By Dallas Ziebell, dziebell@lessitermedia.com
Marketing Manager, Lessiter Media
We've all been there...sitting down early on a weekend morning with a good cup of coffee and the newest issue of your favorite magazine. Ready for a relaxing read, you crack open the issue...and suddenly... what seems like a half dozen or so loose insert cards rain down into your lap and spill all over the floor.
A little annoying, right? Maybe. But as a marketer, it's hard to deny the value of a marketing piece that literally lands in the laps of your target audience.
That's why many brands today look to advertising inserts as an effective way to make their message stand out and get noticed. From loose cards to stitched in flyers to coupons, and even booklets, inserts can take a variety of different shapes and sizes. The only limit is your creativity!
To help inspire your imagination, I've gathered 4 examples below of magazine inserts that are so clever that you'd have to see them to believe.
P.S. You can find a wealth of creative ideas and inspiration for your print and direct mail marketing in an IDEA BOOK from QuadGraphics, printer of all Lessiter Media’s publications. Just send me an email and I’ll get one over to you.
#1. IKEA Furniture Pop Up
It’s completely uncommon for a magazine insert to jump into the third dimension, and the element of surprise is hugely impactful.
This insert in an Asian magazine advertised IKEA’s famously cheap little square tables. When the reader opened the magazine insert, out popped a little IKEA table to remind them of the unique simplicity and design savvy of IKEA's products.
#2. BMW Cold Weather Tires
In Canada, drivers approach buying winter tires as a safety precaution, and winter tire advertising generally focuses on stopping distance. This magazine insert took a different and very BMW approach to winter tires by highlighting their performance capabilities. BMW brought this dynamic driving idea to life with a perforated pull-tab that mimics a BMW driving and cornering effortlessly through snow.
3. Chuck TV Show Insert & Kiosk
NBC used this clever magazine insert in Rolling Stone to launch the hit series "Chuck." Since Chuck works in a kiosk, NBC delivered an assemble-it-yourself paper kiosk in a Top Secret magazine insert.
#4. Honda CR-V Safety Tech
To advertise their suite of intelligent safety tech, Honda printed an image of a CR-V on a translucent magazine page that preceded a second page depicting a neighborhood scene. Only when you flipped the page did you see that there was a little girl on a tricycle behind the car.
