Porsche uses phone-formatted bar codes to connect with customers

Porsche is harnessing the power of smartphones, using Microsoft Tag bar codes to provide dealership customers with unique information about the cars they're looking at.

Buyers can scan the square stickers with a properly equipped phone, and the application will take them to dedicated microsites where they can see stats, videos and pictures of the car, along with audio clips of a flat-six engine revving up. Through the microsite, buyers can provide contact info for a follow-up call from Porsche salespeople.

The company said it thinks the plan will improve the brand experience.

"Based on the uses where our dealers have already been trying, it is putting the initial conversation in the power of the consumer," Josh Cherfoli, Porsche's online relationship and marketing manager, told Luxury Daily. "Our salespeople are showing and teaching consumers how to use it when they walk into the showrooms."

The brand is implementing the new bar codes into ads in newspapers and magazines, which will lead consumers to a page with more general information, instead of model-specific items. The latest updates include dealership inventory, special offers and driving directions to Porsche dealers.

By Jake Lingeman