iPad an Opportunity for Advertisers

January 27, 2010

Steve Jobs Calls the New iPad “Revolutionary.” The Apple tablet could offer a new way for marketers to reach consumers IF they will seize the opportunity.

It’s good for agencies to stay ahead of the learning curve of communication technology, to know what’s coming down the pike that will impact our industry.

CNN.com covered Apple’s unveiling of the iPad announcement live with Twitter updates from @cnntech and the CNNmoney live blog. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said,

  • “What this device does is extraordinary.”
  • “It is the best browsing experience you’ve ever had.”
  • “It’s a dream to type on.”
  • “This is a magical device, at a breakthrough price.”
  • “It’s unbelievably great … way better than a laptop.”
  • “Way better than a smartphone. It screams.”
  • “We have an unlimited plan for just $29.99 a month.”

Here are some of the announcement highlights:

  • Apple tablet computer to be called the iPad
  • CEO Steve Jobs calls the computer “magical” and “revolutionary”
  • Price will range from $499 to $829 and they’ll begin shipping in 60 days.
  • iBook interface lets users tap books in a virtual bookshelf to read them
  • A nearly 10-inch screen
  • It runs existing apps from the Apple apps store
  • It’s available in 16-gigabyte, 32-gigabyte and 64-gigabyte versions
  • It is about a half-inch thick and weigh about 1½ pounds
  • The device will have a 1 GHz processor
  • New app: iBooks. Five of the biggest publishers in the world are part of this
  • Users can flip pages forward or back by tapping the screen, or drag pages with your finger
  • Keyboard dock
  • Easily connects to projectors
  • BATTERY LIFE: 10 hours, over a month on standby
  • They are scheduled to begin shipping in 60 days

Most tech blogs are excited and optimistic that the iPad is indeed a revolutionary product because there are already:

  • Over 12 billion App downloads
  • Over 125 million accounts with credit cards
  • Over 75 million people already know how to use the iPad (iPhones, iPods)

It is predicted that Apple will sell over 10 million iPads this year alone. It should get the attention of advertisers. The bigger size of the Apple tablet will allow marketers to introduce more browser and video functions. With a 10-inch touch screen that will display movies, TV shows, games and publications, and also let consumers interact with them.

This device will offer a new way for marketers to reach consumers through this interactivity in a way similar to what the iPhone and iPod Touch has done for the $4.2 billion dollar a year app industry, which didn’t even exist a couple of years ago.

The iPad could also single-handedly resurrect the print industry.

“In the midst of the recession, advertisers left newspapers in droves as circulation numbers plummeted. Many newspapers around the world closed, popular and seemingly indestructible mastheads issued hundreds of redundancy notices and journalists started shaking in their boots – the future of journalism in tatters.

But here we are today, we’ve made it through the storm and now Apple just might save the industry, shaking things up and changing traditional advertising for ever,” UTalkMarketing’s Melinda Varley.

Another insightful article, Luke Hayman, a partner at Pentagram, among the top magazine designers, recently redesigning of New York, Time, and Travel+Leisure, he provides “five ways that iPad will change magazine design.”

The only constant in advertising is change. To maintain success, you have to keep up. That isn’t easy. Especially with this revolutionary change we’re experiencing in communications. It’s time for the ad community and marketing community with all of its creative and intelligent minds, to be the agents of change instead of being the ones forced to change.

Read the entire CNN Tech article, “Apple unveils the ‘magical’ iPad” or watch the video of his presentation: Steve Jobs presents Apple’s new tablet. The NY Times also provides a Demo of the Apple iPad

Additional iPad articles that may be of interest:

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2 Comments | Digital, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Survey: 2010 Digital Marketing Outlook

January 26, 2010

The Rise of Digital … is your ad agency digitally prepared?

“This is a changing of the guard,” said Rishad Tobaccowala, CEO of Denuo Group and chief innovation officer for Publicis Groupe Media. “If you look back 20, 30 years ago, the major (media) companies would probably be print-based. Then they move to basically be broadcast based. Now we’re looking at companies that have basically digital or technology underpinnings.“

The 2010 Digital Marketing Outlook survey, conducted by The Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), which polled in excess of a thousand executives from major global brands, traditional and Digital agencies, vendor and service providers that operate in the Digital space, as well as freelance and independent Digital practitioners.

This research continues to confirm that the future of Digital Marketing is exceptionally bright.

Some notable indicators from the survey:

  • 81% of Brand Execs expect an increase in digital projects for 2010
  • 50% will be shifting funds from traditional to digital media
  • 78% of global participants believe the current economy will actually spawn more funds allocated to Digital

Additionally keen insights from SoDA members around the globe on their thoughts and predictions about the future of the Digital Marketing landscape over the forward 12 months.

  • “The web can be anywhere, and physical interaction with brand and the extension of commerce into the real world are the convergence point in the next wave of digital marketing.” – Peter Connolly, Obscura Digital
  • “The most important outcome of the smartphone revolution isn’t sales, but rather the shift in the cultural expectations of the device. In just two years, the iPhone has quickly ascended to pop-cultural icon, and has shifted the way that mobile devices impact consumers’ lives, attitudes, and how they, in turn, view the role of a mobile device to support their daily needs.” – Brian Chiger, AgencyNet
  • “IPTV will be the catalyst for “a move away from the ‘interruptive’ advertising model that dominates television today, toward the idea of enhancement, in which brands support new contexts for viewing.”– Dale Herigstad, Schematic
  • “Augmented Reality has the potential to transform the digital landscape, merging online and offline in many creative ways. It is among the most interactive digital tools available to marketers, delivering unparalleled experiential engagement.” – Richard Taylor, IE
  • “Rather than spending another misguided year trying to “engineer” viral campaigns that will propagate themselves, regardless of consumer intentions, it’s time to refocus our marketing efforts to align with the way that people actually behave.” – Ivan Askwith, Big Spaceship
  • “The most effective digital platforms have shifted from “disruptive” to “productive” by providing a service or utility…[They] fundamentally change the approach from “how we reach our customers” to “how we make their lives better.” – Ken Martin, Chief Creative Officer, and Ivan Todorov, CEO & CTO, Blitz

You can download the report here SoDA 2010 DMO

Additional “digital” related articles that may be of interest:

 

15 Comments | Digital | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

8 SEO Writing Tips to Help Prospects Find Your Ad Agency

August 15, 2009

Positioning your agency to be found is an important component to generating new business.

I’ve previously shared a number of times that we are experiencing a new paradigm shift for how agency new business is acquired. It’s now even more important for prospects to be able to find your agency than it is to chase it. Creating an appealing online footprint, for your best prospects to be drawn to your agency and its services.

That makes SEO among vitally important as a new business component to your agency.

An element in SEO is optimizing copy for such things as your agency blog and online articles. If you want your content to be become a magnet for new business, it must be searchable. You need to understand what your target audience is interested in, what they are searching for and relate the content you offer to them.

Mequoda Daily, which offers consulting services for publishers on content marketing, published a sensible article with a checklist of eight SEO writing tips for search engine optimizing your agency’s blog post and or/online articles.

  1. Put primary keywords in the title.
  2. Don’t leave your meta title blank
  3. Put secondary keywords in the subhead
  4. Use your subhead as your meta description
  5. Include keywords in your URL
  6. Optimize your tags and meta keywords
  7. Only use keywords 10% of the time
  8. Use titles or keywords in every hyperlink
Use this simple list to optimize every new blog post or online article you write. Click on the following link to read the entire article by Amanda MacArthur, SEO Writing for Blogs and Online Articles .

2 Comments | Agency Blogs, Best Practices, Content Marketing, Digital, Metrics, New Business Trends | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

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