Session Description: Consumers can’t get their hands on tablets quickly enough. Apple had already sold 8.5 million iPads by the end of 2010, comprising 88 percent of the tablet market and it’s on track to sell nearly 20 million this year, while CES 2011 showed us that manufacturers like Samsung, Motorola and Dell are jumping into the business with both feet. Publishers, including GQ , and media outlets such as Newscorp have prioritized getting content (and ads) to these new devices. But what is the consumer mindset of iPad and tablet users? What types of ads will they engage with and which will they avoid? Most of all, how can a brand stake a claim in one of the hottest sectors of digital marketing?
This session took place Tuesday, April 12, 2011. The speakers:
- Andrew Solmssen, Managing Director, Possible Worldwide (Moderator)
- David Gill, VP of Mobile Media, The Nielsen Company
- Shira Bogart, Creative Director, AKQA
- Michael Fischer, CMO, Coldwell Banker
Being a new tablet user as of March, I really appreciated this session. It was insightful into such an innovative device from a marketing and advertising standpoint. I liked that there were a lot of good actionable things learned in this session.
Bullet Point Review!
- Sales of tablets went up 245% in 2011.
- 11 tablets are scheduled to come out this year.
- Apple gets #1 & #2 in the marketplace, other tablets have a lot of work ahead to get market share.
- Price point is going to be key.
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective Applications
- Be sure it fits with the brand story. The app really hits home with messaging (Comcast/Xfinity).
- Make it special. Make sure there’s a lot of “finger candy”… there has to be a reason it works better on a tablet than on a PC. There has to be some value of interface for interfaces’ sake.
- Make it extensible. HTML5 is the way almost all apps will be built, including for phones. Building in HTML5 means you can make apps cross platform. Crackle.com is a good example.
- But don’t forget about performance. 10 million downloads in 10 days of Angry Birds Rio tie in.
- Make it useful. No one will download an overblown ad.
- Give it away. Are you selling a product or marketing a product?
- Test & learn. Remember that successful digital properties started small. Most of Twitter’s features happened because Twitter recognized what people just naturally started doing. Listen to your users.
- The “Old Fashioned” magazine experience has been popular on the iPad.
- There are 8 essentials to be learned along the way:
- Start small.
- Understand that mobile is iterative.
- Have a promotional strategy.
- Size the opportunity.
- Keep a light in the window.
- Establish a technology “middle”.
- Own the code.
- Don’t forget the tags (both analytics and advertising).
- Key Takeaways
- Get in the game.
- Iterate & re-imagine constantly.
- Lock down your processes quickly – tech, content, work flow – so you’re not doing a series of one-offs.
- Fit content to the device experience.
- Be rigorously platform agnostic.
- Manage expectations.
