Mobile Marketer explored the new Rolex advertising campaign appearing in April’s W Magazine that lets consumers get information and deals from the brand, as well as enter for a chance to win $1,000.00. I like how print magazines are trying to integrate into relevant mobile user experiences.

When I think of Rolex, I think luxury, quality and style. But I also think of an older demographic, that sticks to print. So I’m glad to see Rolex taking a step in a fresh and innovative direction. If print becomes more interactive in various ways, it could become even more interesting than a purely digital magazine. (see my previous post about a video player embedded in an issue of Entertainment Weekly) Hopefully, other luxury brands will follow and increase mobilized print ads in consumer publications.

The ad itself relies on pure image recognition. The way it works is that readers can snap a photo of the ad, send the pic to an email address and get more information as well as an entry into the cash sweepstakes.

Moving forward, print publications could offer readers a companion mobile app to make the interactive experience even easier. A magazine app could just require the user view the ads and use image recognition via the users device as opposed to emailing it. This would also allow the magazine to harvest valuable demographic info. Finding out exactly who is reading the ads would be a great pitch to attract new advertisers not previously considered.

Making print ads interactive (regardless of the method) is a good way to inject print magazines with more life and prop up the whole publishing industry.

InteractiveTV today had a post about an outdoor advertising campaign that uses shoppers own faces for a gigantic DVD promotion. It’s a high exposure campaign showcasing unique user experience design. And it’s a perfect fit for mobile.

Inwindow Outdoor, a company that does digital storefront and mall advertising, launched the interactive augmented reality display at Los Angeles’ The Grove, to promote the Blu-ray release of “Avatar.” The display is a free-standing structure of multiple digital screens. Using technology developed exclusively for this project, shoppers faces are morphed into the wide-eyed blue creatures from the film. Once the morph is complete, users can enter their email address via touch screen, in order to be sent a video of their transformation, along with information on where to purchase the Blu-ray disc of the movie.

Down the road, this will be able to happen via a mobile. Imagine getting a message from a friend with their facial expression (or their kids or boss or pets) mapped to a branded character. This is a great way to build a buzz for any animated or costumed character-driven film – think Iron Man or Shrek. Send it to yourself, friends and family and some transformations are sure to go viral when they hit the social networks.

The display was introduced last Friday and set to run for a month – if you’re in L.A., check it out.

Mobile Marketer had a feature on Jumptap, a company who delivers mobile ads revamped their mobile ad network. Jumptap is taking mobile ad personalization to a new level. They’re giving consumers the ability to tell brands what they want, when they want it. Mobile users will be given the ability to manage their own profiles for a more personalized brand experience.

This is the key to the future of advertising – letting the consumer specify what they want and delivering relevant ads. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts addressing ad personalization, why not target consumers with a product they are likely to buy?

In addition to serving the consumers, this gives advertisers the ability to serve better ads. Targeted spots will be more enjoyed and appreciated when they’re given to the perfect audience.

Additionally, consumers can reveal demographic information in exchange for special offers, coupons, deals, or less ads. In return, advertisers get valuable stats on their audience and consumers get even better results from their mobile user experience.

Omega Mobile recently completed a series of tutorials for the Open Screen Project Fund. We created seven demos total that I’ll cover in blog posts coming soon.

Each mobile demo/prototype was designed around experiences where Flash Lite and Nokia devices a great fit. These include rich media, personalized experiences, social media, photo sharing, location based information, music, news, video, advertising and marketing.

The demos were designed to be shown as-is, without additional work as well as to be modified easily. Use them to quickly present a concept internally or to pitch outside clients.

One of the main goals of each demo is the ability to be able to easily reskin each mobile user interface. Each demo is designed so that the user interface elements as well as the background can be changed in a matter of minutes.

The tutorials in the series can be used alone or together and cover the following types of content:

• Video Player – Play an external FLV video file in both landscape and portrait mode
• Music Player – Play external mp3 audio files
• RSS News – Read and display RSS feeds
• Social Media – Leverage Twitter for promotional purposes
• Photostream – Display Flickr photos
• Event Info – Use to market an event, make phone calls, and initiate pre-written SMS messages
• LBS Coffee Finder – Leverage GPS location and Google Maps to find the nearest coffee shop

A few trade stories this week about video ads suggest a opportunity for intelligent mobile user experience design.

MocoNews reported on a Google blog post about how the company is beginning to monetize the mobile version of the video site. Banner ads will show up on the home, search and browse pages of YouTube when accessed via mobile. Meanwhile, AllThingsDigital.com linked to an editorial about the hatred for pre-roll video as well as its effectiveness. If pre-roll ads are to become the norm, why not design the mobile video ad experience to be intelligent and adaptive?

Why not combine pre-roll with dynamic content tailored to the users? Not everyone needs to see the same pre-roll ad. I’d answer more questions to reveal demographic information in exchange for seeing less ads. If not less, I’d definitely prefer to see an ad of interest to me – like movie trailers - rather than the many makeup commercials I’ve been forced to endure before watching online videos recently.

I’ve recently seen Hulu offer short surveys in exchange for an ad free episode. The experience was hassle free.

Multiple pre-rolls could be created to serve different demographics – male teenagers see video game previews, new parents would get baby products, affluents would get luxury commercials, etc.

So why not give users ads that they want? Targetted ads will result in better ad spends and more purchasing.

Fast Company reported on a new promotion that might be a glimpse into the mobile design of smartphone commerce in the future – advertising that combines virtual goods and LBS to tap into on-the-spot purchases and promotions.

Location-based game start-up Booyah is introducing in-game, virtual goods placements, based on your real-time location. The Mobile User Experience Design will lead consumers right to the cash register of a “real” store selling real goods for very real cash.

The campaign stems from Booyah’s partnership with international clothing retailer H&M but this could apply to ANY consumer campaign – from liquor to cars to network television. This particular promotion pings mobile users near an H&M location on a piece of clothing or accessory that appears in Booyah’s MyTown location-based social game. Discounts and promotions reward the Booyah user that visits the actual store location.

Here are some ideas I have for additional location based campaigns. Again, any consumer campaign could benefit.

Users could be rewarded with free virtual goods if they spend a certain amount of time inside a retail location. The goods should have a high value perception and be unique to that store. If the user wore or showed off or used a virtual item in a social network, they could get real world discounts on that product line.

The biggest fans of a company – the ever valuable influencers – could receive limited edition virtual that are exclusive or awarded before general public release.

Feedback about the unique product could be analyzed and the most popular ones could turn into physical products.

Another way to engage users (and potentially spark a viral campaign) would be to give the consumers tools to design the next generation of virtual product ala crowdsourcing. Implement a voting aspect and social network exposure to build buzz. Winners could get a high value prize and their creations could turn into physical goods. Imagine a fashion oriented tween designing virtual fashion items and being rewarded for it.

Unique mobile user experiences and advertising seem to be made for each other – mobile is also a great bridge between the physical and the virtual. I’ll be watching the H&M campaign with interest.

Just when you thought Google Street View couldn’t get more personal (Remember the UK controversy when Google captured images of men barfing on a sidewalk, emerging from a porn shop and getting arrested?) Fast Company reports that the search giant wants to populate billboards and ad-spaces in Street View with real-time ads.

For example, instead of showing a months-old photo of an advertisement for an out-of-date movie, the studio could pay Google to constantly update the virtual billboard with an image of their latest release. Cool, huh? 

Google describes Street View as “the last zoom layer on the map - when you’ve zoomed all the way in you find yourself virtually standing on the street. But the most exciting thing about Street View is all the amazing uses that our users and partners find for it.” Could real time advertising make the feature even more useful? I think so. 

Of course all virtual billboards would link for more information opening up a host of possibilities. The link could lead to highly targeted advertisement based on user profiles. A mom would see a mini van billboard, a mid-life crisis aged male would see a sports car promo. A “mood-based” feature would also be a possibility. Users could select what type of trip they are taking. A business trip would show coffee shops, an entertainment adventure could show mini golf or movie theaters. Key in “hungry” and restaurant advertisements appear. 

Last minute discounts would be another great feature. Perhaps you’re driving by a sold-out theater – an open discounted seat offer could pop up. Additionally, consumers love feedback. Augmented Reality could be used to link reviews and merchants to an ad. 

One industry concern is the issue of who actually owns virtual space in a media buy. If one company consistently buys the same billboard on a busy street, could their competitor acquire the virtual space and overlay in the street view? It will be interesting to watch this play out.

Mood rings were popular in the 1970s. Mobile devices may be the modern day mood ring. Fast Company posted a story about new emotion-detecting software launched at TechCrunch50. Affective Interfaces claims that it has developed an ultra-accurate system that can detect emotions correctly over 85% of the time.

The Affective Interfaces website welcome message reads: “Knowing what your customers are doing is great, but wouldn’t you like to know why?” Harvesting information from consumers is a great use of the program. Focus groups these days cover everything from new product perception to jury trial preparation and they are labor intensive to arrange and costly to run. Fast Company notes that Affective Interfaces could potentially remove human monitors from the equation, saving a ton of money. Additionally, hundreds of users could be part of a group eliminating the need for companies to conduct expensive testing on small numbers.

Taking this a step further, it would be amazing if advertisements could be presented at an opportune emotional moment based on a user’s personality and demographic profile. For example, at the end of the day, a tired mom might see a vacation commercial or a mattress sale announcement. The same mom on a treadmill in the morning might see a commercial for a sports drink or athletic shoes.

Intelligent interfaces on a consumer device could detect frustration on a user’s face and adjust themselves accordingly. A frustrated user would could get more of a stripped down simple user interface and then get more options later as frustrations went away. This could be a great benefit for new users or those that aren’t technologically savvy.

Additionally, the entertainment industry could tweak content choices based on your current emotional state. Music, movies, games and applications could be matched to a particular mood.

What about using emotion detection to monitor a loved one turning it into a potentially an important relationship tool. Let’s say you have the ability to check the emotions of your spouse before you leave the office. Confrontational or angry? Stay at work longer or hit happy hour before you pull into the driveway.

I often don’t think of print advertising and interactivity together. After reading an InteractiveTV Today article about Procter & Gamble’s new campaign, I couldn’t wait to see the ad for Always Infinity. Print design has been combined with augmented reality to make traditional print advertising interactive in a really creative way. (There is both a paper-to-screen and a web component available) 

With a magic theme (think top hat, wand, rabbit, sparkles), the ad directs consumers to a site where they can use the print ad and their Web cam to unlock 3D augmented reality animation. See it here. 

Pretty cool. This is a great example of paper being the trigger point for augmented reality. Despite too many steps (printing ad, going to website, installing plug-in, etc.) this is still a trial. 

I’m looking forward to more seamless experiences in the future. For example, a magazine ad for a new digital camera would open a browser page using your mobile device. The site would allow you to interface with the product and get an augmented reality demo on top of the magazine ad. Moving your mobile device around the page would highlight different features in the user interface. You could then request more information, forward the ad to friends or, every advertisers dream result, immediately make a purchase. 

Advances will lead to multiscreen integrated advertising campaigns that run across print, TV, mobile and computer. There could be different augmented reality variants depending on the medium. And the campaign could use harvested user demographics to tailor the ad to the person.

Textually.org noted an unusual campaign for the Google Android-powered Vodafone HTC mobile phone.  Users upload what they “wish” their handset could do to a website where the wishes are ranked. The brand says it will work to make one of those wishes come true. The Wish Factory campaign went live in June and early results have shown an average of 1,500 campaign site visitors per day. This is a clever way to get lots of input for mobile design.

Of course, getting valuable marketing information is one of the immediate benefits of this campaign. I think a reward system would make a visit to the website even more attractive – perhaps the end users who submit the most popular ideas could be rewarded with additional services, free devices or some type of monetary payment. 

It would be interesting to apply this concept to improvements for major handset apps or services. Users could submit ideas for the apps on their device about improving usability, features, or mobile user interfaces. Again, the reward system would be an incentive to participate. Power users or top contributors could be rewarded with special access to beta programs to get the features first. 

As devices advance, marketers could take this a step further by allowing users to access collaborative technologies to custom design their own features. For example, someone with a good idea could do collaborative whiteboarding – multiple users tapping into a virtual space together – to share skills to improve a device. This could be anything from sketching wireframes or creating a full mockup. 

I’m looking forward to more user input campaigns and the creative rewards companies will offer to get creative feedback.