Mobile to save Press industry! - an augmented reality?

As online overtakes newspapers, in terms of ad spend and classified advertising revenues diminish year on year, the picture for the press industry could be viewed as pretty bleak.

Fear not press titans! the calvary are coming to your rescue and in fitting, with the delicious ambiguity of life, it will be digital that saves you - digital in the form of the ubiquitous mobile phone.

Put simply, by dowloading software onto your mobile and then holding your mobile phone camera over a press ad, it allows a 3D image to 'jump out' from the page. Thus creating a incredibly engaging, interactive press advertising experience.

This is enabled by 'augmented reality' technology - a theme of computer research that combines real world and computer generated data.

Wellington Zoo, in New Zealand carried out a press campaign using this technology to promote getting face-to-face with the Zoo animals. When a user held their mobile phone over the ad, a 3D animal such as a giraffe apeared...very cool.

We are exploring this for our clients, so watch this space.

Would you believe the future possibilities for press advertising are incredible? Convergence and integration of channels are key.

Check out details at this link, you will need to register.

Sinead

Comments

[Matt]

Sounds interesting. It's not going to solve the newspapers circulation issues though.....

[[email protected]]

mmn...I'm not so sure Matt, in fact, if anything, it points to the future interactivity and potential content of 'traditional press' if used in conjunction with digital technology.

This may well be mobile phones or other wireless devices or technology that may one day surround us.
This will surely render newspapers or what they evolve into, a medium that is much more engaging to consume.

[Si Conroy]

Interesting. But what use could it have for recruitment classifieds?

[Sinead Bunting]

the possibilities for classifieds are really exciting!

Be that regional classifieds, which can, through augmented reality technology, perhaps, visually show the location or the working environment the prospective candidate will work in? Depends on key message employer wants to portray....

Creative branded classified ads, be they in regional, national or industry press can perhaps visually bring the employer value proposition to life. Could an actual ambassador of the company i.e. a current employee, speak directly to the candidate and encourage them to join? why not....

The possibilties are endless.

[Matt]

Hmmmmm still don't get it. Why would someone who could get all the functionality already through something like an iPhone suddenly start reading papers again in order to access that kind of content on their iPhone.

Don't get me wrong I think it's a good idea with good commerial potential but long term it's loss of readers that is killing newspapers and I wouldn't see this as a killer app this is going to get those readers back.

[Jamie White]

I think Matt's right. Bolting an immersive 3D multimedia interactive solution onto a flat mixture of pulped wood and ink seems a bit like fixing a shiny new flat screen onto the wall of a cave with no plug socket.