March 13, 2014

Crystal Light and Condé Nast’s Self magazine have partnered for a print-to-mobile promotion within the March issue that plays up Pinterest for social relevancy.

The #tinywin promotion asks readers to scan Crystal Light cards within the issue with the Self+ application. They’ll then be directed to Pinterest where they could repin the content.

“As with all promotional partnerships, Self’s strategy is to assist our clients fulfill their marketing objectives,” said Laura McEwen, vp and publisher at Self, Manhattan. “Crystal Light’s campaign celebrating #tinywins aligns perfectly with the best way that Self motivates women to embrace a healthy lifestyle.

“Even something so simple as choosing kale chips as opposed to potato chips should make her happy,” she said. 

“It’s both engaging and entertaining, a win-win for the logo and the patron.”

#tinywin
Inside the March issue of Self magazine, there’s a page explaining the #tinywin promotion. The page asks, “Took the steps today #tinywin! Hit the gym in preference to the snooze button #tinywin,” etc.

The point of the promotion is to celebrate the small actions consumers take to higher their health. Crystal Light is celebrating these tiny victories by giving readers the way to treat themselves.

The print ad

To take part in the promotion, readers must download the Self+ app, that’s available free of charge in Apple’s App Store and Google Play. After they launch the app, they are able to hover it over each Crystal Light #tinywin card inside the issue.

Once they tap the picture, they are going to be directed to Pinterest where they could repin the content that helps them achieve their very own #tinywin. The cards share different motivational messages.

For instance, one card reads, “Today a grin is all of the makeup i want.” Another one says, “I wore my going out shoes on Monday morning.”

“The program, like Pinterest, is ready visual imagery and Self has an important Pinterest following,” Ms. McEwen said. “We envisioned and designed the creative to truly motivate consumers to do so.

“A natural extension of that was to tap into the manner that folks use Pinterest as inspiration boards, expressing their personal goals and actively helping them stay on the right track,” she said. “The campaign is amazingly positive and super pinnable.”

Consumers who share the content on Pinterest might be directed to the microsite http://selfcurated.self.com/tinywin to enter to win a Crystal Light’s #tinywin prize package.

One prize package includes one month gym membership, one Self-selected beauty product package and one cooking class. Another includes one month yoga class membership, one Self-selected beauty product package and one life coach counseling session.

The third includes one month 5-series spin class membership, one Self-selected beauty product package and one nutrition counseling session.

The promotion ends on April 1, 2014.

Looking during the Self+ app

Print-to-mobile
A lot of magazines has been attempting to determine how you can link their print issues with digital and mobile content. Some add QR codes or other bar codes, and others add digital watermarking or augmented reality.

Augmented reality has become one of the vital more popular methods of joining print and mobile (see story).

Self and Crystal Light went with image recognition, but added Pinterest for a different aspect.

This platform is rising in popularity with brands and publishers as consumers spend an increasing period of time on it, especially on mobile.

“Young women are all about mobile tech—in fact, greater than 1/2 Self.com’s traffic now comes through mobile,” Ms. McEwen said. “Self’s audience understands Self Plus, our proprietary augmented reality app, and they’re used to seeing mobile extensions utilizing the app that deliver fun extras, lots of that are shared socially. So this was a natural way for us to activate this promotion on behalf of Crystal Light.

“Every platform this is important to consumers is essential to us,” she said. “Because of the demographics and psychographics of Self’s audience, mobile plays an enormous part in our brand marketing.

“Our advertising partners trust Self to bring them unique how one can attract new consumers. In turn, readers are longing for rewarding opportunities that help them find out about and have interaction with their favorite brands.”

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York