Will augmented reality save the magazine industry?.

​Mobile Commerce Daily (MCD) just released a fascinating piece regarding a partnership with Blippar (the business not interested in selling to Google - because they, Blippar, will be bigger). Blippar is an augmented reality app whereby you can hold your device over the blippar sign on a product and it comes to life.

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So yet another challenger for advertising budgets and another distraction to take eyeballs away from print and paper? Well it seems not, in fact it could prove to be the opposite. The piece in MCD states that:

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"The September issue of People StyleWatch is getting a mobile makeover thanks to augmented reality application Blippar, enabling readers to scan merchandise to instantly shop the items and receive additional fashion tips and music playlists on their smartphones."

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The issue, which contains the latest looks and trends for fall, is aiming to become even more relevant to fashion-savvy millennials by including scannable content on every page, providing fans with a quick way to purchase new looks seen on models. People also recognises that mobile is an imperative second screen to leverage, and is providing consumers with playlists to accompany several major stories, resulting in additive experience while reading the issue.

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“While flipping through the magazine pages, users are able to hold their phones up to looks or items they like and buy them, right then and there, in real-time,” said Ariff Quli, Chief Commercial Officer for North America at Blippar, New York. “Nearly every page – and therefore almost every product, piece of clothing and item featured in the StyleWatch magazine is Blippar-activated, or ‘blippable.’”

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It is often argued that magazines drives ecommerce and now we have the true ROI link - the future for the relevant magazines could be huge as the quality of content will always be king.