Costco’s monthly magazine is getting geeky.
The Costco Connection, the largest monthly magazine in the U.S., is now embedding scannable watermarks within their editorial and advertising content to allow readers access to extra product information, videos and much more.
Starting with the April issue, readers can download the Digimarc Discover app and use their smartphones to start scanning over pictures to access videos, for example, or scan articles to get more detailed information on a given topic.
Costco uses technology from Digimarc Corp., the Beaverton, Ore.-based company that specializes in digital watermarking. It’s a good example of how Digimarc, which developed its digital watermarking technology to prevent bank notes from being counterfeited, is aiming to expand further into the print publishing sector by providing an alternative to QR Codes and Microsoft Tags for magazines.
Among other publications, the company also worked with Sports Illustrated to watermark last year’s swimsuit issue, linking to sponsored videos of the models’ photo shoots.
The company charges publishers on a per-link basis, from $4.99 for a link that lasts two weeks to $49.99 for one that lasts two years.
Costco, the fifth largest membership warehouse club chain in the U.S., is based in Issaquah, Wash.
Previously on GeekWire: From print to Pinterest: Digimarc expands digital watermarking service
