The iPad and advertising
Pierre C. Meier, editor-in-chief of *Werbewoche*, on the iPad, the media's new darling.
Everyone is talking about the iPad. The new must-have from Apple doesn't just fascinate technology freaks - they are even more critical and complain that the new wonder apple has no USB port, lacks a camera and can't be used to make phone calls. As if anyone would need an iPad to take photos or make phone calls. It would also look pretty silly to hold an A4-sized, 600 gram device to your ear or use it to take snapshots for a digital photo album. The Apple fan community and publishing managers, on the other hand, are delighted. They are hoping that the new device will achieve a breakthrough in paid content for the printed press. It is very possible that this could succeed, as the integration of text, images, film, sound and interactivity is very tempting.
Anyone who has ever played around with one of the new apps from Paris-Match or Sports Illustrated is thrilled and realizes that a new fascinating dimension of media consumption is coming our way. Alongside the nostalgic rustling of paper in a printed newspaper or magazine, there is now the fascination of a new media reality. Being able to access attractive media content anytime and anywhere with a stylish gadget that not only looks good on the go, but also on the designer sofa, is a lot of fun. And that should be worth something to many media users.
Media apps also open up new possibilities for advertising. The path from the classic ad to additional product information to a movie and registration for a test drive, for example, is now just a snap of the fingers for automotive advertising. The more attractive the media content will be in the future, the more attractive the advertising will have to be, otherwise it will fall off and no longer be noticed. It is therefore to be hoped that advertising agencies will very quickly familiarize themselves with the possibilities of the new medium. If not, what happened with many new media at the time would happen: agencies were overtaken by new specialized providers and missed out on the business. This was the case with direct advertising and continued with online advertising. Perhaps they are smarter today. One would hope so.
Anyone who has ever played around with one of the new apps from Paris-Match or Sports Illustrated is thrilled and realizes that a new fascinating dimension of media consumption is coming our way. Alongside the nostalgic rustling of paper in a printed newspaper or magazine, there is now the fascination of a new media reality. Being able to access attractive media content anytime and anywhere with a stylish gadget that not only looks good on the go, but also on the designer sofa, is a lot of fun. And that should be worth something to many media users.
Media apps also open up new possibilities for advertising. The path from the classic ad to additional product information to a movie and registration for a test drive, for example, is now just a snap of the fingers for automotive advertising. The more attractive the media content will be in the future, the more attractive the advertising will have to be, otherwise it will fall off and no longer be noticed. It is therefore to be hoped that advertising agencies will very quickly familiarize themselves with the possibilities of the new medium. If not, what happened with many new media at the time would happen: agencies were overtaken by new specialized providers and missed out on the business. This was the case with direct advertising and continued with online advertising. Perhaps they are smarter today. One would hope so.
