One of the world’s most iconic magazine brands has thrown its hat into the interactive print ring with Layar.

Playboy, the massively popular men’s entertainment magazine, has selected Layar as its provider of choice for interactive print going forward in the Netherlands. The half-century-old publication joins a rapidly growing list of publishers and printers teaming up with Layar to bring engaging digital content to print readers. Read all about it in our press release here.

Click here to try it out!

Starting with its most recent issue, on sale today, Playboy Netherlands will work with Certified Layar Partner Limebizz to provide exclusive digital content to print readers when they scan special pages with the Layar App. You can buy the magazine in the Playboy webshop. Together they’ve crafted some beautiful artwork and iconography combining the logos of Playboy and Layar to draw the reader’s attention to the extra content.

In this issue, readers can vote for their favorite playmate of the last year to decide who becomes Playmate of the Year for 2012. On the cover, the three lovely nominees – Beau, Nadine and Lotte – come to life to entice your vote. Inside, last year’s winner – Zimra – introduces readers to the interactive magazine in a video. (Hint: There’s a secret page giving you a look at exactly what made Zimra last year’s winner! See if you can find it!)

Flip through the photos below to check it out!

Readers can view extra photo slideshows of the nominees and take a look behind the scenes videos from their photoshoots. Other content includes videos of cool gadgets, cars and tech, a flashback to the girls of 1984, music playlist links (including a cool ticker of music using our new HTML widget), movie, tv and videogame trailers, contests to win prizes and much, much more!

We caught up with Patrick Goldsteen, Editor in Chief for Playboy NL, to discuss how this special issue came to be.

What made you decide to jump in with Layar?
We saw some other magazines who were experimenting with Layar. This gave us some insights into what we could do with it and we saw some great opportunities to extend the experience of the magazine reader. As Playboy we have a great amount of content but are limited to the 114 pages of the magazine. With Layar we virtually have an unlimited amount of possibilities to publish extra content.

What are your goals for this project?
During our recent restyle we focused on upgrading the quality of the content and with Layar we put our digital content within hands-reach of the magazine readers. This is the first step; after this we are planning to create extra interactive content with the HTML possibilities of Layar.

What do you like most about using Layar?
It really brings our content to life, like the cover. The cover would normally be static but since the cover now consists of a video, readers can see their favorite models move, talk and interact with them. This brings the experience really close to the readers.

Why bring interactive print to Playboy?
The majority of the Playboy readers are young adults within the age range of 18 to 30. They grew up in the digital age and their mobile device can almost be seen as their most precious asset. So we bring them extra content in a manner they understand on a device the love to use.

Plans for the future?
Our plan is to continue to experiment with Layar and challenge ourselves in new creative possibilities. It’s for sure that this won’t be a one-of-a-kind Playboy edition, this will be our second content layer for the magazine, and we are looking forward to creating these extra experiences for our readers.

It’s true that Playboy’s audience is a perfect fit for interactive print. Not only are they younger and more digitally connected as it is, but let’s face it – it’s safe to say that Playboy readers are far more engaged with the content in the pages than your average magazine reader.

There’s a lot to love in this issue of Playboy. The extra content is terrific and is just what readers of Playboy are looking for … more! The calls-to-action are beautifully created, blending Layar and Playboy’s logos into one instantly recognizable icon. Combined with color coded icons that draw readers to photos, videos and other content, it’s a masterful implementation.

UPDATE – February 18th, 2013 – Due to the explicit nature of this campaign, some of the content can not be viewed in the iOS version of the Layar App.

Europe’s 4th largest magazine has gone interactive with Layar. Kampioen, the 127-year-old magazine of ANWB, the Royal Dutch Touring Club (think AAA but in the Netherlands), is bringing the digital engagement and excitement of interactive print to its 3.5 million subscribers and 5.3 million readers.

The magazine, whose name means “Champion” in Dutch, has been publishing 10 times a year for over a century and boasts one of the biggest magazine circulations in all of Europe. It’s 3.5 million subscribers is equal to that of Top 10 magazines in the United States. In the latest issue, readers can explore the magazine digitally by scanning the pages with the Layar app.

“Layar provides us with new posibilities to strengthen the cosy feeling that Kampioen traditionally generates for its readers,” said Bert Gorissen, Editor in Chief of Kampioen. “From the beginning, the Layar team has assisted us in making our magazine interactive. It is very refreshing to work together so closely with clear goals and a lot of enthusiasm.”

Readers can see the cover come to life with an augmented video interview with Dutch singer and actor Erik van Muiswinkel, and explore worldly travel options through extra content sprinkled into the pages. 

A video tour takes readers to exotic South African locations, links bring them to deals on European cruises, and much more, including a chance to win one of 5 gift packages worth €79. While browsing advertisements, including one for the Nokia Lumia 800 from Vodafone, readers can quickly tap a button to instantaneously add items to their online shopping cart.

Check out more photos of the magazine below.

Notable in this magazine is ANWB’s masterful use of calls-to-action in the print to its digital campaign. On any page with interactive content, an intuitively placed mobile phone icon appears with instructions for what to scan (see example below).

Also, each call-to-action directs readers back to a formal set of instructions on page 7 of the magazine. This is important for any reader that misses the instructions page prior to seeing the call-to-action.

Dutch women’s magazine VIVA is celebrating 40 years of publication by adding interactivity to its pages with Layar.

In the latest issue, readers can view exclusive videos, shop directly for items advertised in the magazine and much more! We talked with VIVA Product Manager Anouk Vos to get the inside story on how they planned the issue, what their experience was like with the Layar Creator and what to expect in the future from VIVA.

How did VIVA plan for incorporating interactive print? What was the process like?

When you start a production, the editorial staff sits together. In the staff meeting, we decide the complete layout of the magazine, then we think of what gets “Layared,” and then we decide which buttons to use, which should be created, etc. With the help of our art director we browsed the pages and thought of a pink layout that would be visible on all sorts of backgrounds. Most of the options we used were pretty basic: download page, download app, listen, etc. For the animated cover, as this was more delicate, we used a couple of test versions. We wanted to make that sure it worked.

What inspired you to use Layar? How did you hear of it?

Actually, I was looking for a new way to present myself in presentations, so I took a VIVA cover and said “Just scan the image to get my contact details, download link to the presentation, etc.” The ad-interim editor in chief of VIVA, Jossine Modderman, immediately got enthusiastic, so we created a demo page for the real VIVA. Jossine in her editorial told her readers that she was proud of her curves. A couple of readers reacted that in her editorial image she looked so thin, so which curves was she talking about? As a reaction, we created an editorial where we said “If you’re curious, scan the image with Layar, and you can see the unphotoshopped, just pure Jossine editorial image.”

We received a couple of nice reactions, and at that point we decided we wanted to be more informed about Layar and its possibilities, and bring our magazine to life. Also LINDA. Magazine has some really cool examples (e.g. the poll option), so why not take part in the Layar revolution?

How was the experience of using the Creator?

The Layar Creator is quite a basic tool - it is so easy to use. But still, the most important process with the Creator is the testing. By testing you will experience hiccups and you learn more about the Creator. For example, I used a rather large image, so some phones couldn’t load it. This is of course very logical when you think about it, but when first working with the tool, you will just upload the image and start your Layar quest.

How do you plan to use Layar in the future?

The animated cover for our jubilee edition was absolutely great. And of course the voice-over columns too. Those pages surely gave an extra dimension to the print edition, so our intention is to do that more often. But another way that’s something that has our primal focus to use layar is fashion and living items. We can make them sharable (Pin the items) and buyable (readers are one click away). And of course, we can think of cool way to integrate advertisers so that for our readers, those pages become more interesting as well.

Layar gives you the option to bring more depth to the print issue. It brings print to life and allows our readers to get instant information on products.

Any other thoughts you want to add?

Our first experience is that the pages that really are about the magazine - the cover and the spoken columns - are the most successful. Now we are in the process of evaluating, so we will have a deeper look at every page: what was easy to use, was it clear that the page was scannable, etc. And also important, were the Layar buttons clear?

But we must say, our Layar experience was and still is great. When we show the animated cover to colleagues and clients, they all are absolutely thrilled to see it. With almost 7,000 pageviews, our first Layar encounter can be called a success!

It’s that time of year again here in the Netherlands. The time when everyone dons their orange clothing and inflatable crown hats, hops on a canal boat and celebrates with music, friends and, of course, drinking! 

It’s Queen’s Day, or “Koninginnedag” as it’s known here - the Queen’s (official) birthday. Each year the Dutch Queen herself parades through towns in the Netherlands, and this year she’s appearing in the towns of Veenendaal and Rhenen.

The local paper in these towns, the VeenendaalseKrant, published by BDU with a circulation of 40,000 readers, has been augmented with Layar to feature some great digital content about the Queen’s visit.

Ads in the newspaper have been enriched with companion videos, and you can even watch videos and view information about the Queen’s planned route through the cities. But the best part? Access to a live video stream of the royal family as they parade through the towns.

Scanning one of the pages in the paper connects readers to a live stream from NOS, the Dutch public broadcasting service. Those standing on the parade route wondering when the Queen will pass by can simply follow her progress on the live stream.

This is a terrific example of how Layar can be used by publications of all sizes. The VeenendaalseKrant is a small, hyper-local publication, yet with Layar they can provide next generation multimedia innovation to their readers. The same technology which helped launch a print AR campaign to over 4 million people in India can just as easily and effectively be used at the local level.

The special issue of the VeenendaalseKrant is available now, and if you’re in Veenendaal or Rhenen on Monday, make sure you carry it with you to the parade! 

And for those of you in Amsterdam for Queen’s Day this year, check out the layer “De Blaffende Vis,” made by friend of Layar Menno Bieringa. Scanning the facade of the cafe De Blaffende Vis (located in the Jordaan) will display special messages throughout Queen’s Day.

Click here to view the Dutch press release.

“Er is post!” is a quarterly magazine from the Dutch national postal service PostNL that is delivered to every household in The Netherlands - over 6 million homes in total. In the latest issue, the pages have been enhanced with Layar, allowing every home in Holland to interact with print media in a whole new way.

After installing the Layar app, readers can interact with pages in the magazine marked with the Layar logo. By viewing these pages through the Layar app, digital buttons will automatically appear with links to websites, Facebook likes, YouTube videos, app downloads and other actions.

Making traditional post advertising interactive is a nice bridge between the physical and online world, says PostNL Commercial Director Ger Jacobs. “With first-hand experience, we hope PostNL can better service its enterprise customers in the future by providing guidance in the use of old and new media.”

“’Er is post!’ is a great magazine with which to experience how paper can be made interactive,” says Layar CEO Raimo van der Klein. “We have worked closely together with PostNL to make it a wonderful edition. I am very curious to see how the readers will react to this innovative way of reading a magazine.”

Check out the video below to see for yourself and give it a try with the sample pages after the jump. If you live in The Netherlands, keep an eye on your mail for “Er is post!”

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