How Will The iPad Change Marketing?

As I said to a friend the day iPad was announced, “I know I don’t need one. That’s not the point. Do I need to own 6 pairs of the same black boots?”

Yet I managed to talk myself out of getting an iPad the day they were released. Thankfully, that didn’t stop my husband from buying me one as a surprise gift. I was thrilled. A new gadget! Yay!

There are hundreds of opinions out there about why the iPad is great and why it’s not. Walt Mossberg, the grand-daddy of all opinions says, “The iPad has the power to change portable computing profoundly.”

I’ll put my own spin on that: I say the iPad is more than just a cool gadget — it’s a game changer as a marketing tool. Apple has a way of doing that, and the iPad is no different. Look at how the iPhone changed the way we communicate with each and engage with brands. I believe the iPad will have even greater ramifications.

I can’t wait to see how it evolves.

I’ll admit I was excited about the banner ad back in the mid-nineties, too, and thought that was a game changer.  But banners didn’t live up to marketers’ expectations. Today, most people ignore them. As proof, when was the last time you clicked on one? Don’t get me wrong. I’m not anti-banner ad. I still buy online ads for my clients and believe they serve some good. But marketers always look for new ways to boost their brands even further.  The iPad has the potential to do that.

With marketers struggling to find the best ROI online, with TV and print revenue streams flailing and with the onslaught of social media tools and applications, we’re in the middle of a transition of how marketers and brands communicate with each other. What marketing opportunities will be created because of the iPad? How will brand marketers engage with customers? How will customers engage with brands?

Currently, tne way today’s marketers are taking advantage of the iPad is linking from within an app to a video ad. For example, Kia Motors’ digital ad in Zinio’s electronic version of MacWorld links you to Kia’s (and my favorite) Super Bowl commercial.

Sure the commercial looks great on the iPad, but this is not a game-changing concept — we’ve been watching videos on our phones for years.

What I’m looking forward to are the types of ads Steve Jobs demonstrated when he announced Apple’s new iAd platform — an ad for Toy Story 3 that had a game integrated in it. Or one for Nike that enabled users to flip though a history of the brand.  I don’t know about you — but I get pretty frustrated when I’m reading a magazine and I’m only given a percentage of the story and told to “visit us online for the rest of this piece.” I want to see it now. I believe the iPad finally provides the platform for publishers’ content and advertising to truly come to life — far more than the banner ever permitted and with much more user involvement than what Kia is doing today on Zinio.

MarketingVox says that the introduction of iAd won’t drive vast numbers of people to start surfing the web on their mobile devices.  I disagree. Maybe droves of people won’t be surfing tomorrow, but we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface, or in this case, tap the surface.  A few years ago, who would have thought posting 140 characters of whatever you were doing on a website would create such a frenzy in marketing departments around the globe?

Whether you agree with me and think the iPad is a game changer or you think it’s just another pretty device from Apple, I remain excited about what’s coming and how it will help shape and evolve customer engagement.

As Bounty’s trying-to-be-a-hip-brand YouTube video says: “Bring it.”