Pacific Magazines has revealed the first Australian augmented reality (AR) magazine cover for its youth and kids title, K-Zone.
Partnering with global entertainment powerhouse, Activision, K-Zone’s April cover will be turned into a live game through a new Skylanders AR app. Skylanders is a global gaming phenomenon with the K-Zone six-12 age demographic.
Pacific Magazines publisher Helen Morassut says the cover is breaking new ground, with no other Australian magazine applying the technology yet.
“Bringing the cover to life is not only a first for our brand, or Pacific - it’s a first for any Australian magazine," she says.
Youth titles editor-in-chief Daniel Findlay tells AdNews he expects to see a rise in readership and advertiser interest as a result of the AR cover.
He explains K-Zone is committed to finding new ways to invest in good content and the platforms its readers are choosing to interact with.
"Our readers are open-minded and tech-savvy so it’s a good fit for the market," says Findlay.
“Pairing with a mammoth brand powerhouse like Skylanders, we know our readers will be interested and I expect it to bring on new readers.," Findlay says. "We are excited to show advertisers how we are pushing the envelope and trying new things.”
While Findlay tells AdNews there are no plans to use AR technology on other titles, earlier this week News Corp announced it will be investing in technology, showing publishers are taking interest in the area tipped to be the "next marketing channel".
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