Following the remark of the editor-in-chief of Esquire with regard to their usage of Augmented Reality in their upcoming cover:

“I got so sick of people talking about old media versus new media. I wanted to prove that print is still kind of cool. I think of it as kind of our job to show people the strength of our medium.”

Do you think Print Media still has a place within the marketing strategy? Are they desperate attempts or can it revive in a more innovative cross-channel manner?

I came across this announcement by Esquire, november the 9th they will be featuring an Augmented Reality page which can be viewed by webcam.

The announcement and the frontcover:

It’s good to see that Esquire, GE and others are experimenting with the AR technology in order to bridge offline and online content, in order to create cross-channel campaigns which will trigger people to consume both offline print and online -complementary- content which put together creates an integral package of information.

Cross-channeling through QR codes happens already extensively in Asia, where people can access information with a QR code which is being displayed on billboards, print media, cards and so on.

Not only is Augmented Reality ’science fictional’ and innovative, it can also attract people to stay longer and explore other content on a particular website, where offline/print-media was the initiator of the act.
As long as Augmented Reality is not mass adopted, companies should experiment with (mobile) Augmented Reality and QR codes and learn how they can benefit in the long run from it, when it’s widely used, the short term advantages would be that a company will be perceived as creative and willing to entertain their customer base in a different way.
More and more Augmented Reality platforms are being developed which means in time prices will decrease, when Augmented Reality could be relevant to your business, start you research today.

What other applications do you see for Augmented Reality in relation to print media?