The Christian Science Monitor website reports that in October, Esquire magazine will feature a battery-powered digital cover that flashes the tag line "The 21st Century Begins Now."
The cover is embedded with an E Ink display, the same setup used by the Amazon Kindle book reader. However, Esquire commissioned tiny custom batteries to fit into its paper-thin front page.
It required a six-figure investment by Esquire executives who hired an engineer in China to develop a battery small enough to be inserted in the magazine cover. Ford Motor has helped underwrite the cost with an ad on the issue’s E Ink inside cover.
You'll only be flashed for 90 days; after that the batteries die. And only if you buy at the
magazine stand because the cover is limited to 100,000 copies to be sold to new potential subscribers at magazine racks. Clearly there is significant PR value in this promotion that is the bigger outcome than just the 100,000 winking covers. Millions of potential Esquire readers will read about, hear or see this story through other media than will see the covers on newsstands.
So it's not a six-figure investment in 100,000 covers; it's a six-figure investment in the brand. It's bold and different, and in magazine publishing, it's a Purple Cow move!
I don't know about you, but I'm an Esquire subscriber and will be tempted to buy the magazine stand version anyhow if I can get my hands on it!
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