Modified 3/31/2010 to clarify privacy concerns at end of post.

Believe it or not, even print is interactive!

Way back in 2000, WIRED Magazine leveraged Digimarc to add watermarks to print ads.  At that point, reading the ads was only possible using a PC camera and, with the appropriate watermark software installed, would direct you to the advertiser’s web site.  Interesting, but not that useful.  Fast forward to 2010, the iPhone and much higher distribution watermarked ads and things start getting more interesting.

Much more interesting in fact…  A recent issue of Wired Magazine piqued our Creative Director Allan Godshall’s interest as the editorial proclaimed that print was once again interactive in Wired Magazine using technology from Kooaba designed for the iPhone.

Please refer to the press release from Kooaba (the company providing the technology to WIRED) and the specific release on WIRED’s site.

Using an iPhone and the Kooaba app, the ads could be “read”.  I’m not going to rehash my previous rants that questioned the value of iPhone app mania.  Nonetheless, this is pretty cool depending on what the action is on the iPhone when the ad is “scanned”.

If advertising using a tool like this, what action would you want people to take?  Would you have them do something that reinforced the brand equity?  Would you take the opportunity to grab consumer information?  Perhaps the ad would simply link to a page giving the consumer more information about the advertised product or service.

It would really depend on the strategy behind the print piece and the call to action.  Very rapidly, the capability of this technology forces clarification of the strategy and goals sections of the creative brief for that ad…  Back to the point; does this capability bring  privacy concerns to print?

Potentially.  In the age of variable printing and segmentation to a group of 1, who is to say that a advertisement’s watermarked print ad in your favorite magazine doesn’t contain YOUR subscription number?  When you click on that ad, viola, as you’re iPhone is getting directed to the advertiser’s web site, they happily make off with both your phone number and subscription number.  A quick mashup of that data and the publishers information about you and now the advertiser has something very valuable…  After all, that magazine publisher knows exactly who you are, where you live and probably a ton of psychographic and demographic information.

Considering this, are we going to see privacy statements on print ads in the future?

Despite the privacy concerns, we believe this is interesting technology.  If you’re looking to work some magic with your marketing, just ask us to bring some more IMPACT!