Cup O’ Joe (aka Café Joe), one of Israel’s biggest coffee chains, has been trying out a form of location-based advertisements in their local newspaper.

QR codes were introduced as the focal point in their newspaper ads; when scanned, a mobile-optimized landing page shows the reader the nearest Cup O’ Joe location and a Google Map with directions. To encourage readers to visit they also included a coupon for a free coffee.

Watch this video coverage of Café Joe’s ad campaign, then keep reading…

Pretty brilliant and pretty simple! They nailed this for a number of reasons:

1. They chose an advertising medium that is relevant to their product; a great cup of coffee goes hand in hand with reading the paper. Plus, Israel has an incredibly high newspaper readership rate.

2. Instant Call to Action; readers can take action (scan the code, find a location, discover the coupon) when they see the ad…without even putting down the paper.

3. The Call to Action is not wasted; even if the reader doesn’t want to dash off to buy a coffee at that moment, by scanning the QR Code they will now know where the nearest Café Joe is located…and have a coupon enticing them to visit for their next cup of java.

4. All campaign elements are mobile-friendly; this was built for mobile from beginning to end.

5. It’s fun and engaging; the QR Code doesn’t simply lead readers to the Cup O’ Joe website (boring) or a text-based list of locations (seriously, that’s the best you can do?)

What are your thoughts?

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