Hearst Magazines Digital Media Partners With Pixazza to Enhance Interactivity and Ecommerce Capabilities Across Its Online Images

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and NEW YORK, June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Hearst Magazines Digital Media (HDM) and Pixazza, Inc. today announced an agreement to offer a new technology across HDM's extensive online network and digital image library. The technology, which was developed by Pixazza, allows site visitors to instantly discover information and make purchases from online images that are displayed alongside editorial content. Initially, this offering will launch on Redbookmag.com and HouseBeautiful.com.

Pixazza's technology will integrate advertisers' products and click-to-buy capability within select online images on Redbookmag.com and HouseBeautiful.com. When visitors browse these sites and scroll over various images, which may include anything from a swimsuit to a sofa, a card will appear with a selection of similar or complementary products. When the visitor clicks on a particular item, she is immediately able to make a purchase.

The campaign kicks-off with Glidden paint, whose products will appear alongside decor-related features on HouseBeautiful.com.

"By integrating Pixazza's technology on Redbookmag.com and HouseBeautiful.com, we deliver a compelling ecommerce experience while providing advertisers with an innovative way to reach their core audience when they're most engaged," said Kristine Welker, chief revenue officer, Hearst Magazines Digital Media. "At Hearst, we focus on offering our visitors relevant content and much of that is derived from the beautiful images that populate our sites. Our relationship with Pixazza enhances these images and provides advertisers with even more value."

Pixazza's service is well-suited to Hearst Magazines Digital Media because it allows the team to curate the user experience by integrating the technology into very specific editorial environments and matching the products seen within online images to particular sponsors. Through the combination of technology and human tagging conducted by product experts, images are successfully matched with similar products available for purchase.

"For years, magazines have offered product guides detailing where to find featured items and showing individuals how they can get the look. Meanwhile advertisers looked for ways to surface their brands at the moment readers are most engaged. Now with the shift to online media and Pixazza-enabled images, site visitors instantly react to the products they like, benefitting brands in new and unexpected ways," said Chas Edwards, chief revenue officer and head of publisher development at Pixazza. "Hearst makes the ideal partner as we continue our quest to make images interactive. We are thrilled to help drive ecommerce, enrich the end user experience and provide even more value to Hearst's loyal base of advertisers."

About Hearst Magazines Digital Media

Launched in March 2006, Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines, is dedicated to creating and implementing the digital strategy for Hearst's magazine brands and other sites, which serve the company's consumer audience. The unit oversees more than 28 websites and 14 mobile sites for brands such as Cosmopolitan, ELLE, ELLE Decor, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, Popular Mechanics, Road & Track and Seventeen, as well as digital-only sites such as Delish.com, a food site in partnership with MSN; MisQuinceMag.com; and RealBeauty.com. Hearst Magazines has published nearly 100 applications and digital editions for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the Android platform. In addition, the company includes iCrossing, a global digital marketing agency.

About Pixazza

Founded in 2008, Pixazza, Inc. is the worldwide leader in making images interactive. By enabling consumers to mouse over images to learn more and see related products, Pixazza has pioneered the use of images as real estate for brand advertising and ecommerce. Through its network of leading publishers, Pixazza currently serves more than 150 million unique visitors per month at a rate of 30 billion image views per year. Developed by technologists from Netscape and LiveOps, Pixazza's platform combines Internet and crowdsourcing technology to deliver the optimal content relevant to online images. Pixazza is a private company funded by August Capital, CMEA Capital, Google Ventures, and Shasta Ventures, with offices in Mountain View, CA.

SOURCE Pixazza, Inc.