January 12, 2012

Home-Dec Mag, Glidden Paint A Whole New Mobile Ad Campaign

House Beautiful magazine is a leading authority on American home design and decoration, reaching more than seven million readers every month. Predominantly consumed on paper, the Hearst publication now is looking to go a little more broad brush when it comes to advertising.

Longtime advertiser Glidden Paint has partnered with Digimarc Corporation, a creator of “digital identities” for all forms of media, to introduce what it says is the first-of-its-kind integrated advertising experience between editorial content in House Beautiful’s February issue and on housebeautiful.com.

“Throughout the magazine, select editorial features will be enhanced with imperceptible digital watermarking technology, created using the Digimarc Discover Platform,” Digimarc says. “House Beautiful proprietary icons inform readers that the content is ‘watermarked’ and becomes interactive when using the Digimarc Discover app on a mobile device.”

It continues, “Scanning the watermarked content takes readers to housebeautiful.com, where Glidden Paint splash pages — promoting the brand’s new color expert blogger portal, MyColortopia.com — appear prior to House Beautiful’s online features, giving the advertiser an engaging new way to connect with readers.”

Smartphones ‘Hear, See’ Content

The Digimarc Discover Platform lets smartphones and other sensor-equipped devices to "see and hear" media content via built-in cameras and microphones. Publishers and others can embed digital watermarks into content using the Digimarc Online Services Portal (OSP). Readers point their phones at content they like, and they are presented with a range of associated network services: purchase a product, view a video, save for later, etc.

“Digimarc Discover gives advertisers unlimited possibilities to target consumers with a wide array of experiences through their mobile devices,” explains Digimarc CEO Bruce Davis. “House Beautiful and Glidden have taken a groundbreaking step forward with this innovative campaign, and we are very pleased that they have chosen to embrace our technology to create engaging print-to-mobile experiences for consumers.”

In addition to the pre- and post-roll Glidden branding on the editorial videos, House Beautiful partnered with Glidden to produce the first sponsored video promoting Glidden’s MyColortopia.com. The video, featuring two of the contributors to the site, is accessed via a new version of the House Beautiful Digimarc icon – rendered in orange as opposed to the usual blue editorial icons. Additionally, the video is housed on housebeautiful.com’s video player, and it also is being supported by a run-of-site media buy driving traffic to the video.

The Glidden MyColortopia video also is embedded in the digital replica edition of House Beautiful via Zinio, which can be accessed through the iTunes newsstand.

House Beautiful began using the Digimarc technology in several editorial features last year to connect readers with supplemental interactive content at HouseBeautiful.com. The publication's collaboration with Glidden marks the first time an advertiser has sponsored feature editorial within a print-to-mobile experience.

“When it comes to innovative marketing, Glidden has always been one of our leading partners,” comments Kate Kelly Smith, senior vice president/publishing director at House Beautiful. “Taking readers from the page to an advertiser’s video and on to our Website using a mobile app has never been done before, and we’re pleased that Glidden has signed on for this exciting program.”

Adds Rob Horton, vice president/Marketing for Akzo Nobel Paints LLC, makers of Glidden Paint, “We were excited when Hearst presented the Digimarc concept. The Glidden brand doesn’t necessarily abide by traditional paint advertising conventions. Instead, we look for those marketing opportunities that are disruptive, unexpected and true to the brand voice. At the same time, though, any advertising medium must work toward getting do-it-yourselfers going by moving them from inspiration to action. Digimarc accomplishes all of this. Their visualization platform is undeniably Glidden.”

The Digimarc Discover mobile applications are available for licensing, and they can be integrated into existing applications.