Not only does the fashion industry have to keep up with the constant changes in technology, but their advertisers need to be keeping up as well.
Long gone are the days where brands can simply buy a page or two from Vogue and call it good. With most things going digital, brands need to step up their digital game as well.
With new technology, there are a myriad of ways brands can connect with their customers either via social networks such as Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter or with in store innovations that Burberry is pioneering1, but one avenue that is still new is the digital magazine.
Hardi from Rouchon Paris (who received a high commendation from this year's Digital Magazine Awards2) begins to explore this magazine and advertising relationship. Their highly interactive magazine, that utilizes the iPad's sensitivity to touch and movement, requires an instruction manual to even read and navigate through the magazine.
Advertisements throughout the magazine included a shimmering necklace from Cartier that shimmered according to when you rotate the iPad from left to right. Another is the 'Touch Me' video featuring Dior Homme suits as shown above.
Vogue's digital magazine helps bring the reader to a point of sale by placing clickable red stars next to items that are available for purchase3. Although Vogue's digital magazine is about 90% similar to its paper version, they condense the articles and some advertisements to a scrolling down feature instead of the standard turn the page. This is not a bad idea, however there is no clear distinction to know if there is more than one page when it comes to advertisements4. If I was an advertiser, I would be pretty upset knowing that I am paying a pretty penny for two pages, but readers are only seeing one.
Advertisements are heading towards a more communicative and interactive experience5. Digital magazines have started to work on this relationship, but it is time to make it a standard. Advertisers need to step it up in digital publications and include more interactivity within those ads.
Conde Nast offers a wide range of digital possibilties to potential advertisers, however, these come with a hefty fee6. But research shows that readers spend more time on interactive advertisements7 than their static counterparts.
AD'ING UP : advertising in the digital age
10
*see Index on page 13 for sources