Alive app is now a self-service platform

The extension of Alive app as a self-service platform, Alive Studio, will enable publishers, media agencies, brands and consumers to build augmented reality experiences.

Alive, the augmented reality initiative of Times Mobile, has announced the extension of Alive with the launch of the self-service AR (augmented reality) platform, Alive Studio. Times Mobile is a subsidiary of Times Internet, the digital and mobile initiative of the Times Group, the largest publication house of India.

As per the company, Alive Studio empowers publishers, media agencies, brands and consumers to build augmented reality experiences with the new self-service platform. Users can build campaigns using many pre-defined templates like video AR, WAP AR, ClickME AR and POLL AR.

Alive Studio also offers an intuitive online dashboard that gives a bird's eye view of all campaigns including reporting tools that can be used to check effectiveness and analytics of various campaigns.

Speaking on the need to launch the self service extension, Ajay Vaishnavi, director, Times Mobile, says, "Alive was launched by TML about a year back and since then it has seen strong growth. Alive Studio gives publishers and brands an easy way to augment their regular print campaigns, and we will now find more and more partners joining us to use 'Alive' for mobile marketing. Alive Studio also allows us to tap the AR opportunities in other countries."

As per Vaishnavi, Alive app is about a year old now and has so far done campaigns for 200 brands. So far, the team at Times Mobile has been customising the campaigns according to clients' needs. Now, with Alive Studio, clients and their agencies can create and monitor the campaigns themselves. As of now, the app has been downloaded by one million people.

For Alive Studio, the primary targets are the brands and their agencies. Besides, the service is also made open to consumers as well. The service is currently available on a free trial basis for a month, after which it will become paid.

The service is priced at Rs 15, 000 for 1,000 scans; Rs 30,000 for 5,000 scans; Rs 100,000 for 25,000 scans; and Rs 500,000 for 200,000 scans.

The company will promote the app through its network properties on TV, print and digital. Besides, it will also depend a lot on word-of-mouth marketing to reach its consumers.

Times Mobile has also announced that Alive App is now accessible on Java phones. This makes it the only app in the world that runs on all mobile platforms including iOS, Android, Windows, Symbian, BlackBerry and Java. Since its launch, Alive has changed the way print content is being consumed by mobile users. Within 12 months of its launch, it has shown remarkable success, with about 5 million scans every month, and 1 million downloads.