvel’s Super Hero Squad. The child scans the QR code on the card and is directed to a short video animation of the character, Mobile Marketing explains.

Older, Male, Richer

While QR codes are of growing interest to marketers, demographics show their appeal is mostly with certain demographics. comScore reports that the people more likely to scan a QR code are male (60.5% of code scanning audience), skew toward ages 18-34 (53.4 percent) and have a household income of $100,000 or above (36.1 percent). They also are more likely to scan codes found in newspapers/magazines and on product packaging — and do so while at home or in a store.

Of more immediate interest to the Hallmark campaign, another study, by Ypulse finds that younger people are not so likely to take the trouble. Fewer than one in five students have ever used them and nearly two thirds of students have no idea what they are. Some 6% have seen them but can't figure out how to use them. The study focused on teens and college students - not younger children - but presumably the findings can relate to them as well.