GLOSSY PRINT: BACK TO THE FUTURE FOR LUXE E-COM?

So interesting, this recent story in Adweek about high-end e-commerce brands using print magazines and catalogs to drive deeper fan engagement. 

You can't beat digital media for its touch-and-go immediacy, but there is something undeniably special about a good glossy pub - the kind you hang on to for months and leisurely re-read many times. 

Glossy print is expensive to publish of course, but for some brands it can be a worthy investment. I've long admired American Express for its very upscale Departures magazine - available exclusively to Platnium Card and Centurion members. 

This pub is world-classy - superbly written, beautifully edited and art directed, printed on quality paper stock - and it delivers real reader value with news, tips and feature stories that make you want to buy, buy, buy ... using your Amex card. 

Plus, each issue is plump with ads that command attention on the printed page. These ads translate well on screen, too, since Departures' members-only online edition is plenty luxe. However, the feel and smell of fine paper make them seem a lot more personal, if not more memorable. 

Yes, print is still relevant.  Costly no doubt, but Amex seems to monetize it just fine. Let's see how new players such as Porter do. 

Halo: Reach, Microsoft's latest big budget game, uses live-action promo video breathes life into new digital hero

The growing use of live-action storytelling to sell video games is an interesting reversal. It's been standard practice to repurpose animated clips to promote new titles. But as Eleftheria Parpis reported in Adweek, game marketers are devoting bigger budgets to produce high cinematic shorts that aim to breathe life into digital characters. She highlights “Birth of a Spartan,” which Microsoft is using to promote the launch of Halo: Reach, the latest in its Halo series, out in September.