DES MOINES, IOWA: A Midwestern publisher is further blurring the lines between media platforms with a new video ad. Embedded in a print magazine.
Meredith Corp.’s August issue of Successful Farming magazine has a double-truck ad from Bayer Crop Science that contains a small video window. When the spread is opened, the video and audio begin to play, hawking a pesticide for nematodes. Four other videos are accessible by pressing “play” buttons on the page, The Des Moines Register said.
The nematode short is actually not the first video print ad. The Register said Pepsi and CBS did video ads in Entertainment Weekly last fall. Both were created by Americhip, the company that did the worm spot.
The Successful Farming video page was inserted in 17,000 copies of the magazine comprising around 4 percent of its subscribership, the Register said. The subscriber database was cross-reference with Bayer’s client list to drill down the target audience. The publisher, Scott Mortimer, said other advertisers took note and inquired about the ad.
“I imagine we’ll see more of them,” he told the Register.
-Deborah D. McAdams
