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Meredith Corp.?s Allrecipes marries mobile and print with augmented reality

Meredith Corp.?s Allrecipes is rolling out augmented reality to support the recent launch of a print version with its troves of online and mobile content.

Allrecipes is rolling out augmented reality in the February/March issue of the magazine through the Blippar app. The strategy behind leveraging augmented reality is to bring some of the brand?s extensive digital assets to the newly-launched print product?s pages.

?The magazine provides a more immersive, engaging experience where readers consume high levels of content, and our mobile site provides utility,? said Doug Crichton, managing editor at Allrecipes Magazine, Des Moines, IA.

?Mobile also allows us to 'complete the loop' where folks can share their food experience inspired by their magazine readership back with the brand and community,? he said.

Mobilizing print
Allrecipes? augmented reality efforts build on similar initiatives that Meredith has already put in place for several of its other brands, including More and Better Homes and Gardens (see story).

The launch of augmented reality also correlates to Allrecipes? plan to move from a digital-only publication to a print magazine. 

The Allrecipes magazine was launched in November, and the magazine plans to increase its rate base from 500,000 subscribers to 650,000 in April.

The February/March issue features a one-page promotion for Blippar in the beginning of the book.

The page includes step-by-step instructions that show consumers how to hover their mobile device above digital-activated pages with the Blippar app.

Throughout the magazine, consumers can scan stories and articles to unlock digital content.

For example, a two-page spread on Valentine?s Day gifts links consumers to a site to shop the products and view the recipes.

Another article on Super Bowl appetizers can be scanned to access a video and recipe content.

Allrecipes is also promoting its recent revamp of the Dinner Spinner app through a mobile-enabled page. IPhone and iPad users who scan the Blippar logo on the ad can download the Dinner Spinner app, which lets consumers search for and save recipes.

Additionally, Allrecipes is kicking off its augmented reality campaign with a sweepstakes called ?Signature Spoon.? 

Consumers can scan a picture of a wooden spoon in the magazine daily for the chance to win prizes. One hundred readers will win a wooden spoon.

Building up mobile chops
With more consumers relying on smartphones and tablets to access recipes that aid in the shopping process, mobile is also playing a big role for Allrecipes? online traffic.

Allrecipes claims that 54 percent of its online audience owns a smartphone, and 40 percent own a tablet.

In December, mobile traffic hit a tipping point for Allrecipes and now contributes to more than 50 percent of all traffic.

Additionally, more than 20,418,000 unique visitors accessed Allrecipes from a mobile device in November, according to comScore.

Moreover, these mobile users are using this content actively in grocery stores. Forty-six percent of Allrecipes? smartphone owners use their devices to pull up digital shopping lists when shopping, and 33 percent use their devices to find savings while actually in the store.

With the brand now making a harder push from digital to print, mobile is a bridge that helps Allrecipes tie together its assets.

?Augmented reality allows us to do far more than just link to a Web site,? Mr. Crichton said.

?We can bring our pages to life with real-time quizzes/polls, videos that can even play inside a photo frame, 3D animation, buy buttons, sweepstakes and any combination of those on a single page,? he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York