The Convention and Visitors Bureau of New Braunfels, Texas, announced two campaigns, one centered around environmental awareness and the second geared to tourists, said Judy Young, director of the New Braunfels Convention and Visitors Bureau. The two campaigns include QR codes that push either tourist-related content or content centered around environmental legislation.
The first campaign, “Pitch In,” is modeled after the “Don’t Mess with Texas” highway litter prevention program and was developed because the city needed a way to communicate with visitors quickly and on a mass scale, Young said, adding that the New Braunfels city council took action last fall on new ordinances which have caused “great confusion” and which are still in litigation.
As part of the campaign, the bureau launched www.watertherules.com, which lists rules than can easily be updated depending on the litigation outcome.
Users can access these rules via QR codes placed in various local businesses. Visitors to the site can also access maps, a travel planner and can submit questions.
“We … needed all our hospitality employees—which are over 7,000—to be able to communicate what the rules were, especially in convenience stores and restaurants,” Young said. “But they don’t have a lot of time to get into deep conversation then.”
The second effort involves a revamped historical tour that leverages QR codes on more than 70 historical sites downtown, Young said.
Once snapped, the codes take users to informative videos or podcasts about the locations.
Young said the bureau had a budget of $218,000 for the project. AMMO Advertising, a local agency, is the bureau’s AOR. It also worked with Iniosante and Bibisi.
The bureau plans to expand its QR code historical tour outside of the downtown area and include a QR code cemetery tour, Young said. The projects are aimed to launch 2013 or 2014, but Young said the timing depends on funding.
