What Does Your Free iPhone 4 Case Say About You?

I'm feeling a little saucy today - so here's the official (and very scientific) iPhone 4 Free Case Personality Analysis!

You probably know that Apple has offered to provide a free case to anyone who ordered an iPhone 4 before September 30th, 2010. In addition, Apple will be refunding Bumper purchases. To show what a nice guy he is, Steve Jobs is allowing customers to choose from not one, but six different cases from various vendors. I don't even want to know what these vendors had to agree to to get on Apple's list, but suffice it to say margins are probably slim to nil.

To get your free case, you must download the iPhone 4 Case Program from the App Store and sign in with your iTunes account information.

Here's what your selection tells the rest of the world about you:

Apple iPhone 4 Bumper - Black
Choosing this case tells the world you like to play it safe and go with what you know. Sure - Apple may have dropped the ball on the whole antenna thing - but you bought the iPhone 4 for a reason right? Stand by your man (or woman) and keep your shiny new toy brand-pure. Other ways to describe your personality might be boring, bland or dull.

Incase Snap Case for iPhone 4 - Smoke
Is the black iPhone 4 too shiny for you or do you have something to hide? Is that Apple logo too reflective in the sun or are you trying to avert prying eyes? Choosing this case means a life on the run, veiling your true intentions with falsehoods, misinformation and misdirection. If you haven't considered a career in the CIA now is the time.

Incase Snap Case for iPhone 4 - Clear
You wear your heard on your sleeve and aren't afraid to show it. Delving into deep personal topics and that precarious "TMI" zone comes naturally to you. Of course you also want to protect your heart from breaking - you just aren't very good at it. You may also be referred to as a "Stage 5 Clinger".

Belkin Shield Micra for iPhone 4 - Clear
Choosing this case displays a deep inner desire to have your cake and eat it too. Often accused of being emotionally distant, self-centered, selfish or sociopathic you want to get all the benefits of iPhone 4 protection without the commitment to sacrifice style and add bulk. Selecting this case increases the odds you will become a serial killer by 23%. It's science.

Griffin Motif iPhone 4 Diamonds/Smoke
Kim Kardashian would be proud of you for selecting this iPhone 4 case. Now you can display your Louis Vuitton knockoff style even when you aren't setting your obnoxious purse in the middle of the sushi bar for all to see. How is the chef supposed to serve you with that thing sitting there?

Griffin Reveal Etch iPhone 4 - Black/Black Graphite
Is your glass half full or half empty? If you choose this case you probably vacillate between the two while pondering the modern wing of your local museum. You also enjoy spending inordinate sums of money on things most people think came from a dumpster.

Speck Fitted Case iPhone 4 - Black Tartan
If you aren't British you wish you were. This patterned case oozes sophistication and nose-in-the-air superiority. In fact - it's the most stylish of all the free iPhone 4 cases. You might do well to remember what they say about the loudest person in the room...

Speck PixelSkin HD iPhone 4 - Black
As if having Pixel in the name of this case wasn't enough to sell you - they threw in "HD" just to make sure the inner (and probably outer) geek in you couldn't resist. Just like those weird people who wave when they see someone in the same model of car you'll know your nerd-kindred when you see someone whip this baby out from across the room. Since your severely introverted personality won't let you wave I hope they make an mIRC App soon.

What's your favorite free Apple iPhone 4 case? Which did you order?

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.

Verizon Rules The Air in Latest Campaign

Verizon is making a big play for customers with it's integrated "Rule The Air" campaign. I have to say - I'm a fan of going for the throat on this one. You may remember that I'm of the mindset that (iPhone 4 antenna design flaw aside) AT&T has been making some business decisions that aren't necessarily aligned with Apple's core customer base. Verizon may be courting Steve Jobs as much as the larger consumer audience.

Here's the television commercial for those of you that haven't seen it:

And here's the online component to Verizon's Rule the Air campaign.

What does it all mean? Not much in my opinion. Apple has been getting more press over signal issues - be they design flaws or network coverage - in the last three months than any other competitors. With the pending press conference about potential fixes and a new version of OS 4 in market it looks like Apple is making an effort.

Time, and signal, will tell...

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.

iPhone 5 and Beyond: Top Trends in Smartphone Technology

It's an exciting time to be working with mobile technologies. iPhone 4 has reportedly sold over 1.6 Million units on it's first weekend in stores, making it one of the most successful mobile device launches ever.

Here's five thoughts on what the next big leap in smartphone technology will bring to the table:

Glasses-Free 3D

With the recent 3DS announcement from Nintendo it's pretty clear that portable, glasses free 3D is a reality. It was noted, however, that Nintendo couldn't figure out a way for touchscreen and 3D technology to "play well together". I'll admit - I'm having a hard time visualizing what a 3D touchscreen would look or feel like from a UI perspective - but I'm also willing to bet someone is hard at work on a next-gen 3D smartphone.

It's The Network

iPhone 4 has been unanimously received as the best mobile device out there. The AT&T network that comes with it? Not so much. Verizon and other carriers seem to be both learning from AT&T's mistakes in capacity and failing to learn from their pricing strategy (which I still believe is a mistake). For consumers it all adds up to a giant, and often expensive, headache. In my opinion the network is the final great pain point for smartphone customers, and it won't be long before a carrier breaks out of the doldrums and brings a high capacity low cost service to market. UPDATE 6/28/10: looks like President Obama is on-board with the future.

Sync My Life

What if your phone was always pinging, relaying data back and forth about your location, activities and availability. We're close right now with services like Loopt and background tasks (finally available on iPhone in OS4). The next step? Complete automation combined with a healthy dose of privacy controls. Want to know how many steps you took today or how many friends you came within 100 feet of? How about keeping track of your habits and schedule without opening apps?

Reality Plus

Augmented reality has been openly discussed as a game changer. So far we haven't seen a killer app. Carrying a powerful smartphone means a lot of things - including advances in miniaturizing complex processors and components. It won't be long until we see device manufacturers selling visualization aides as part of the package. These could be glasses that tap an owner's smartphone for data or contact lenses that display key information. It may be fringe technology today, but it could satisfy the demand for augmented reality that's always on and doesn't make you look like an idiot walking around holding your phone up to everything you see.

I Love Advertising

Nobody likes being disrupted from making a phone call, browsing the web or watching their favorite television show. With mobile devices that are constantly aware and in sync to the owner's reality look for deeper, highly targeted advertising experiences. The line between advertising and serendipity will begin to blur, and your phone will know "that it's been six weeks since you had a decent haircut and even though you are traveling on business there's a great barber shop right around the corner offering a discount to new customers that fits your typical spending habits and by the way: you have enough time to go in before your next meeting." Most of the data required to make the above connection already lives in your digital world - it only requires a step up to connect the dots.

As new smartphone devices are announced every week and the market expands at a faster and faster pace, what are your key predictions for smartphone and interactive advertising technology?

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.

Millennials Spend More Time and Money On Smartphones, View Them As Competitive Advantage

There's a trend happening in the Millennial consumer segment that needs to be called out directly. It's been happening for a while now, but recently I believe leaps in smartphone technology have dramatically accelerated unmet consumer demand for smarter, faster and more usable mobile devices.

For the Millennial workforce smartphones are now a competitive advantage and a perquisite to successful adaptation.

But wait, haven't smartphones been a staple of the professional workforce for the last five years? You bet. But until now the trend has largely applied to corporate email. Blackberry devices paved the way for an entire generation to be on the clock twenty four hours per day. That's great (or not so great if you enjoy uninterrupted downtime) but what I'm talking about is fundamentally different.

When AT&T and Apple opened for iPhone 4 pre-sales on June 15th, 2010 their servers were immediately crushed by an influx of traffic. You've probably read the stories by now. The end result? Apple and AT&T completely sold out of iPhone 4 in pre-sale. AT&T made this statement:

"In addition to unprecedented pre-order sales, yesterday there were more than 13 million visits to AT&T's website where customers can check to see if they are eligible to upgrade to a new phone; that number is about 3-times higher than the previous record for eligibility upgrade checks in one day."

I'm using iPhone as an example of the trend accelerations I've described before and seen on other recent device releases, notably a bevy of Android smartphones.

Great. So what does it mean for brands and advertisers?

It's finally time to tap the masses of notoriously hard to reach Millennial wallets, and smartphones will provide the bridge to do so. Average time spent on these mobile devices is about to go up. Way up. When selecting ad platforms, look for those that are providing superior experiences. The future of these systems has already been solved in other parts of the world, and though all markets are different, it won't hurt to take a look outside your borders for inspiration. The smartest marketers will be ahead of this already fast-moving trend - shifting significant budget to rich and innovative mobile advertising before the research reports hit.

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.

Facebook Fan Value: The Definitive ROI Formula

Ready for the definitive ROI formula to calculate how much every online social interaction is worth?

There isn't one. And you should stop wasting your time trying to figure it out.

Before I tell you why let's look at a couple of tips and case studies to make your marketing efforts more valuable in the the current social technology landscape:

Incentivize sharing across your target platforms. A great case study for this type of engagement is Urban Hunt. Sponsored by FIJI Water, participants in the day long contest are required to open their social profiles (making your wall public on Facebook, etc...) and post bits of information including YouTube videos, status updates, check-ins, Tweets and more to earn points in the event.

Integrate the experience into an every day social activity. Have a look at Bartab. This iPhone app allows you to purchase and send drinks virtually. Participating bars will then sell the real drink to the recipient for $1.00 (a steal in San Francisco - the only participating city at the time of this article). The catch? The only way to get the drink is by allowing Bartab to openly share on Facebook and Twitter that you have sent or received the drink.

The conversation needs to be less about a hard ROI for "fans", "likes" or "check-ins" and more about driving engagement and brand equity with things worth sharing. Let's face it, spending time trying to calculate these figures is futile; before you know it the private companies that own major social platforms are going to commoditize social sharing and pull the rug out from under marketers' feet. I've been saying it for months now, and trust me, it's coming sooner than you think.

The best way to bring social value to your (or your clients') brand(s) is through creation of a unique and highly incentivized sharing experience. Contests and gimmicks are old hat and boring. Consumers demand more interesting, interactive and inherently social applications. Based on accelerating trends it shouldn't be hard to identify that next killer campaign for your brand.

As for measurement? I wouldn't worry too much about the details. Use analytics layered over interactions and revenue to get a good picture of success or failure. Make great social applications that share and scale well and you'll find measurement becomes far less important in the grand scheme.

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.

3 Interactive Advertising Trends iPhone 4 Will Accelerate

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.

AT&T Gives The Future The Finger, Announces New iPhone Data Pricing Plans

AT&T has announced their new pricing structure for data on iPhone well in advance of the 4G release and OS 4.0.

The gist of the program? You'll probably be spending a lot more time worrying about something that should have been included from the start.

You must be thinking to yourself, "No way! I'm not a heavy data user. I won't be going over 200MB a month so I'll be saving in the end." That may be true. Before you write me off sign in to your att.com account and review your data usage for the last 5 months.

Here's mine:
No, that isn't an error. In December I activated tethering, the much anticipated but never delivered feature that allows an iPhone user to turn their device into a modem, allowing laptops or other USB and Bluetooth compatible devices to access the internet through the iPhone's 3G signal.

I travel 20-30% of the time, and tethering was a perfect solution to the endless search for a high speed connection. Too bad that my usage will cost me an extra $75 per month, bringing my already ludicrous monthly AT&T bill to $200.

Steve Jobs recently addressed network concerns (not data plans). Clearly Apple is in the same camp. AT&T wasn't ready from a network perspective, and you can bet that despite Jobs' calm demeanor he is fuming about the lack of progress from AT&T's end.



Some choice quotes from Jobs:

"I know little about this stuff [wireless networks] technically. This is not my area of expertise. To make things better people reallocate spectrum."

"Things in general, before they start to fix them, get worse before they get better. That's what I am told."

"A lot of things are going to get better by the end of Summer."

My opinion on the entire matter is that AT&T has failed in two regards. From a network perspective they failed to anticipate the level of data and call volume that an exclusive contract with Apple would generate. It's clear their network can't handle it, and their solution is to build disincentives in for heavy 3G data usage.

From a customer relations perspective AT&T has failed to admit their blunder. Just come out and say, "Hey guys - we messed up! We thought we had a network that could handle such heavy use, but it wasn't the case. We are fixing it, and here's when you can expect that fix. In the mean time we aren't going to punish you for using your device as intended, just realize that service may not be that great in certain areas and during certain times."

This is to say nothing for the near future. As Apple continues to roll out new products and services (iAd and iPhone 4G with video conferencing anyone?) the norm for data usage will shift.

If you made it this far I'll just deliver my point: AT&T may be creating a business model that goes against the grain. As cloud computing, streaming video and audio, VOIP, video conferencing, MMS, and other technologies become mainstream 200MB a day won't be enough. Apple has little patience for companies that impede their progress, so I have to wonder if AT&T isn't shooting itself in the foot. What do you think?

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.

Apple Pushes Adobe to the Brink

It's clear that developers everywhere are upset at Apple for their recent policy changes towards cross-compilers. What was less clear, until today, is how Adobe would respond.

A few days ago I pronounced imminent litigation.

Today we learn that Adobe will shift it's focus to Andriod based devices starting... Now.

The hazy part of the story - and the real question for developers (Adobe) - is how consumer demand and client wallets will respond to Adobe's position.

With the upcoming Droid Incredible going head to head with the iPhone 4G, I predict client demand for iPhone apps to increase exponentially.

Not to mention the iAd platform may kick off a new era of media spending from clients big and small. And did I mention that Apple is kicking out all other ad networks from iPhone? It looks like Cupertino is going to make sure that content on the iPhone stays locked down.

Does a rising smartphone tide raise all ships? Will developers be forced to play nice with Apple in exchange for staying in business, or will Andriod-based platforms stimulate enough user - and as a result client - demand to keep the market competitive? One thing is certain - it's an exciting time to be in interactive advertising.

Nick Kinports (@ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive 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.

iPhone Wins the Handset Wars - Dethrones Motorola and Blackberry

DISCLAIMER:

Though I don't normally write about hardware, I believe the iPhone has certain implications for interactive advertising and social media that transcend traditional thought patterns in mobile marketing.

Today it has been reported that the iPhone has surpassed all other handsets to become the number one purchased in the third quarter of 2008, according to NPD. In it's wake, the Razr V3 falls to second place while RIM BlackBerry Curve falls to third; LG Rumor falls to fourth; and the LG enV2 winds up fifth.

Having used an iPhone 3G myself for the last couple of months, I can honestly say the device deserves to be in first place. Nothing else can come close to the ease of use, reliability, and overall functionality provided by the iPhone.

That being said, Apple continuously improves the software while tracking down and eliminating bugs. The App Store is a potent method of eliminating the need to engage the costly and bloated software distribution channels while keeping development time to a minimum through intelligent implementation of Cocoa.

Agencies need to begin thinking about how they can push iPhone applications on their clients. The task can be daunting, but a truly killer App can round out your social media or interactive strategy in a way you and your client have never before experienced. I would be interested to hear stories of anyone who has successfully convinced a client to take up the charge!

This holiday season go forth and buy the iPhone - make it a gift for someone you love or for yourself; you won't regret it.

Nicholas Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years. He is the Digital Strategy Lead and founder of Chicago-based digital marketing firm lonelybrand, where he directs the creation and execution of digital marketing programs that generate measurable signups, conversions and sales.