Esquire Keeps the Wall Between Church & State Mighty High…

So I got a copy of issue of Esquire featuring E-Ink technology. Or rather, my wife noticed it on the newsstand and picked it up for me, so chalk up at least one impulse buyer courtesy of the moving ink.

There’s an article on page 73 that explains how the E-Ink cover came together. Or, save yourself $5.99 and read it here. It involves refrigerators and seven years of development.

What’s missing from the article, though, is any reference to the advertiser who - along with readers - footed the bill for the technology. Ford, after all, was the company which was willing to match the novelty of E-Ink with their current marketing goal: impress people with the rather un-Fordlike Flex, and though I haven’t seen the figures, I’d hazard a guess they paid a premium to do so. But while the advertiser supporting E-Ink has gotten good buzz on auto sites, there’s no mention of that with the ivory columns of the Esquire text.

There’s a lesson to be learned here for publishers with digital magazines:

Ford buys many ads in Esquire magazine, but they chose this ad in this format because it was special and cool and conducive to their marketing strategy. Guess what? If you pay attention to what your advertisers are doing and would like to do, you’ll probably find a way to do the same thing with an advertiser inside your digital magazine. If your magazine is locked down, have the advertiser "pay" to open it up to readers, in return for an intro. ad. If your advertiser launched a new video channel, post some clips inside the digital magazine. This is where the goals and strategies of your advertiser become more important than things like CPM’s and even clicks.

In the end, I’d bet that if you were thinking about the Ford Flex and saw this moving ink ad, it’s probably hanging proudly on your wall now. I’d also wager that some people are now thinking of the Ford Flex because of the ad. If that’s not the mark of great magazine advertising, I’m not sure what is.