Attention getters
Jun 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Katherine O'Brien
Most magazine ads just sit on the page. An Americhip-engineered campaign, however, puts on a show. Some of its ads incorporate lights and sound, others have taste strips and still others have unusual textures. You might call it entertainment, but Americhip (Torrance, CA) prefers a more formal term: multisensory branding.
Beyond a visual identity, says Americhip, all brands have a feel, smell, taste and sound. Using multisensory branding lets advertisers create positive connections between the brand and the consumer.
Excellent recall and association
Do these flashy ads really work? “We use Starch Communications [a division of Mediamark Research and Intelligence], a leading independent polling and research company that specializes in magazine inserts,” reports Tim Clegg, Americhip's CEO. “Our Starch scores are some of the highest in history, in the 80 to 100 percent range in terms of consumers recalling and associating the ad with the brand. The ROI is the most effective part of what we sell.”
A decade or so, magazine inserts with sound chips were a novelty. A reader might flip a page, setting off a tinny rendition of “Jingle Bells.”
Things have gotten much more sophisticated. As part of a “Mama Mia” movie tie-in sponsored by Pond's, Americhip developed an insert that plays a 10-second snippet from the soundtrack and lets readers record their own brief rendition. Users can rerecord themselves as often as they like.
Another recent project for Verizon Wireless took things even further. To promote Verizon's VCAST Song ID service, the ad invited readers with VCAST enabled phones to point the phone toward the insert. The user could then identify the featured song, download it and save it as their ring tone.
Largest supplier
Americhip is the largest supplier of audio, illumination and paper engineering technologies to companies that include P&G, NBC, PepsiCo, Dreamworks, Target, BBDO and Kraft Foods.
“We've done pieces for trade magazines ranging from 25,0000 to 50,000,” says Clegg. “For consumer magazines, we're usually doing runs of 50,000 to one million and sometimes as many as 10 million.”
In addition to inserts, the company produces direct mail, packaging, gift cards and point-of-purchase displays. Beyond advertising agencies, Americhip serves clients in the automotive, pharmaceutical, retail, entertainment and packaged goods industries.
Americhip's engineers work with ad agencies to address any technical considerations of a proposed campaign. After the agency has sold a client on a creative strategy, Americhip oversees the production process.
A typical job is printed on a sheetfed press; some may require diecutting or hand work. Americhip outsources the printing as well as some postpress services.
Circuit training
Clegg, a self-described tinkerer, got his start in 1987 as a distributor of integrated circuits. “I began embedding LEDs into buttons and other promotional products. Next, I started putting music chips into key chains, pens and point-of-purchase displays. The technologies just kept growing. I founded Americhip to focus on the print side of combining electronics and paper engineering.”
Clegg says Americhip's in-house expertise has helped it capture about 80 percent of the high-end specialty insert market. “We have patents on almost all of the sound technology. We do most of the spectacular popups people see in consumer magazines.”
See www.americhip.com.
Contact O'Brien at KOB@americanprinter.com.
What's the big reveal?
A Frito-Lays ad for potato chips made with sunflower oil used an Americhip “reveal” approach. Readers peeled off sunflower-shaped stickers to see health tips and sunny photos. With heat reveal technology, readers rub their fingers over a certain area to see a hidden message. Body heat also plays a role in mood-ring type print piece Americhip created for Degree Absolute Protection, an antiperspirant. The handout, which is the about the same size and shape as the actual product, measures user's strength. Users place a finger on a small dot. A color change indicates the user's adrenalin level: stunt man, bungee jumper, skydiver or extreme skier.
Don't stop ‘til you pop
Adding bubble wrap to an insert for Aquafina created the impression of sparkling water. GfK Custom Research North America found 50 percent of readers surveyed were attracted to the ad's tactile quality. Some even popped a few bubbles.
Tattoo you
Yellow Tail Wine featured temporary tattoos in a print campaign dubbed “Tails, you win.” Some of the ads also incorporated LEDs. “Consumers get tired of talking about a product day in and day out, but they will latch onto an individual aspect that unites them with other users forming a common bond,” says Martin Lindstrom, a branding expert. “The role of the brand therefore is simply to create the social glue to connect people, finding their common ground and thus, most importantly, generating a sense of belonging.”
