Recently, Belgian creative agency Think Yellow teamed up with Layar partner agency Limebizz to create a truly engaging augmented reality experience for a special mystery client that drew an incredible amount of attention in Antwerp’s central train station.

The project, called “What’s In the Container,” centered around a mysterious bright orange cargo container assembled in the station’s main atrium. Around it, instructions were placed to attract passers by to scan the box with Layar for a hint about the container’s contents. If, on the day the container is to be opened, they could “crack the code,” they could win whatever was inside the box.

With tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people passing through the station, the project garnered quite a bit of attention. Social media was a powerful driver of this, as people were encouraged to use YouTube and Facebook to participate in the campaign.

They could step into the “Babble Box” and leave a video comment about what they thought was inside. Over 1,000 videos were recorded and automatically uploaded to YouTube, as people of all ages left their guesses about the contents. As more people “Liked” the container on Facebook, more hints were revealed about what was inside, encouraging sharing and spreading the message.

Scanning the side of the container with Layar displayed an AR video that let users “look inside” the container to see even more hints. The combination of social media and augmented reality from Layar made for a very engaging and attractive experience for visitors to the station.

Just recently, the code was cracked and the mystery was solved. The mystery client was Belgian cava maker Grand Baron and the container was packed with the bubbly stuff! Check out the video below to see the opening, which featured musicians and dancers choreographed in a beautiful ceremony.

This campaign is a perfect example of the extensibility of Layar’s interactive print! It’s great not just for individual experiences on the pages of a magazine, but – as we’ve seen with the great success of projects from CBS Outdoor – it also works great with large-form advertising in public, like billboards, posters or big bright orange containers full of champagne.

“The Layar App gave our static container a dynamic feature that has caught the imagination of many visitors,” said Think Yellow. “It really came to life and distinguished our project from many other projects in Antwerp Central Station.”

Previously we’ve mentioned CBS Outdoor’s campaigns with both VIVA women’s magazine and the Assassin’s Creed III video game to enhance transit stops in the Netherlands with interactive print. But CBS didn’t stop there, and judging by the results they saw from another campaign, it’s not surprising they keep coming back.

Last year CBS also used Layar’s interactive print on billboards to promote a new book from popular author David Baldacci. By scanning the ads with Layar, anyone could access and read the first chapter of the book, download the ebook or purchase it online.

According to CBS’s Interactive Europe report, the interactive “Out-of-Home” ads increased web traffic to Baldacci’s website by 500% during the course of the campaign. Later, after the campaign had ended, web traffic remained 250% above average.

“This proves that Out-of-Home delivered against its traditional strengths of building brand awareness and driving a response,” the CBS report says.

According to research performed around the ads, those who scanned with Layar were consistently more likely to report a positive response across several areas, including being more likely to mention the ad to others.

“Interaction also improved opinions, which is a good result for a category that is conservative and notoriously difficult to encourage people to try new authors or genres,” the report adds.

This is yet another example of how interactive print is booming and producing real results for brands and marketers. It’s just one of many campaigns CBS Outdoor is running on Layar, and shows why the well-known advertiser keeps coming back again and again to interactive print.

To learn more, including the interactive print lessons CBS learned from this campaign, download their Interactive Europe report.

Not long ago, popular men’s magazine Playboy provided readers with extra photos, videos and behind the scenes content with interactive print from Layar. Now the ladies are getting in on the fun with a campaign for VIVA’s “Naked” issue, featuring seven men baring all in the name of cancer awareness.

You might remember the Dutch women’s magazine from October, when it celebrated its 40th anniversary with an interactive print issue, including a cover which came to life! Now for VIVA’s “Naked” issue, the second of its kind, they’re again using an interactive print campaign – this time to raise funds and awareness for colon and prostate cancer.

“I am convinced of the fact that augmented reality is important for our fans,” said Tamira van Roeyen, marketing manager at VIVA.

Together with CBS Outdoor and Layar partner Limebizz, VIVA is advertising the new “Naked” issue with interactive billboards at transit stops around Holland. The ads feature a barely covered naked man – certain to draw attention to passers by. 

Anyone can scan the ads with Layar to view more, including links to donate to Blue Ribbon, a foundation for men’s health awareness, especially colon and prostate cancer.

“We wanted to measure the possibilities from offline to online,” said Van Roeyen. “In our campaign, people will be triggered by wanting to know who this beautiful man is. If you scan, you will be able to donate money for Blue Ribbon.”

The VIVA “Naked” campaign is a great example of the power of interactive print and the impact it can have on a fundraising effort. Interactive print engages people and drives them to interact, which works very well for encouraging donations for good causes like the Blue Ribbon foundation.

Last week I spoke at Mobile Convention Amsterdam. This time I did not talk about Layar and its vision for Augmented Reality, but about my personal vision on mobile and where this is all going. It was the first time that I shared these thoughts publicly, and it was pretty exciting to see the reactions!





And here’s an easier-to-view version of the presentation: