“Print is dead.” This is a statement we’ve become accustomed to hearing over the past few years, especially with the ever-evolving online technologies that are available. However, Motorola’s latest ad in Wired magazine is a unique and innovative attempt to resurrect print advertising.

Not too long ago, Keywest posted about Moto X’s hilarious “Lazy Phone” campaign starring T.J. Miller (check it out here). Now the phone company has gone ahead and included an interactive form of print advertising into the latest issue of Wired magazine in further efforts to promote their latest mobile device. “How exactly can print media be interactive?” you ask. Well, the Moto X advertising campaign is centred on the product’s customizability. This form of print advertising allows the user to change the colour of the phone by pressing buttons along the bottom of the page. Take a look below:

http://youtu.be/iMrZmSPpIRw

“The trick is pulled off using a piece of plexiglass inside a page of polycarbonate paper, LEDs, a handful of lithium batteries, and some smart circuitry. The end result is an only slightly bulkier-than-normal page sandwiched in the middle of Wired’s January print issue. Buttons along the bottom of the page let you toggle between 11 different colors of an image of the Moto X’s backplate with the touch of a finger.” (Source)

Motorola’s marketing campaign has been nothing but ingenuous to say the least, since the release of the Moto X back in August of 2013. In addition to this innovative print ad and the hilarious “lazy phone” commercials, the customization motif was taken a step further this past fall, once again making use of generally non-interactive media. “The company invested in outdoor this fall, for example, including ads at some bus shelters and storefronts in New York and Chicago that rendered images of the phone in colors matching the clothing of the person standing in front of it.” (Source)

Print advertising always lacked the interactivity that online advertising and digital media possess; however, out of the box advertising like this particular example may be able to change this. Using a never-been-seen-before technique like this increases buzz around the product and creates a conversation – a significant achievement in any marketing campaign.

Barry Smyth, Motorola’s global marketing director, said that he expects the reach of the ad to be amplified through people sharing it. “We think it’ll be bigger than just the print run itself,” he said. “It’s going to have a lot of pass-around value and be something that people are going to show other people.” (Source)

Tell Keywest what you think about the Moto X ad. Is this the future of print advertising? Can it be revived?