iAds news is rippling across the industry – iAds are redefining mobile advertising —iAds will do to advertising,as the iPod to music and iPhone to mobile —iAd implementations will begin at $1 million with campaigns as high as $10 million. In an industry infatuated with the latest and greatest,there is a lot of love for the promise of iAds.
The promise for iAds,per Steven Jobs, is to change the quality of advertising. Currently,online ads provide an interactive brand experience,while television commercials provide an emotive experience. The promise of iAds is to fill the white space between the two and provide an emotive,interactive experience.
A primary benefit of iAds is the lowers barrier of participation. Since it is built into the new Apple operating system,the ads are a part of the mobile experience,therefore when someone engages with an ad,they do not lose their place. iAds become a brand interlude within their mobile experience.
It all sounds good,except the iAd still hasn’t fixed one problem for many marketers:them. While iAds lower the barriers of user participation in ads,the same people are making the ads. Ads about product styling. Ads about product features. Ads about them.
In a recent blog (Some thoughts on creating the killer mobile app) I offered a perspective on core consumer ingredients to build successful mobile apps. Three consumer tenants include:
- My Money,My Time: Some people spend time to save time,others spend time to save money. Apps that assist people in minimize time to save money will be beneficial to shoppers.
- My Purchase:Shopping is about knowledge (not just information). Knowledge is the synthesizing of personal needs with product information to determine the appropriate fit. Thnik about apps combining personal information with product features to make recommendations.
- My Life: Macro digital experiences will accentuate my life (e.g. facebook,YouTube). Most likely these ideas will be ubiquitous in a person’s life including a mobile experience.
I would like to add another thought to this list,which is the promise of iAds: interactive entertainment. I like the lean forward objective of interactive entertainment. It is not passive – the promise turns the user from an “audience”to a “participant”. Basic learning theory will tell you the more someone is engaged the more memorable the experience.
Ah,but there is a catch —entertainment is about the audience(not the marketer). Think of successful Super Bowl ads —the most popular ones entertain the masses. Successful mass interactive experiences follow the same formula (think Elf Yourself). In both cases the marketer puts the person before the product. This is not easy for many marketers who prefer to fill their commercials full of product features and benefits —they make it about them. And to fulfill the iAd promise marketers must truly do Brandvertainment. Not an easy chore for many.
