Who are We?
Poets vs. Plumbers
The Cutting Edge
Courses and Events
News & Updates

Articles and news | iPad's magic touch transforming the media industry

Created by News Editor   |  January 21, 2011 15:15

Raechelle Wilson

2010 was the year of the iPad. The product was revolutionary on a many fronts. Notably, it successfully created a new market where others have tried and failed (Bill Gates demonstrated a tablet PC prototype in 2001), and it has spawned an inevitable succession of competitors from Samsung, Microsoft, and operating system competitor Andriod from Google.

Brilliance is often in simplicity, as Steve Jobs has a habit of reminding us, and yet the iPad is the product that surprised us all. On spec, it was missing many features; critics decried it as simply a “large iPhone without the phone.” But after using the product, we’ve collectively discovered that it’s what the iPad doesn’t have that makes it such a game changer.

Devoid of superfluous options and buttons, there’s nothing fussy about the iPad. Characterized by the clean touchscreen technology, the device’s ease of use has opened up a market filled not with technophiles and web-addicts, but with the average media consumer. Essentially, the iPad is not about the iPad; it is a device to showcase content.

And what content there is. While Mr. Jobs describes interacting with the iPad as “holding the internet in your hands,” this gadget doesn’t just contain the internet—it is transforming it.

With some estimates as high as 14 million units sold in less than a year, companies are scrambling to create content fit for the portable, high-definition device. Magazines, newspapers and publishers of all strata are developing sleek applications that invite consumers not just to read them, but to interact with them. Amazingly, and after being treated to free access on the web, iPad users are paying for the privilege of viewing customized content in professional and device-specific interfaces. As more media outlets are discovering, packaging makes a difference.

Of course, as an eReader, many predicted that the iPad would do well, but media consumption seems core to iPad’s DNA. The experience of consuming content has been revolutionized by the device, whether it be books from Amazon, music on iTunes or video on YouTube. All of this, and vastly more customizable media options at the consumer’s fingertips—in an elegant but visually practical context – makes it easy to believe that this is where media consumption was headed all along. Content, it seems, is now entirely the province of the consumer.

With the ball in the consumer’s court, however, more companies are wondering how to harness the power of the iPad for strategic marketing. It is the very fact that consumers have become so selective about their content, however, that marketing via the iPad can be targeted and integrated like never before.

While it’s popularity shows no sign of slowing down, the iPad must now be recognized as a serious marketing channel. Location-based promotion and consumer targeting is becoming far more sophisticated for mobile devices, and has opened the door for a new level of real-time, personalized marketing. But, rather than the small-screen, short face-time environment of smartphones, the iPad’s beefy interface offers a more beautiful and leisurely means to engage customers.

Because the medium is so unique, however, advertisers and marketers are still experimenting with the best ways to reach their target audience through the iPad. With some companies simply expanding their existing digital campaigns, others are exploring strategies customized for the new platform. Apple itself recently introduced iAd Producer, a new software tool allowing developers to create interactive media advertisements for Apple’s mobile advertising network designed to keep the user in the app, instead of hijacking the screen like many online ads.

“What we want to do with iAds is to deliver interaction, but also deliver emotion,” says Jobs. “We have figured out how to do interactive video content without ever taking you out of the apps. We think people are going to be a lot more interested in clicking on these things.”

As iPad hints at a whole new realm for marketing, the line between ‘content’ and ‘advertising’ is becoming increasingly obscured. New movies and television shows no longer offer just a website and clips, but games and applications expanded for the iPad platform, and more businesses are following suit. Marketing that is well-targeted, entertaining and interactive aims to slide seamlessly into the mind of the average iPad user.

“The iPad is the embodiment of push and pull in one device,” says Dave Sutton, founder of TopRight Strategic Marketing, in a recent issue of Forbes. “It empowers consumers, enhances the customer experience and gives marketers invaluable insight into buying behaviors.”

And that insight can only sharpen as people are increasingly savvy about their media content. The iPad becomes more essential to targeted marketing as it becomes more essential to consumer choice. Though critics may still point fingers at the iPad’s deficiencies (the lack of Flash capability, no USB port and small storage capacity, to name a few), the device will certainly continue to evolve, and remains a game changer for consumers and media outlets alike.

The iPad, like all new media technology, is part of a revolution. Media must meet the expectations of the consumer if it is to remain visible and relevant; so, too, we can expect that the increasingly a la carte mentality to media consumption will continue to affect how we, as consumers and as marketers, create our world.

Up

1

Down

0