Will Mobile Augmented Reality kill QR Codes?

It is amazing how many Brand and Marketing Managers have had QR Codes placed on their collateral, sales tools and adverts, but have never actually used a QR code themselves. As part of a study conducted on consumers in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, InMobi asked the respondents whether they have used a QR code before, and in some countries up to 70% of the respondents did not even know what a QR code is yet agencies and marketers still insist on using them. For those readers, who fall into the 70% category, QR codes are those square œbarcode-looking blocks that you aim your mobile devices camera at, once you have downloaded a specific App for your device. The problem being, that some Apps dont work with certain QR codes, and all this action does is redirect the user to a URL. After being in market for several years, one could say that QR codes have failed to take off, and now some innovative brands are adopting mobile augmented reality to drive consumer engagement instead. For example, IKEA, the international furniture and retailer launched its 2013 Catalog and integrated its App with augmented reality functionality. Check out the really cool YouTube clip explaining the concept here: http://youtu.be/QQ8HNXtl7jQ There is yet to be an augmented reality campaign in Africa, the first should come out of South Africa that has the highest penetration of Smartphones on the continent.