Tag Archives: Apple

What the iPad Means for Marketers

Posted on April 13, 2010 by PM Digital

Now that we’ve have had a week to put the new iPad through its paces, we asked our PM Digital bloggers for their thoughts on the device with an eye to its potential for marketers.  Below are some of their initial impressions and takeaways.


OS4 Will Make the iPad Truly “Magical and Revolutionary”

Chris Paradysz:  OS4 will have multi-tasking capabilities.  Now, I love the iPad.  I can be excited about any great technology, but it should fulfill the hope I had back when I blogged about it earlier in the year that it will create an intimacy bond between content and users.

Music, video, words, pictures should no longer be disconnected from touch and feel.  The iPod and iPhone didn’t transform this connection with people (consumers).  With the portability, size and weight of the iPad well-suited to most people’s hands and laps, it can easily move from one position to another and from one person to another.

From a marketing pov, this creates a new experience sensation and viral ability that prior e-readers have failed to deliver.  Within an app or the internet, an advertiser can deliver a rich brand or offer experience, not just ink on “paper”.   With the iAd and technology infrastructure to support it, I have two questions:  1) how soon will it be before Apple starts up an advertising agency; 2) will a new SNL Apple skit be on this Saturday night?


A Must-Have Device You Didn’t Know You Needed

Suzy Sandberg: Just to get this out of the way, YES, the iPad does look like a giant iPod Touch. (iPad owners, I feel your pain on this relentless comment).  And since I can’t strap the iPad to my arm when I go running, I do still need my iPod Touch. And I still need my laptop since the iPad has limitations (no USB for one). I also have/need a cell phone until/unless Verizon ever actually does get the iPhone.

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Apple iPad: The Future at Your Fingertips

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Tim Kilroy

Welcome to the new world of internet intimacy and the acceleration of image-based search.

I watched the unveiling of the Apple iPad with some genuine excitement the other day. At the end of the presentation, I can honestly say that I was underwhelmed. The iPad is just a big iPhone…so what?!?

And then I thought…wait a minute…the thing is a big iPhone…that changes everything! (Well, not really, but it does have some interesting implications.)  What has really resonated with me is the concept of intimacy. With Steve Jobs demonstrating the iPad from a cushy looking chair, engaging the internet with his finger, it dawned on me what has just happened. The internet became a much less cerebral place. No longer is your interactivity with content tempered by mouse navigation, the internet reacts to your finger. It is instinctual, organic and perhaps even a little impulsive.

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The Apple Tablet: Don’t Ignore the Hype

Posted on January 26, 2010 by Chris Paradysz

What Apple’s latest announcement means to marketers.

Tomorrow is a huge day in our lives as marketers.  I’m taking a not-so-wild shot at this not because I love Apple products (I don’t) but because their ability to transform entire industries by re-thinking how people want to live their lives is stunning.  Apple’s new tablet product will be launched and, with it, the typical hype and expectations are at a fever pitch.  And, they should be.  Although the Kindle from Amazon was a game-changer for the content industry, it hasn’t really changed the lives of marketers as Apple’s launch will.

The new Apple product will be far more than a device.  It will integrate multiple forms of content into a single destination and do what all of us have wished for since we started buying cellphones and computers for personal use. Voice, music, video, print, data, calendars and phone are all going to be experienced through this technology.

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10 for 2010: What Matters Most for Natural Search Success in the New Year

Posted on January 5, 2010 by Tim Kilroy

As the New Year turns, it’s normal to look ahead. So here is my list of what’s coming up in the world of natural search for 2010.  In lieu of predictions, however, I’d like to offer up something a bit more actionable: a rundown of key areas that will require online marketers’ focus and attention to maximize natural search success in the coming year.

1.  Mobile Matters – I have actually been beating the mobile drum since I worked on mobile search in 1997, but this year, mobile really matters. (Google and Apple have spent almost $1 billion in the last quarter to buy mobile ad networks…that should tell you something!) The growth of mobile is torrid and with the rise of the smartphone and ubiquitous 3G, mobile search is working. In 2010, you will see an appreciable amount of traffic from mobile browsers. Are you thinking of how you can present yourself to the mobile user? If you aren’t now, you should be.

2. Images Matter – Visual search is hot. There have been dozens and dozens of early stage visual search engines that have been no better than demo-ware. But Google Image search has exploded, and we see that our clients are driving traffic through images searches. (If you are looking for a red dress, doesn’t it make sense to look for the red dress in pictures?) And with the advent of Google Goggles, image search will continue to explode. Are you optimizing your images to be relevant and available for image search?

3. Not Being a Dog Matters – Do you remember this incredible cartoon which touted the invisibility of who you are online? Well, the world has changed dramatically since then, and your reputation as a marketer is now well known on the internet. In 2009, I suggested that reputation was about to become an important part of the online world, and 2010 that will become even more valuable. How you behave as a marketer, how you share information with customers, and how you engage with customers will have an impact on your search visibility in 2010.

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The (Still Small) State of Retail Mobile Apps

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Glenn Lalich

retailappsApple celebrated 1.5 billion app downloads last week, but that heady number doesn’t tell the whole story of the one-year old App Store. It took Apple nine months to reach 1 billion app downloads. It took only three months to add another 500 million. That’s remarkable.

Take it as a given that most apps are faddish and have a short shelf life (think cowbells, lighters, “1,001 Pick Up Lines”). There are also apps that have expanded our perception of what is possible, like identifying a song almost anywhere using Shazam, or distinguishing a color on-the-fly using Benjamin Moore’s ben Color Capture. These are potent, uniquely mobile experiences. Apps in one form or another are here to stay.

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