Entertainment Weekly (owned by CBS) will on September 18th run the first video ad inside a magazine promoting Pepsi Max. The revolutionary technology comes from Americhip.  

The technology for the battery-powered ads can handle about 40 minutes of video. The screen, is 2.7 mm thick with a 320×240 resolution screen which uses thin film transistor liquid crystal display technology.  View the video demo of the video magazine. Interesting insights on future marketing and the senses from Americhip at their YouTube channel. Good video journo piece from AdAge on this story supporting the demise of static advertising.

This is a very exciting innovation from CBS and Pepsi Max in taking the power of video into the high loylaty engaged environment of magazines. Over time this technology will become increasingly affordable. With the rise of ‘Kindle’, power mobiles and other digital signage, online video communication is going into the traditional mainstream. Here at Silverlinemedia.tv we are currently driving our online video markting solutions to mobile, kiosk and other local digital signage and can’t wait to test this kind of targeting and interaction to our customers.

I started my career in magazines and have many launches in my portfolio across Europe and New Zealand. The majority of magazines truly do have a strongly engaged audience, with readers (customers) often paying significant cover prices to obtain the content. The strength of magazines is compounded by strong pass-on rates which crucially increases both readership and shelf-life of the advertising. Generically in recent years circulations for the majoity of titles have been falling. This media integration innovation will be actively reviewed by publishers and advertisers alike, to re-stimulate a terrific medium.