When Paper Meets Tablet

Just a week or so ago, the venerable Newsweeks magazine just announced that it will cease to publish its print magazine after 80 years in publication.  Amazon is now selling more eBooks than paper books. There is no doubt that paper is on the wane and the eTablet and eBook and eInk is here to stay.

That may be right for the general media landscape.  But for the creatives, where going against the grain is often the seed of creativity, it’s just another change to go against.

Take for example, Lexus.  The premier Toyota owned line of automobiles wanted to make its mark by not abandoning print but by extending it.  And they are doing it not by extending it via QR code or Facebook fan pages.  They are literally overlaying print and paper.

This incredibly creative campaign asks the consumer to first turn to a page of Lexus ad in a magazine and ask you to download an app for your iPad.  So far, nothing uncommon.  However, it’s what you do with the app that’s interesting:  They ask you to run the app on your iPad, and then slide the iPad screen behind the print ad.  What results is an animated  paper page, with the iPad screen showing a series of images through the paper page, literally bringing the paper page to live.  This CinePrint technology also accompanies the light show with a audio track.  A true Multimedia Paper experience.  Kudos to Lexus’s agency for thinking outside the box!