Print/Online Bundle: WIRED Media, Xerox Custom Cover Project
Iris Dorbian

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Recently, WIRED Media, in partnership with Xerox, launched a program that made many tech-savvy consumers realize their dream: they got to be on the cover of WIRED, albeit in an unconventional way. Dubbed the Xerox Custom Cover program, which ran from March to July 2007, the goal was to build significant PR buzz for both Xerox and WIRED with an idea that has never been done before. It also was designed to drive traffic from the magazine to the Web site and back again, while promoting the Xerox brand as a viable printing solutions company for readers.

The user-generated idea that culminated with the July 2007 WIRED issue focusing on “personalization to life,” which means customizing everything for an individual, from cars and clothes to cell phones, was the result of the combined braintrust of Xerox, Mediaedge, the ad agency for Xerox and WIRED Media. “The client has a lot of guts and that’s what it takes to do a lot of things because the idea was so different,” says Drew Schutte, vice president and publisher of WIRED. “It’s so out of the box. They were looking for something really buzz-worthy and with this program, they pushed us to think bigger by customizing the cover for readers.”

WIRED invited readers, using an inserted card, to go online to www.wired.com/promo/xerox, enter their subscriber id and upload a hi-res photo of themselves. Using Xerox software technology, WIRED then overlaid the first 5,000 usable submissions on a custom cover specifically designed by WIRED creative director Scott Dadich. The covers were then printed on a Xerox machine, bound at WIRED’s printer and sent in the mail to participating readers. Readers who missed the chance to get their face on an actual WIRED cover were invited to go back to the initial Web site that uploaded the photos and create a virtual cover, with their own photos, colors and headlines.

To promote Xerox’s involvement in this program, WIRED introduced the Xerox Custom Cover Project at the annual TED (Technology Entertainment & Design) Conference held March 2007 in Monterey, California. Also, Xerox ran a full-page ad in the July that talked about the premise of the project, which produced custom covers using Xerox technology.

The return on investment turned out well for Xerox. Not only was WIRED able to leverage this program for advertising from Xerox in both the magazine and the Web site but the real prize came with a full-page article on the WIRED program featuring the company CEO and marketing head in the New York Times Business section.
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