2013 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

Our cover received a great amount of interaction. Through the application we were able to determine that over 760 users had scanned the cover and by the end of the year that number had increased to over 2500. Although the cover came out in June, we realized through the increased scanning throughout the year, that people who had purchased the magazine had obviously kept it to share with friends, family and colleagues, thus spreading interest in the cover's design. In addition to the consumer appreciation, ArabAd stated the June cover was one of its most successful yet.

Creative Execution

The Traditional vs. Digital conversation is a continual industry discussion. We tackled the argument by giving readers an experiential way to pick a side. We created the region’s first augmented reality (AR) cover. Designed to look like a boxing ring, readers were invited to scan the cover using an AR app on their smart phones. Once scanned, two fighters appeared (one representing traditional media, the other digital). When users pressed "Fight", they watched the two fighters battle it out, using the cover as their backdrop. By utilizing both mediums we gave the reader the ability to experience both simultaneously and therefore the grounds for argument for each medium. The app served as a fun way to interact with the cover, but the cover itself also has its own strengths as it sits on newsstands and gets seen immediately on coffee tables and desks.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

For years, industry professionals have subscribed to Arab Ad as a reference on regional advertising and communication. For their special edition issue, focusing on the struggle between traditional and digital media, ArabAd requested a cover design that would illustrate the ongoing industry discussion as well as represent their position as one of the regional communication community's references. In order to do this, our idea was based on giving readers the ability to experience both traditional and digital media simultaneously, in a fun and interactive way. Seeing as this was the first time augmented reality had been used for a magazine cover in the region, we were able to put ArabAd in the forefront of progressive communication.