Amazing Marketing Technology!

I subscribe to Entertainment Weekly magazine. In this week's edition, I found an amazing new technology called a Video-in-Print player! It is an ad for the new season of CBS shows. Once the insert is opened a video starts on a screen that is 1" x 2"! It is extremely viewable and truly incredible. After a short, clever explanation the reader can press any of the four CBS eye "buttons" on the right page to view more videos. There was a video with segments about their new CBS dramas. There's a video with 2 1/2 minutes of excerpts from "Two and a Half Men". There is a segment on "How I Met Your Mother" and a preview of the new show "Accidentally on Purpose". Of course, there is the inevitable ad button for Pepsi Max, the company that obviously funded this CBS marketing venture. The ad appears in all editions of Entertainment Weekly, but the video insert is only placed in New York and Los Angeles subscriptions. I just thought it was an awesome marketing ploy!

Here's a review about this new type of marketing from wired.com:

The CBS foray into a print-digital alliance plays full-motion video at a crisp resolution. The ad, dubbed by CBS and partner Pepsi Max “the first-ever VIP (video-in-print) promotion,” works like one of those audio greeting cards. Opening the page activates the player, which is a quarter-inch–thick screen seen through a cutaway between two pages concealing the larger circuit board underneath.

The audio quality is equally good (extremely poor video shot, see below, by this reporter notwithstanding), but beware: There are no volume controls, and in a quiet environment, it’s quite loud. This is surely a intentional design feature, aimed at getting the attention of people nearby.

To see a very short video of the video insert go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgJ6DA50thw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ewired%2Ecom%2Fepicenter%2F2009%2F08%2Fcbs%2Dembeds%2Da%2Dvideo%2Dplaying%2Dad%2Din%2Da%2Dprint%2Dmagazine%2F&feature=player_embedded