Volkswagen is the latest in a number of large automakers to add Augmented Reality and Interactive Print to its marketing strategy. Similar to Nissan Canada’s print takeover from 2012, Volkswagen has launched a sizable newspaper ad campaign in its home country of Germany with Interactive Print enhancements placed front-and-center.

A full twelve-page advertisement in Welt am Sonntag (Germany’s largest Sunday newspaper) shows off the new high-tech features of the 2015 Volkswagen Passat with videos that play right off the page when scanned with the Layar App. Additionally, readers can play with an interactive widget using Layar to view the new Passat with their own choice of color and rim style.

In total, the ads will be part of a circulation of over 400,000 newspapers. The pages have also been compiled into a brochure that will be distributed to every German Volkswagen dealership, as well as select business hotels including Radisson, Grand City Hotel, and Holiday Inn. Over 164,000 copies of the booklet are initially being shared.

The campaign was produced by Volkswagen’s German advertising agency Grabarz & Partner, with digital content production by Mackevision and zweiteHeimat. Limebizz, an Advanced Layar Partner, was employed to help with the AR and Interactive Print items.

So far the campaign has been a success, including some attention from the local press. To give it a try yourself, scan these examples with the Layar App.

From the first days of modern augmented reality experiences, the auto industry was often early adopters, creating fun demos that let autoshow attendees see cool 3D models of cars come to life.

In 2012, a year which saw the birth and emergence of interactive print, automakers continued to stay on the cutting edge, using Layar to enhance newspapers, magazines and other print items with digital content.

Ford and Nissan both launched massive newspaper campaigns, reaching millions of readers in dozens of newspapers in India and Canada, respectively. Nissan’s campaign won Best of Show at the Media Innovation Awards earlier this year, and helped boost their test drives by 65%.

We saw some other great examples this year with very positive results, so below you’ll find a slideshow showing the various automakers, including Mazda, Skoda, Land Rover, Honda and Kia.

Flip through the photos below!

Andy Nock of RTS Consultants, which managed the KIA campaign shown in the slideshow above, had this to say about integrating Layar’s interactive print into the project.

“This was actually done as part of a training event that us at RTS eSolutions completed. We used a number of different markers around the car to highlight particular features. Delegates were able to hover their iPads over the markers to reveal videos, animations and links to more information. It went down really well so I am sure we’ll be looking to use Layar again soon!”

Automaker Ford has tapped Layar to help promote the all new Ford Fiesta in India with interactive brochures and ads.

Ford sought the help of Layar Partner Network member GAMOOZ, and India-based group that creates Layar content of all kinds. In just a few days, GAMOOZ created the “Ford India” layer, which has been rolled out into what has become the world’s largest print AR campaign to date.

Brochures, like the one pictured to the right, were distributed at 230 Ford dealerships in 123 Indian cities, and print ads appeared in several popular Indian newspapers, including: 

• Times of India
• Tribune
• Punjab Kesari
• Dinamalar
• Eenadu
• Ajit
• Sambad
• Malayalam Manorama
• Rajasthan Patrika
• … and many more.

Readership of the campaign totaled around 4 million people, and so far thousands of people have used Layar to scan the ads and brochures and view the interactive digital content. Users can view videos about the Ford Fiesta, as well as quickly jump to the Ford mobile website, book a test drive, or quickly share the car on Facebook or Twitter.

Try it out on one of the pages after the jump and check out the video below to see it in action!

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