Commentary

Sticky Ads

Years ago, mail order catalogs such as L.L. Bean included removable stickers so that consumers could mark pages with gifts on their desired wish lists.

Magazines soon took notice and publications such as Domino and Lucky began to include sheets of multicolored stickers for consumers to label items they'd like to buy.

Domino's stickers are color-coordinated by category: purple for decorating; orange for entertaining; green for gardening; brown for renovating; and blue for gifts.

Often, sticker pages are sponsored by advertisers, meaning an additional form of ad revenue for the magazine. Discover and eBay sponsored the November and December 2005 issues of Domino, respectively. Discover ran an ad on the back of the sticker page, but eBay didn't -- a Domino house ad ran instead.

The January/February 2006 issue of Domino carried a sticker page, but it went unsponsored. Surprisingly, stickers even appear in kids' magazines, such as Nickelodeon, carrying such phrases as "Love it!," "Yes," "Cool," "Must Have," and "Gotta Have It."

Next story loading loading..