Thursday, February 25, 2010 by Adrian

At Ouno, we are fascinated and intrigued by the possibilities of connecting the print world to the digital, and we're always on the lookout for the technological developments in this field. Not for the first time therefore do we find ourselves drawn to Esquire Magazine, who Derek Thomas from the Atlantic describes as a "leader in cutting-edge print magazine technology".

In October 2008, Esquire published a limited-edition cover using electronic ink with moving words and flashing images to commemorate its 75th anniversary. Then in November 2009, we blogged about Esquire's December issue that featured augmented reality and allowed for a wealth of interactivity, as well as sporting a 3D cover (link to November blog). As CNBC News explains, the March issue out in the US today shows the publication are determined to remain at the forefront of print magazine technology as they now "use mobile technology to allow readers to purchase items right off the page via their smartphone".

In October 2008, Esquire published a limited-edition cover using electronic ink with moving words and flashing images to commemorate its 75th anniversary. Then in November 2009, we blogged about Esquire's December issue that featured augmented reality and allowed for a wealth of interactivity, as well as sporting a 3D cover (link to November blog). As CNBC News explains, the March issue out in the US today shows the publication are determined to remain at the forefront of print magazine technology as they now "use mobile technology to allow readers to purchase items right off the page via their smartphone".

After downloading a free app called ScanLife, readers use their smartphone to swipe bar codes printed next to clothing and accessories in the feature "The Esquire Collection | The 30 items a man needs to get through life." A menu will then come up on the phone with a number of options, including one that means Esquire become the first magazine to allow the instant purchase of items featured in its pages, using linked, ScanBuy technology. Other options allow readers to find out information about stockists, as well as information on how to style the items.

According to editor-in-chief, David Granger, "It's the perfect logical extension to close the gap between being inspired to taking action".

As the CNBC journalist Cadie Thompson explains, Granger views the barcodes as an experiment. "He can see them serving as an extension of the magazine. The barcode works much like a hyperlink on a Web site, and eventually Granger said he would like to use the technology to link users to other content on their phones including videos, photos and more."

Thompson goes on to question whether this smartphone technology should be heralded as the business-lifeline the print magazine publications are looking for, pointing out that barcode technology itself is no new thing. However according to Jonathan B. Bulkeley, CEO of ScanBuy, "it is undergoing somewhat of a rebirth on account of the rapid growth in the usage of smartphones, and print mediums - and their advertisers - may stand to benefit".  See Thompson's full article here.

According to Gizmodose, ScanBuy, the company who own ScanLife, have also convinced other US print publications - InStyle, Entertainment Weekly and Star - to include its barcodes on their pages. "Entertainment Weekly and Star will place the barcodes on ad pages instead of editorial content." And "a competing product, Snipp, appears in ESPN magazine and People StyleWatch.

So while Esquire Magazine may be the first to be forging a path to unite mobile commerce with online additional editorial content, it's likely that we'll very soon start to see barcodes in a number of other print publications, providing a variety of interactive services as they develop further.

To see how the ScanLife app works, here's their explanatory Youtube video