The Newshound got over to the UK recently, where he noticed that advertisers were finding more and more creative spaces to squeeze their work into. The moving handrail of an escalator was a new one to for the Newshound, but it perfectly illustrated the way advertisers are always striving for new real estate.

So this press release for a new advertising initiative from Wotif.com caught our publishing eye here. Seems that now even a publications masthead isnt totally safe from colonisation by advertisers 🙂

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On June 15, new adhesive note technology will be showcased on the front page of The Sunday Age. In an advertising arrangement brokered by FRANk Media, the online accommodation company Wotif.com will be the first advertiser to take up a front page position on The Sunday Age using new-look Ultra Removable Double Labels.

The Ultra Removable Double Label has been designed to offer three times the space of a normal label by offering a peel-to-reveal message underneath the main advertisement. It can be presented in a number of styles and formats to suit the advertiser, and can even be presented as a single layer to relay simple messages that don’t require a peel-to-reveal message.

In an Australian first, The Age advertising director David Hoath said: We have had adhesive note technology for a couple of years now, and we’ve been very successful in getting unusual notes on the front page of The Age. However, unlike the traditional yellow adhesive note, this new technology is a self-adhesive gloss label that doesn’t harm the masthead, and peels back to reveal more information underneath. In the case of the Wotif.com label, readers can peel back to reveal a unique voucher code.

What makes this unusual is that every single one of these labels will have a unique code inside that Sunday Age readers can enter online at Wotif.com for the chance to win $5000 in prizes. Wotif.com is an innovative online company. This is a brilliant example of how traditional media can work hand in hand with new media.

The Age has been hugely successful in using adhesive label technology in the past. Innovative advertising labels on its front pages have led to some advertisers reporting daily inquiry levels increasing by 70 percent. Now, Ultra Removable Double Labels will provide a better-quality advertising platform than ever before.

Megan Magill from Wotif.com said: We wanted to run a front page voucher lottery promotion, and while working with our communications agency FRANk and The Age, the peel-back technology was suggested.

Communication planner at FRANk Media, Anna Beattie, said: Fairfax Media’s new Ultra Removable Double Label technology provides Wotif.com with the opportunity to drive traditional newspaper readers online, and cut through a mass reaching publication efficiently and cost-effectively, whilst simultaneously rewarding their customers with the chance to win accommodation packages.

The Newshounds view?

Its great to see established offline publishers exploring the options available to connect their traditional print publications with the potential for online engagement. Ultimately, print media will need to find increasingly creative ways to leverage the power of online to connect their existing and established print brand with the many opportunities for interaction offered by the online space.