Print media strikes back… video-in-print is here!
by Julian Gratton
It probably hasn’t escaped your notice that in September an edition of Entertainment Weekly in the US will feature the world’s first video-in-print advert. Previewing programmes from CBS’s upcoming season as well as adverts for Pepsi… the video advert will work by having slim screens inserted into the magazine that are activated when the magazine pages are opened – kinda like what happens on greeting cards.
Each chip that feeds the screen can hold up to 40 minutes of video with the battery that powers the chip and screen being able to play for about 65 to 70 minutes. This battery can then be recharged by plugging in a mini USB cord and once you’ve got bored of the content contained in the chip… you can download additional content from the Web. Sounds clever, and expensive… so will it take off?
Once the hype has calmed down.
Certainly at the moment all parties involved in the creation of this video-in-print advert, from Americhip to Entertainment Weekly, CBS and Pepsi are probably rubbing their hands at the enormous buzz created by this ad. But once the hype has died down and we’re on to the 10th, 100th, 1,000th company to run a video-in-print advert… will we still be wowed by the technology and will it actually add something to a magazine or newspaper reader’s experience?
If this technology is used in support of articles there are clear benefits. No more can people in the public eye claim to be misquoted… especially when news stories and articles where they are featured have them speaking in full colour on the page. And instead of sports writers trying to tell us that a goal was spectacular or a tackle was horrendous… we can actually watch it back ourselves in full colour… in print and on the train to work.
Is this the magazine fighting back against the Internet?
The whole purpose of buying a magazine or newspaper is essentially to read the articles and stories contained within them… not to watch video! But ever since high-speed internet access has been given to the masses and as the rise in online video has increased and become more popular… magazines and newspapers have seen their market share dwindle and more and more people consume their news and interests online and not in print.
This then could be the first step in traditional magazines fighting back. The technology behind video-in-print apparently is incredibly expensive at the moment… but like all things technology based, the costs will eventually come down and we’ll see more and more print publications incorporating video content. And as the downloadable option becomes easier and possibly wireless… we may eventually actually get to a day where our print publications are dynamic, as shown in the movie Minority Report.
Many newspapers and magazines already have an Internet presence and create a lot of video that is hosted online… which their print publications point to. So this could actually have always been the next logical step and many publications have just been waiting for technology to catch up with their vision… so despite the reported expense of the CBS video-in-print advert… I think we’ll see that this is to be the first of many insertions of this kind.
Indeed then, print media is striking back!
If you’d like to know more about the video-in-print and how it can help your business… why not give Red C a call on 0161 872 1361 or click here
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