Yesterday, along with the iPhone OS 4.0, Steve Jobs introduced iAd, Apple’s own mobile advertising platform that according to Apple, “combines the emotion of TV ads with the interactivity of web ads”. This new platform, that will directly compete with Google’s new mobile ad platform, enables users to view fun, interactive in-app advertisements that unlike current ads do not require the user to go into a separate browser to view content. The average iPhone user spends an estimated 30 minutes inside apps everyday so if an ad is displayed every three minutes there would be over one billion ad impressions everyday on all of Apple’s 100 million devices in use. The new ads will be different than traditional mobile ads. They will feature interactive and video content within the ad enabling instant video playback, sound clips, and even games. For example, a Nike ad lets users watch videos, design their own custom shoe, or find a store all within the app. Apple plans to sell and host the ads while giving developers 60% of the revenue. Since Apple devices do not support Flash media all interactive ads will be done through HTML5. The ads will also be targeted towards specific users based on the content in their app.
I think iAd is a great idea for Apple to release now for a number of reasons. First it keeps the actual prices of the apps down while allowing app developers to get paid. As the developers get paid more for their apps they are more likely to develop better apps or provide better support for current apps. Also it gives magazines and other publications a good reason to move to the iPad. They make their money and run their business from advertising sales and these specialty apps give them an incentive to transition to their product. Lastly, this new platform will be very profitable for Apple. It will be very interesting to see how the new ads evolve, how they are received by users, and what impact they have on the industry.
In an attempt to draw users back in, Myspace has begun revamping their site for a comeback. As more and more users shift over to social network applications like Facebook and Twitter, the former leader Myspace has been surpassed while quickly losing market share. With their lack of growth compared to the enormous rise in Facebook users and Twitter boom, Myspace isn’t the juggernaut it used to be. For years they were the undisputed king of social networking but they got complacent and failed to innovate, this presented an opening to Facebook and now they dominate the medium with over four times as many members. While Facebook has taken over, Myspace has remained profitable bringing in about $350million a year mainly from advertising, but this too could change very soon. They have a shared advertising revenue deal with Google currently that has been keeping the company profitable but with the recently announced Google Buzz social networking platform it is unclear if they will renew their deal. Between these problems and a recent management shakeup, Myspace has a lot of work ahead to accomplish their goal, but their strategy seems solid.
Instead of looking at Facebook and Twitter as competitors, Myspace is now changing their strategy and looking towards these once rivals and potential partners for distribution and synchronization. They have already synced services with Twitter so tweets or status updates on one service are automatically posted to the other.
They are also shifting their target market and content strategies. They will now appeal to a younger crowd focusing on music, movies, and games by using the service to discover new music, view movie trailers, and play games in a social environment. Instead of being a “place for friends” their new mantra will be “Discover and be Discovered” moving further away from social and focusing more on the media aspect. This rebranding will include simple, clean pages to avoid the unappealing cluttered pages that have become expected with the original design. They are investing a lot in their gaming channel by working with social-gaming firm Playdom. They have also teamed with Microsoft to improve their mobile web services and revamp its look. Lastly, they are keeping music a main focus.
Myspace Music has been an extremely useful and popular medium for bands to increase exposure and connect with fans. While Myspace’s user base is down compared to Facebook, their music channel is still considered quite successful. If they can continue their success of this channel while improving their video and game channels, it could prove successful.
Many argue that Myspace is already done and their failure to innovate along with other social networking sites has already sealed their fate. With social networking dominated by Facebook, Google’s new social network, and Apple trying to take over distribution of digital media there may not be room Myspace. But with their new strategy to reinvigorate the brand and network, their resources backed by their parent company News Corp, and their still popular Myspace Music channel I believe there still is a chance for them to find their niche and survive, it just won’t be focused on networking with friends. It will be very interesting over the following months to see how they choose to re-brand and if their strategies will work.
As smartphones continue to gain popularity and more companies release branded applications to add value and increase brand awareness it is important that they fully research and understand exactly how the app will affect their brand. Blockbuster, in an attempt to stay competitive as Netflix and Redbox devour their market share, decided a new strategy that involves offering new services and products and releasing an innovative iPhone app could increase brand awareness and relevancy. Unfortunately, they did not realize the implications of their actions. The Wall Street Journal reported that their iPhone application would allow customers to check and see if a rental is in stock before going to the store. This sounds like a great idea; it takes advantage of new technology and adds value for the customer by saving them time. However, it seems that Blockbuster has overlooked the fact that the application ultimately gives their customers a reason to not come to their stores. If someone who still uses Blockbuster to rent movies goes into the store looking for a particular movie and if they discover it is not in stock they will typically pick out a different movie because they are already in the store. This situation is ideal because it gives Blockbuster two rental sales, the current rental and then another when the customer comes back in for the movie they originally wanted to watch. Their new strategy involving the new iPhone app will result in fewer sales because the customer will not step foot in the store until it is convenient and the movie they want to watch is available. Also, depending on availability, customers using this app can get tired of waiting for a particular movie to become available and now be more inclined to switch over to Blockbuster’s more convenient competitors. Hopefully their other strategies can help them weather the storm but I predict the new iPhone app will spell disaster for the struggling rental chain. Blockbuster’s current mobile application strategy is a good example of how brands need to a well thought strategy before adopting new technology.
This video was recently released from the Technology. Entertainment. Design. (TED) Organization features Pranav Minstry, a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT’s Media Lab. He explains the potential of “SixthSense technology” that integrates the digital world with the physical world. This technology is a wearable “gestural” interface that augments physical objects around us with digital informaiton and natural hand gestures to ineract with that information.
Chado Advertising & Design recently filmed this corporate short video to go along with the new website for the Epic Group. The Epic Group, based out of Hong Kong with facilities in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and China is one of the largest textile manufacturers in the world producing over 36 million garments a year. Filmed on location at their facilities in Hong Kong, Bangladesh, and Vietnam this video provides a brief overview of the company and their world class manufacturing facilities.
Although YouTube is still top dog for viewing online video Facebook continues to innovate and get results. By constantly adding new tools while increasing users they are living up to the hype. A recent cnet report based on Nielsen Video Census statistics has reported that facebook is now the third most popular place to view videos online behind YouTube and Hulu. With the popularity of viewing videos online grows along side social networking facebook has successfully merged the two innovative concepts and evolved into a one stop media portal.
In related news Chado has posted videos from past campaigns and they are available for viewing on Chado’s facebook fan page. To visit Chado’s fan page and view the newly uploaded videos click here.
