Maxim Goes Mobile
- by Shankar Gupta , March 24, 2006
Rob Gregory, Maxim's group publisher, said the magazine's audience is a good demographic to advance mobile marketing and content. "The first wave of mobile advertising will be directed towards young males," he said. "They are the first group to embrace the technology--they're the test case for every major brand in the country that wants to embrace mobile, and when we looked at the Maxim audience, we saw we had a huge audience of young guys."
The editorial content of the May issue will include links to microsites where readers can get more content, including more photos of the Maxim models, and the opportunity to enter contests. The magazine--which hits the newsstands mid-April--will also include service pieces about how readers can use their cell phones in new and different ways.
Many of the ads will also be mobile-enabled, as well. Kraft Foods, Jeep, Samsung, and Cingular all will have mobile components of the print ads they run in May's issue, including a contest sponsored by Kraft, where readers send in pick-up lines, and Maxim's editors select the best--and special mobile content from Jeep, including mobile video.
According to Gregory, this mobile issue will mark the start of more mobile integration for Maxim's print content. "It led to some serious discussions about print and mobile platform programs that we're developing for further in the year," he said. "It's not going to just go away after the May issue."
More than a year ago, ElleGirl magazine tested a mobile-print integration, using technology from a Waltham, Mass.-based company called Mobot in its May issue. Readers of ElleGirl could use their camera phones to take photos of ads they were interested in, and then receive back information and promotions. Jane magazine tested similar technology in September and December 2004, and Vibe and Vibe Vixen tested it in March 2005.
