– even making the Lexus on the magazine page appear to be driving along the road.
Tying into the teenage fantasy of X-ray vision, clothing companies Moosejaw and Wonderbra each created decoder apps, letting users ‘undress’ models by running their app-enabled smartphone over a print ad. The functionality was remarkably simple – the phone scans a QR code, which then reveals appropriate photographic overlays.
As a print campaign, it was fun and
nostalgic; as a digital-only campaign, the undress-the-model technology would have been far less intriguing. Moreover, the technology was easily extended to add features and create advertorial content that was largely unobtrusive (e.g., which sports bra Hope Solo prefers, the inside scoop on the makeup used on an issue’s cover model).
A non-magazine content creator (Ikea),
created a print publication loaded with print-digital crossover opportunities. Scanning a smartphone over images in the catalogue revealed videos, mix-and- match content, interiors of cupboards, etc. The experience was memorable, and created an intimate, explore-the-home kind of feel which would be well-suited not only to advertising, but also to home and design features in magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar or Architectural Digest.
And where’s the website or tablet app 94
Print offers publishers the opportunity to push boundar- ies and experiment with new forms of storytelling in a way that digital-only cannot.
that can print stickers at all, never mind controversial stickers aimed to cause trouble in the supermarket? Foodie magazine Lucky Peach took the ‘Peel Me’ strategy to extremes twice with two full pages of faux fruit stickers saying things like ‘Hand Harvested by Poor People’, ‘Suspiciously Foreign’ and ‘Six Dollars Off Entire Purchase’. The little gimmick got Lucky kicked out of the Publix supermarkets in the US. But the controversy reportedly generated a bushel of sales to more than replace the lost revenue.
So, cancel the wake, print is alive and well, and will be around for years to come.