Back to Basics w/ Interactive Campaigns

While newer technologies like watermarks and augmented reality get a lot of buzz in the interactive print space, older mobile technologies like SMS and social media marketing can also drive revenue opportunities in print.

Magazines such as Lucky and People Style Watch have featured text-to-buy options next to the editorial coverage of fashion spreads. Lucky was one of the magazines to start this trend back in 2006 and in 2012 have sent thousands of text messages a month to readers with URLs to mobile optimized sites ready to purchase. People Style Watch has revived this trend in several 2013 issues as show below.

People Style Watch

 The growth of social media has re-surged this with a new hashtag twist. A print play on American Express’ program to use twitter for commerce has companies such as Chirpify allowing users to see a hashtag and drive to commerce. The hashtags can be promoted online or in print and Chirpify will verify, capture and complete the transaction. The user flow is outlined below.

As people begin to socialize and life dual lives online and offline, consumers will expect technology to bridge these when convenient and here are some interesting ways advertising can capitalize. 

To read more about text to buy programs from their beginning click here. 

To read more about Chirpify click here. 

Chripify user flow

QR Codes Are Dead, Trampled by Easier-to-Use Apps

I was an early proponent of QR Codes, but now I have to admit that they are history. Invisible ink and augmented-reality apps are replacing the clunky codes. The new technology is superior in that you don't have to take a picture of the code, which then records your contact information and sends you to a website, video or document, or sends you a text message giving a web address. With the new apps, you just run your smartphone over the content and get the enhanced features immediately.

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Why Apple’s Passbook is a bigger must-have for marketers than ever

Passbook app on Apple iOS 7 devices

Many of the enhancements available in iOS 7 point to how Apple is addressing mobile wallets as enhancing the shopping experience with offers and in-store information rather than by enabling payments, where adoption has been slow.

With redemption rates typically higher for mobile coupons that their print counterparts, the newly updated Passbook will give marketers a way to easily boost their overall couponing strategies by making it easy to add print coupons to Passbook and share the savings with friends. Other marketer-friendly updates in iOS 7 to include automatic updates for applications and the new iBeacon service that could enhance in-store shopping.

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CPG brands piggyback on third-party apps for mobile boost

The Clorox check-in within Viggle

While consumer-packaged-goods brands are moving slowing when it comes to leveraging mobile to directly connect with customers, many view third-party applications as an easy way to establish a mobile footprint quickly.

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Cadillac // ATS vs. The World

Cadillac wanted to extend the value and sophistication of their ATS vs. The World campaign at home in the US, their biggest market. Their biggest challenge was to find a way for customers to experience the worldliness of the ATS at home and engage with the brand. 

To solve this challenge, DAQRI partnered with Cadillac’s creative agency, Fallon, to create a Webby-nominated, larger-than-life 4D experience unlike anything the advertising world has ever seen.

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Meredith Introduces Mom+ App To Breathe Digital Life into Print Pages

Meredith Parents Network has introduced a new app for parents called the Mom+ app that is designed to breathe digital life into print magazines.

The free app, which was designed by Nellymoser for both  iOS and Android, integrates content from multiple titles under the network’s umbrella of publications.

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Shoppable Magazine Apps

by Alexandra Stark
 
Mobile apps provide a connection between content printed on a page and what’s available online, such as direct access to buy a featured product. However, certain items and magazines are much more receptive to this impulse shopping than others.

The many different forms of interactive print – from watermarks and QR codes to image recognition technology – allows digital developers to easily take products from a magazine page and direct users to buy them instantly online. After a magazine hits newsstands, new content matcher “Magnetique” takes images of each page, makes the page scannable using their mobile app, and provides links on where to find certain products online. They are not associated with the magazines. Most recently they activated the September issue of Glamour, which you can read more about here.

While seamless print-to-e-commerce interactions are an essential next step in magazines, they do not necessarily apply to all categories of content. It must be considered whether the product is being targeted as an impulse purchase or one that needs to be researched further – usually dependent on price point and availability.

Once again, Apple bypasses NFC in its new iPhones

Maybe this wasn't a surprise: Apple announced the new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C on Tuesday, but neither comes equipped with an NFC chip inside.

Instead, Apple has opted for a unique new fingerprint sensor, the Touch ID, which allows a simple touch of a finger to unlock the phone or to make purchases from the App Store and the iTunes and iBooks retail sites. It's faster than typing a password.

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Microsoft Tag Shuts Down as QR Codes Struggle

Microsoft announced that will shut down Microsoft Tag service after three years.

Microsoft Tag launched in 2010 as a colorful alternative to the QR code. Anyone could create a unique 2D barcode which, when scanned using a Microsoft Tag app on an Internet-connected smartphone, could pull up an image, video, website or other web-based asset.

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Is the iPad Era Already Drawing to a Close?

When it comes to Apple, hope and pessimism spring eternal. Just ask the accidentally dueling billionaires Carl Icahn and Larry Ellison.

Oracle co-founder and CEO Ellison, in a interview with Charlie Rose that aired on "CBS This Morning" last Tuesday, predicted that, as the Los Angeles Times summed up in a headline, "Apple is doomed without Steve Jobs." He conveyed his feelings in a sort of real-time infographic: "We saw Apple with Steve Jobs," Ellison said while raising his finger. "Now, we're gonna see Apple without Steve Jobs," he added while dropping his finger.

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Smartphones and Tablets Account for Half of US Adults’ Time Online

Soaring smartphone and tablet use has doubled the amount of time Americans spend online in the matter of a few short years, finds a new report [download page] from comScore and Jumptap. As a result, as of April of this year, smartphones (39% share) and tablets (12% share) account for approximately half of adults’ time online, a figure which rises to 59% among 18-24-year-olds and 61% among women aged 25-49.

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Harper's Bazaar, Yoox Group Partner on ShopBazaar.com

Harper’s Bazaar and Yoox Group have signed an agreement that will establish Yoox Group as the primary partner of ShopBazaar.com, a content-to-commerce online store that allows readers to shop the pages of the magazine. Products for sale are chosen by Bazaar’s editors.

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Harper's Bazaar uses blippar to buy

Allure sticks with Microsoft Tags for biggest Free Stuff giveaway

Allure Magazine is enlisting Microsoft Tags for the fourth time in what it claims to be its biggest giveaway in Free Stuff issue history, with 37,298 items available.

The beauty magazine is giving away more than $1 million in beauty and fashion prizes as part of its annual Free Stuff issue. Readers have the option of scanning Microsoft Tags to sign up for reminders for each of the giveaway entries.

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Blippar Drives Augmented Reality Campaigns, Amasses 3M Users

Augmented reality today consists mainly of superimposed images, but companies are already envisioning a world where AR technology is an extension of our daily activities. While all eyes are on Google Glass, Blippar, a 2-year-old company based in London, has quietly helped brands like Heinz, Budweiser and Cadbury launch AR-based campaigns and claims to have more than 3 million users.

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Elle Magazine Adds Layar in the UK

Katy Perry isn’t the only eye-catching thing in this month’s Elle UK.
Inside the popular women’s magazine, readers will find they can scan pages with the Layar App to discover bonus materials, including links and behind-the-scenes videos.

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Print to Mobile Sees Emergence of Image Recognition and Augmented Reality in 2012

Nellymoser study reveals rapid adoption of image-based technology, representing 19% of all mobile activated print experiences.

Mobile activation in the Top 100 U.S. magazines has dramatically changed from 2011 to 2012. Several compelling patterns have emerged, notably the increasing popularity of issue-wide mobile programs and magazine branded scanning apps, particularly those leveraging augmented reality, image recognition, and invisible watermarking technology. Over the last two years that Nellymoser has tracked the use of print to digital content in magazines, there has been overwhelming growth in mobile activations used in both editorial and advertising content.

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Why It's Time To Rebrand 'Augmented Reality'

Have you ever taken a moment to consider how inaccurate certain phrases can be? Pencils have been made with graphite for years, and yet we still insist on calling it “pencil lead.” Aluminum foil is sometimes called “tinfoil,” and a “jellyfish” isn't even a fish at all.
It's probably too late to stop using words like “jellyfish.” They are so engrained in our vernacular that the change would warrant a massive campaign, and the jellyfish themselves wouldn't know the difference. But it's not too late for “augmented reality” to rebrand itself -- and for marketers, content professionals and consumers, this semantic shift must happen quickly if we are to drive mainstream adoption.

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More Magazine Launches Interactive Program with Blippar Augmented Reality Platform

More, the magazine for women of style and substance, will launch a new print-to-mobile program using Blippar™ in September 2013. Offering cutting-edge interactive technology, Blippar™ is a leading image-recognition app that bridges the gap between two-dimensional print content and three-dimensional experiences in real time. More, the first Meredith brand to launch Blippar™, will include engaging blippable content in the September 15th Anniversary issue, on newsstands now.

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Can These Augmented-Reality Apps Move Beyond the Gimmicks?

Last week, a man jumped out of a bottle of Pepsi and performed a magic trick for me.
No, I wasn’t hallucinating in the New York City heat wave. I was using an augmented-reality app on my iPhone that makes 3-D images and videos appear, through the phone’s camera, as though they’re on top of physical objects or environments.

Augmented reality isn’t new in consumer apps. You might recall the buzz a few years ago around Yelp’s Monocle feature, or maybe you’ve heard of apps like Spyglass, which blend AR tech with the built-in GPS of a smartphone to offer interactive displays for outdoorsy types.

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