iAd — Is $60M A Big Deal?
Most of the news this morning at WWDC was around iPhone 4 and iOS 4. Will leave the new device and platform play to my colleague Charles Golvin. I can't wait to get one of the new phones . . . very slick as it looks like a mini iPad in a modified format.
iAd . . . $60M committed for the second half of 2010. Initial advertisers include: AT&T, Best Buy, Campbell Soup Company, Chanel, Citi, DirecTV, GEICO, GE, JCPenney, Liberty Mutual Group, Nissan, Sears, State Farm, Target, Turner Broadcasting System, Unilever, and The Walt Disney Studios.
Pretty impressive. How do they get to $60M? Rumor is that the minimum buy-in is $1M, but it goes up from there. They claim to have 50% of mobile ad market share according to a J.P. Morgan study. I think it is a bold claim unless this is purely the media spend and doesn't include creative. Our number is comparable — but without creative. Advertisers can count on the buzz surrounding iAd's launch on July 1. That alone may justify the initial buy. These initial advertisers are a smart bunch. A few million dollars isn't much to any one of them, but these are sizeable buys for mobile.
I think there are a lot of interesting questions to be answered. Many will be "wait and see," but here's my wishlist:
– What do I get for $1M+ in mobile advertising? Am I buying creative, development, ads, and analytics?
– How much targeting do I get?
– Is it performance-based? Or CPMs?
– What will work well on the i OS4 devices? Branding? Or, will the ads leverage context — the context of how, where, and when I use these devices? Will the ads drive me to online purchases or into a nearby store to make a purchase?
– How much control do I get over where my ads are placed?
– Will these ads perform better than those of third-party ad networks?
– How much will a developer get per ad viewed or clicked on?
– If I play the same free game everyday, how many different ads will I see? How many ads will Nissan have?
Apple is committed to the success of the platform and great user experiences. With all of the new device features rolled out today, I'm sure we'll see ads that will blow our minds. Sustaining this level of creativity will be tough, but there could be a big business in making it worthwhile to many in the industry. We'll have to see more than what was demo'ed for Nissan today. Use of device features — very cool. Configurator — nice. Cost of driving — great. Giving away the free car? Okay, this drives up the number of page views and ad performance, but are sweepstakes qualified leads?