If you're an Apple enthusiast your world ground to a halt on June 7th, 2010 at 12:00CST for the live announcement of the iPhone 4 (among other, and decidedly less hyped, technologies). Of course most of us had already seen a prototype model leaked (lost) months earlier.I don't really care about the specifics of the phone itself, and won't bore you by rehashing some of the same old points about how amazing and magical the device is. Instead let's take a look at the trends that the ubiquitous device will accelerate in the interactive advertising space.
First, a disclaimer and an opinion. I own an iPhone and enjoy the experience. I do have my complaints, but overall it's the one piece of tech I couldn't live without on a daily basis. The opinion? iPhone isn't going anywhere. In fact, for the reasons I'm about to outline below, iPhones are going to become even more relevant in the average smartphone user's life.
TREND ACCELERATION: Video Everywhere
Advertisers have, for years, struggled with making video relevant and engaging. Consumers, for the most part, haven't jumped on the bandwagon. Video widgets and ads have actually become less prevalent as advertisers adjusted budget from expensive production to Google ads embedded in YouTube. That's all over now. Watch and see.TREND ACCELERATION: Mobile Ads That Work
iAd is a great advancement in mobile advertising technology, but the real insight here is ubiquity of a single mobile platform. That means advertisers, agencies, and marketers can begin to think about one mobile culture instead of disparate pockets of early adopters. We've all heard mobile ad budgets are on the rise and will reach seventy three quadrillion dollars by 2052, but the reality is that iPhone 4 and OS 4 will accelerate this process dramatically.TREND ACCELERATION: Rich Social Ubiquity
Social technologies have come a long way in the last few years. It's generally accepted that some of the more robust technologies like video blogging, podcasting, and lifestreaming haven't caught on the same way that Facebook or Twitter has. Thanks to the ease of use of Apple's new mobile device, expect to see the traditional blog (and to some extent microblogging) made less relevant as it's eclipsed by richer formats.Do you see iPhone 4 as a catalyst for trend acceleration? What else do you see coming down the pipe as Apple's next big device hits market?
Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 9 years, and helps the Fortune 100 identify unmet consumer needs, create ideas to fill those needs, and bring them into market. He currently works at Maddock Douglas.
