Interview Magazine has released its iPad app in tandem with the gadget’s recent launch and I have to say, it looks awesome. IPad, lucky you; your apps may save you. I was underwhelmed by what you were bringing to the table(t), but my fashion addiction may get the better of me - and you have your apps to thank for that!
The Interview app looks to change the way we “read” magazines, transforming our engagement into a multimedia, immersive and interactive experience. Particularly appealing is the fact that almost all of the app’s content has a video component. According to a post yesterday on Fashionista, 80 percent of the program’s advertisers link directly back to their e-commerce sites and 90 percent offer commercials or other video, as well as the behind-the-scenes videos of the editorial shoots. I am sucker for anything “behind the scenes” – especially when it comes to the creative process. True fashion lovers are not just looking for product; they are looking for a story to unfold – what happened to get from point A to point B?
I expect that all major magazines will be following suit in engaging this new platform…which means I may need to cave for an iPad.
I’m continually fascinated at the lengths that publications must go to stay relevant. Augmented reality covers from InStyle Magazine, Thrillist’s jetsetter parties, and the New York Times debut of the Times Wire are all examples of the great innovations media must create just to stay afloat. In today’s Los Angeles Times, another example hails. Rolling Stone magazine has announced the launch of a restaurant and nightclub chain in Hollywood. Set to battle the existing Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood type of establishments, creators insist that the Rolling Stone venue will cater to a “more upscale Hollywood crowd.” It’s a scary media world when even the most classic and timeless of magazines has to create a branded restaurant experience.
Today, it’s been widelyreported that Twitter (please note: inanimate internet space) is up for the lofty title of TIME Magazine’s “Person of The Year Award.” Twitter’s stiff competition for the accolade is none other than he-man goliath The Economy.
Aside from my individual eye-rolling (what, no person did anything noteworthy this year?), this face-off does foreground the massive strides social media is making in our national consciousness. That Twitter, a still-nascent startup, is arguably as influential as our national and international economy is quite the statement.
Despite my own devotion to Twitter, and the incredible opportunities it has provided as a marketing tool, I can’t help but wonder and marvel and become exhausted by the media attention it so consistently garners. What makes Twitter so compelling? And aside from Twitter’s admittedly remarkable role in the Iranian elections, what has Twitter inspired or produced, aside from a very, very selective and navel-gazing national discourse?
- Elise
P.S. This post is dedicated to Rebecca Ruiz, FWD enthusiast and avid commenter.
It’s no secret that print magazines have to figure out a way to stay current to sell ads. Today, WWDreported that InStyle is entering the previously-techy world of augmented reality with its December cover, featuring Taylor Swift. Readers who hold up the cover to their webcam will see Swift, surrounded by snowflakes, spring to life in a 45-second video that ends when she signs her autograph on screen.
Publishers are fighting hard for ad dollars, and this sort of experiential cover is a smart way to bring in new advertisers. In fact, InStyle’s publisher has extended the augmented reality theme to a special “gifting in 3-D” marketing program and has gained upwards of 12 new advertisers and will see a 3.6 percent increase in pages.
Sure, there may be a veritable blood bath going on over at Conde Nast, with more and more job losses announced every few days. But while the renowned purveyor of glamorous glossies like Vogue, Bon Appetit and Lucky is enduring troubling times with its print publications, the media mainstay is seemingly optimistic about virtual ventures.
Conde is aiming to offer digital versions of their most popular titles for iPhone and iPod Touch, beginning with GQ this December. Available on iTunes the same day the hard copy hits newsstands, each monthly magazine app will feature every page in its print counterpart, as well as related audio and video content.
When it comes to magazines, I tend to be somewhat of a traditionalist, I guess. From the age of 12, I knew exactly what day of the month Seventeen would hit my mailbox, and I promptly tore through it voraciously (quiz first!). To me, there’s no substitute for turning the physical pages of a magazine, but this platform sounds like something I’d be willing to test out before fully commenting — oh, actually, guess I’ll have to get an iPhone first.
The paradigm of publishing is shifting, evidenced by this week’s Conde Nast closures. Newspapers and magazines need to move with the times, and that might mean literally embracing movement.
Entertainment Weekly and Esquire generated serious buzz with their respective forays into the integration of motion + magazine. What’s next? Check out the above video, which shows where the future of magazines could be headed. It is a fascinating look at what might be in store for a changing industry. It is also a helpful catalyst for thinking about how the public relations industry will shift in response.
In the most exciting post of its inaugural week, Gadgetwise reports that Life Magazine’s photo archive is now searchable on Google Images. This is amazing! I used to be obsessed with Life back in the day, and their photography is absolutely unparalleled.
Men.Style.com, the online home of GQ and Details magazines, just posted this video, instructing its readers on how to be more awesome. I think it is a good example of a luxury brand reaching a younger demographic in a way that is both effective and brand-appropriate. Esquire could probably learn a thing or two.
Magazine-publishing maven Tina Brown is back with a new publication — but this one’s online-only. The Daily Beast, a news aggregator/Web magazine to rival The Huffington Post, launched today to much fanfare. The site is owned by Barry Diller’s InterActiveCorp, which Brown mentions in the following question from her Q&A:
Q: You burned through millions at Talk. Are you going to bankrupt Diller?
A: Even I don’t know how to spend money that fast.
Ad Age profiles four publications that are resizing their magazines to help grab advertisers’ and readers’ attention. Facing fierce competition from the fast-growing digital media sector, publishers are experimenting with new formats that will hopefully appeal to print lovers.
Need to find an article from a magazine, but can’t find a copy in the office? Check out Mygazines, where users scan and upload entire issues to share with the whole Internet. I’m sure it will be shut down for copyright infringement soon, so enjoy it while it lasts!
Interview Magazine has released its iPad app in tandem with the gadget’s recent launch and I have to say, it looks awesome. IPad, lucky you; your apps may save you. I was underwhelmed by what you were bringing to the table(t), but my fashion addiction may get the better of me - and you have your apps to thank for that!
