Using Microsoft's Tag app for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Symbian, Windows Mobile and J2ME devices, users can scan Tags in the issue -- including its editions for the iPad, Nook and Kindle Fire -- to sign up to be alerted when certain giveaways take place. Several different giveaways will take place each day throughout August: At 1 p.m. on Aug. 2, for example, the first 500 Allure readers to submit their credentials will receive a bottle of Pureology shampoo; an hour later, 100 will be eligible to win an eye shadow palette from Sephora.
For those unfamiliar with Microsoft Tag, the product is Microsoft’s version of the QR code, a 2D barcode that can be scanned using Microsoft's dedicated Tag reader to pull up images, video and a range of other interactive features.
This is the Conde Nast-owned title's seventh annual "Free Stuff" issue, and the third to include mobile tagging. Although readers can, if they prefer, skip mobile tagging and log on to allure.com/go/free-stuff to enter manually, mobile is becoming an increasingly popular option: In 2010, 444,572 tags were scanned; in 2011, that number grew 575,878. The total number of giveaway entries last year amounted to 830,000.
To promote the issue, Allure is also hosting a Pinterest sweepstakes. On a promotional page in the August issue, readers can find six beauty products accompanied by six different tags: By scanning the tags, they'll be prompted to register for the contest, log in to their Pinterest accounts, and pin one or more of the products to their boards for a chance to win a five-night trip for two to Lumeria Maui in Hawaii.
The magazine industry has been somewhat unusual in its adoption of QR and other types of scannable codes. According to a comScore survey in June, roughly half of those who said they scanned a QR code that month did so from a magazine or newspaper. The latest to experiment with the technology is The Atlantic, which is encouraging readers of its July/August issue to scan article pages to view multimedia extras, including video interviews and photo tours.