Ch-ch-check this out, old media is embracing new media in the latest edition of Esquire with Robert Downey Jr. coming to life using Augmented Reality (AR).

Readers will be able to hold the US edition in front of a webcam and the on-screen image of the magazine become alive with letter flying off the cover and Robert Downey Jr. emerging out of the page in 3D.

The animation is triggered by the box between Downey’s legs (no laughing please) which looks like a QR code but is way cooler.

Inside the magazine there are a further six AR boxes, each activating a different interactive video feature. Sections such as men’s fashion are transformed on screen with the models changing clothing ranges depending on how the page is tilted.

Even the regular feature called ‘Funny Joke from a Beautiful Woman’ gets the AG treatment with actress Gillian Jacobs taking part. Bring back the magazine to your webcam after midnight and Gillian tells you a ‘dirty’ joke, which is too rude for daytime audiences.

Looking at the front page it also looks like there is some education for the reader about what Augmented Reality is and how to use it. I wonder how many users will think this is just another QR code thingy?

It reminds me a bit of when The Sun did that QR code ‘Special’ pull out to teach van drivers what to do when they saw the little black and white squares. They went for a similar approach by using Keeley Hazel, just with slightly less clothing than Robert Downey Jr.

Advertising

The kind of AR enabled magazine isn’t easy or cheap to produce, so advertising support is essential, which is why two of the AR markers in the magazine trigger on-screen ads for Lexus. It sounds like their involvement is key as Editor David Granger admitted the issue cost more than usual to put together.

Esquire ad sales has dropped by 26% compared to 2008 so it’s no wonder they are trying new things to retain advertisers.

Other magazines such as Entertainment Weekly have also tried integrating digital features like embedding actually videos into the pages. Click here to see.

[Via U Talk Marketing]

You know the drill, it’s the end of the month and you’re racing to do your expenses so that accounts can process them in time for payday and you seem to be missing enough receipts to a) make up for the actual amount you spent that month or b) buy yourself Fifa 2010 for the Playstation 3.

Well no longer do you need to ask every cab driver in town for an extra couple of blank receipts thanks to this expense report generator.

Ok so that’s not entirely the point of this great online tool from the upscale steakhouse restaurant Maloney & Porcelli. It’s actually to attract more corporate client lunchers who have been extremely cautious about putting $50 steaks on expenses in the current financial climate.  And seeing as the restaurant is right next to Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Blackstone, you can imagine that this sort of clientele makes up a large amount of their customers.

The thinking behind the expense generator is that it makes it easy to turn your frivolous steak(s) with your client into something more responsible like a taxi fare or office supplies. Simply input the amount of your Maloney & Porcelli bill and the generator will produce a number of realistic looking receipts for other things to fool your accounts department. Forget trying to sign blank receipts with different handwriting and types of pen, this is the future.

What happens if you can’t finish your giant pork shank and want to take it back to the office in a doggybag? Won’t the accounts team see your Maloney & Porcelli bag and suss you out? Well M&P have got your back with a range of unique camouflaged ‘stealth’ bags … ones that bear the logos of ‘cheaper’ restaurants such as Chipotle, Sbarro and Olive Garden. Genius.

Messages outside the restaurant also played on the recession theme.

They also inserted steak knife-shaped leaflets in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times which had the message ‘Stealing business from your competitors requires killer instincts‘ with the inside reading ‘also, steaks. giant steaks.‘ Nice.

The agency behind this is Walrus – the agency website is b.a.d.a.s.s, you can never go wrong with a talking walrus.

Who needs QR codes and alternate reality applications when you can just throw an actual video into a magazine?

CBS in partnership with PepsiCo have come together to insert a paper-thin interactive video player into copies of Septembers Entertainment Weekly.

Pepsi is sponsoring Monday night comedy on CBS as well as running print ads in the magazine. There is no mention to whether the video will also run Pepsi ads or logos, which would really be a big step from a advertising perspective.

When the reader opens the magazine to the page containing the promotion, the small screen will start to flicker and then load the video. Segments featuring actors from CBS programs will briefly explain how to use the player which features several buttons on the page to change video.

We are always hearing about paper-thin LCD technology from the likes of Sony and Samsung. It never dawned on me that it could make it’s way into print so quickly, I just assumed we would see slimer phones and TVs for now.

I don’t want to start saying this could save the print industry because it’s early days and must be extremely expensive (Pepsi said it is a one off). But over time costs will come down and it could become far more more lucrative revenue stream than print ads.

I just love the endless possiblities for creative and innovative print ads this suddenly provides.

Check out more info on this here.