Don't turn the page. Take a picture! Rolling Stone and Men's Health want their readers to take cell-phone pictures of ads running in their pages and transmit them to special numbers. You’d think these magazines would be familiar with their advertisers and not have to rely on the public to tell them who’s running in their pages. Just kidding—it’s a bid to boost reader engagement by making print ads interactive. If nothing else, it will keep the publications busy between rounds of layoffs. An image-recognition company will scan the photos, recognize the ads, and send back more information on special offers and such. After Fred in the next cubicle showed me how to work my cell-phone camera, I took the above snap and sent it in. I can’t wait for my prize. And stop rolling your eyes, Fred. —Posted by David Gianatasio

April 28, 2008 in Gianatasio | Permalink

Comments

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So...I get a chance to spend money on a picture message in order to sign up for spam from a company and a chance in hell to win something? Why didn't anyone else think of this?

http://dailybiz.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/rolling-stones-bid-to-be-more-interactive/

Posted by: daily biz | Apr 28, 2008 11:30:15 AM

This may be the dumbest advertiser idea yet! If this catches on I will eat my frickin' shorts.

Posted by: Garret Ohm | Apr 28, 2008 12:26:27 PM

This is right up there with television advertisers "hiding" codes in their commercials to keep DVR users from skipping past them.

I don't know what the general statistics are on rate of return from ads, but I know that my brain tends to edit them out unless they're particularly creative and even then I remember that it was a great ad (and often the company that created it) more than I recall what it was trying to sell.

Posted by: urban bohemian | Apr 28, 2008 2:17:24 PM

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