The 007 Spy Files magazine aimed to enthral 8 to 14 year old boys with details of gadgets, heroes and villains of the James Bond films that span the last forty years. Part-work publishers G E Fabbri, pulled its readers into its ‘007 Spy Files’ world of espionage using film stills, coupled with high quality, eye-catching graphics. Added to this action-packed content were Visionet’s unique games with interactive features, so each boy (whatever his age) could pretend to be Bond – James Bond.

Visionet’s interactive code games are based on its specialist products, Codem^® and Blackline. As part of the magazines’ promotion, special sets of decoders were cover mounted on the first issue and provided the key element in encouraging repeat purchases.

The Codem^® and Blackline techniques have been used in the past for instant win promotions however, the use of them as high quality editorial in a magazine is a first.Codem^®, developed and patented by Visionet New Media Marketing, uses a digitally produced pattern, split into two parts, to conceal text or simples images. With more than 30 billion code variations to choose from, the hidden messages cannot be reconstructed from only one part of the pattern, making this a simple yet effective tool for young spies!

Blackline works on the principle of creating a moiré (interference) pattern between two similar images. A series of parallel black lines, finely printed on a plastic decoder, forms the master pattern. The image to be concealed is offset in a similar pattern, making it virtually impossible to see on its own. When the two patterns overlay one another, readers see the message in the moiré pattern.

Future issues carried further incentives such as trading cards and a ‘007 Spy Files’ collector’s tin.

Spy games in James Bond magazine encouraged repeat purchase

With their decoders, readers saw secret messages in special editorial panels. Budding 007s kept their decoders safe so they could decipher new messages as they appeared in later issues.

For an information pack about Codem please email us at qbranch@visionet.co.uk