As the end of the year approaches, so too does the cold and miserable weather of winter. When it’s wet, cold and gray, who wouldn’t rather be in a sunny, warm location by the beach? That’s the idea of the tourism department of Sarasota County, located on Florida’s Gulf Coast, which will be running ads this January in one of the more dreary winter cities, London.

But they’re not just any ads. They’re Augmented Reality (AR) ads, wrapped onto the sides of the city’s taxi cabs. Sarasota County has teamed up with Miles, a destination marketing agency from Sarasota, to create scannable AR taxi wrap ads that spring to life when scanned with the Layar App.

By scanning the taxis, users will see a minute-long 360-degree video of Siesta Key Beach and will be directed to the VisitSarasota.org website where they can learn more.

“It is imperative that we stay on top of the latest marketing trends in order to establish Sarasota County as the must experience destination on Florida’s Gulf Coast,” said Seana Mincy, Advertising Manager for Visit Sarasota County. “Incorporating interactive mobile technologies, such as Layar, into our advertising mix helps us remain on the cutting edge of our industry.”

The taxi ads will accompany promotional posters throughout London, including at airports, public transit stations, restaurants and more.

“We believe traditional media is an important part of a marketing strategy, not as the primary messenger, but more as a tool to drive visitors to the digital marketing components,” said Neal Alfano, Creative Director for Miles. “To help bridge the gap between traditional and digital media, Miles incorporates mobile technologies such as Layar in traditional advertising to provide instant gratification and delivery of content.”

American television station SundanceTV (part of the AMC Network) is using Layar and Augmented Reality to help better engage with fans of its new show “The Honorable Woman.” 

The spy thriller miniseries stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as an Anglo-Israeli businesswoman, and fans can use the Layar App to discover exclusive clues to the show’s mysterious plot. SundanceTV is using the show’s official Twitter and Facebook accounts to share images with the show’s followers that contain hidden information that can be accessed by scanning with Layar.

Monica Bloom, SVP Marketing, SundanceTV, stated, “‘The Honorable Woman’ is an intricate thriller that engages viewers with thought-provoking concepts, many of them centered on secrets and lies. We wanted to translate these themes into a marketing campaign that would rouse and delight our audience while driving engagement and conversation around this compelling series.”

Check out some of the example tweets below and scan with the Layar App to discover more about “The Honorable Woman.” Visit the SundanceTV website to view more scannable images.

Beverage company Crystal Light launched a magazine advertising campaign with a twist – Layar’s interactive print technology!

Readers of various magazines in the U.S. will see the “Color Me Stylish” Crystal Light ads. Some of the ads feature black-and-white illustrations which can be brought to life with color by scanning with the Layar App.

In this example, scanning the ad brings up a nicely-designed widget that lets the reader view different illustrations for different flavors and colors of Crystal Light. The products in the illustration change color and can be tapped to view more info.

Try it yourself! Click the image to the right to view a larger version that you can scan with the Layar App. It’s a fine example of what’s possible with the Layar Creator.

Layar partner Muzar has helped create a new historical lens through which residents of Port Jefferson, New York can look to see what their town looked like long ago.

As part of the Port Jeff Portal project, the city’s rich history comes alive with location-based photos juxtaposed against the current reality with content in the Layar App.

“Imagine if you could be transported back in time and experience a familiar place as it was 30, 50, or 100 years ago…the buildings…the people…the history,” the town said in a press release today. “Over time digital “walking tours” will be added and updated giving fresh new looks at different historical and chronological points.  The free mobile application available to most major devices will be the gateway into the past of Port Jefferson going back up to 100 years.”

The widely read business magazine Inc., famous for its annual “Inc. 500” list of the fastest growing companies, has begun enhancing its pages with interactive print using the Layar Creator.

Inc. not only boasts a 700,000+ magazine circulation - it also has a bevy of digital content on its popular website and blogs, supplementing the material featured each month in the magazine. With the Layar Creator, Inc. is able to connect these two large markets, bringing the additional digital content to the printed page and to its massive reader audience.

“It’s all part of our effort to find new ways to tell the stories of entrepreneurs and, in ways that no one else can, to tackle the issues that matter most to them,” said Eric Schurenberg, editor-in-chief of Inc.

In the recently released June issue, readers can scan pages of the magazine to see video interviews with some of this year’s overachieving “30 Under 30” entrepreneurs, a welcome video from editor Eric Schurenberg, dynamic advertisements and more.

“Thanks to Layar, we are able to increase the engagement of our readers within editorial while taking advantage of new forms of mobile e-commerce with ads,” said John Tebeau, Publisher of Inc. “Integrating this technology into the pages of Inc. puts the magazine at the forefront of reader engagement opportunities – something that’s prized by both our readers and our marketing partners.”

The latest issue of Inc. is another fine example of how the Layar Creator is the perfect solution for bringing together the two worlds of print and digital. As the popularity of interactive print continues to grow, Inc. is helping lead the way amongst a growing list of U.S. magazines choosing Layar.