Dive Brief:
- Making use of visual recognition technology from Shazam, Target is running ads in the print edition of Vogue's September issue, sending users into an interactive online experience.
- The ads, which are hat tips to past Vogue pages featuring Target products, will have a digital component that will allow viewers to immediately click to shop for items in the print ads.
- To enter the digital ad, print magazine readers only have to use a smartphone to scan the images, including Shazam’s logo, which will prompt a shoppable QR code to appear on the app.
Dive Insight:
Target is taking advantage of visual recognition technology from Shazam, which launched in May, to reach customers on- and offline, and most notably, on mobile.
The magazine's traditionally ad-heavy September issue will contain around 100 Target products in the ads, with about 30 available for immediate purchase with “buy now” buttons on the Shazam-powered interactive experience.
“The ability to be one click away from a product that we sell is essential. We’re always looking for ways to complete that experience in the easiest way possible," Todd Waterbury, Target chief creative officer, told The New York Times.
The ads are indicative of marketers looking to streamline the mobile purchase process with “buy” buttons showing up in many mobile spots such as social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter, and it’s also an example of marketers seeking to break down the wall between a physical interaction with a brand (print ads in this case) and digital interactions with that brand.
