Pick up a magazine and you’ll soon see that the web has a new rival in the bid for “interactive” advertising dollars.  New “interactive” print ads are fighting for reader’s attention with smell, touch and sound.  One of the driving forces for this phenomenon is that technology is making it less expensive to put unusual objects in magazines — and that helps advertisers create more sophisticated inserts.  But there is another dynamic at work: with so much of the publishing industry shifting to the web, magazine executives are now trying to use their print products as a tactical advantage.

Smell, Touch, Listen … Interactive Print Ads Fight for Readers’ Attention
Readers of an April issue of People magazine might have been startled to open to a bulky page in the middle and hear Natasha Bedingfield’s latest pop song start to play out loud. It was courtesy of a large ad for Verizon Wireless’ music download service – and a tiny battery and speaker wedged within the pages of the magazine.  Readers have also gotten used to sensory affronts from their reading material. With blinking lights, pop-up ads, kiss-on lipstick samples, scratch-off scents, melt-in-your-mouth taste strips and even pocket squares, advertisers are stuffing magazines full of just about anything to make their advertisements stand out.  Technological improvements (such as hiding fragrance samples under peel-off strips) have also reduced backlash from people with allergies.  Other creative examples include a pop-up panties 3D ad for Fruit of the Loom, and taste strips on a People ad for Welch’s Grape Juice.

Consumers should expect to see more advertising units like these.  As technology advances, it will become easier and more efficient to produce and implement these high impact units.  Research also supports an increase of “interactive” units.  Results indicate that these “spectacular” print ads do in fact stick in reader’s minds.  Also, companies that have included coupons with samples on their ads have two to three times the redemption rate of those who do not.

At Empower, we recommend that magazine publishers and advertisers use caution when applying these creative techniques. Readers don’t want to be annoyed with breaks in editorial every few pages in order to support these heavier units.  Yes caution is needed in order not to interrupt the readers’ involvement with the magazine. It is these types of ad units that are going to engage readers and allow them to spend more time with the magazine brand and its other extensions.  Publishers need to continue to ensure that there is an overall balance between editorial and advertising. The interactive ads do bring incremental revenue to the magazine, but publishers must be careful not to interrupt the reading experience or engagement with the vehicle — which is what makes magazines unique compared to other vehicles. 

By:  Michael Anderson, Magazine Group Director