Mobile marketing is still a largely untapped advertising field, simply because of the rapid rise of mobile devices in the past five years. Major companies like Google and Microsoft have already begun their forays into mobile marketing in order to capitalize on the open market.
However, such attempts have been largely pedestrian, with Google using techniques, models and aesthetics similar to their online advertising program, and Microsoft utilizing a more direct-marketing approach to connect businesses with customers through their proprietary mobile platform, “Toast.” The iAd is by far the most innovative mobile marketing strategy, and only time will tell if it pans out for Apple.
It operates using a hybrid of PPC and PPV payment options, and is designed to allow advertisers to seamlessly integrate their promotions with existing iPhone, iPod, or iPad apps. This creates an environment in which advertisements must operate fluidly within applications, making them more like interactive games. This is a far cry from the static calls-to-action that we are used to from advertisements. The more interactive and fun an ad is to engage with, the more effective it will be. iAd could be a game changer indeed, not only for mobile marketing but for marketing as a whole.
In order for iAd to work, however, it will have to get beyond allegations that it is anticompetitive, currently being reviewed by the FTC. Companies that also make mobile hardware and operating systems are barred from gathering information on which iAd promotions are most effective, which some argue severely limits many mobile tech companies. Despite this hiccup, the hype surrounding Apple’s iAd represents another step from static to interactive advertising, a marketing model far more suitable, some would argue, for mobile use.
