Bauer Media launches interactive mobile advertising tool

Bauer Media is launching an interactive advertising tool in partnership with technology company SnapNow.

Kerrang! Magazine willbe the first magazine to use the SnapNow technology in an advert for Play.com later this week.

The technology will allow consumers to use a WAP-enabled camera phone to take a photo of an advert on a page, screen or poster site, and send it to an MMS short code or e-mail address.

The ads remove the need for quick-response codes to be embedded in artwork, so advertisers do not need to compromise visual imagery.

Bauer Media says that it is the only UK media company able to offer the service to magazine advertisers.

The technology can also work through videos, TVprogrammes and poster sites.

Bauer Media says features such as vouchers, the ability to request a brochure andthe opportunity to make direct purchases without the need for a PC or laptop means consumers can access and purchase “on the move”.

SnapNow head of sales Tony Keaveny, says the companies will be working on “innovative” campaigns, which “link the physical and online worlds through mobile”.

SnapNow – founded in 2001 – is a mobile visual search company that uses image recognition technology.

The technology allows any consumer with a camera phone to capture an advertising image and receive a response that is linked with a relevant web page.