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Posts Tagged ‘initial’

Well, have you been able to gather yourself after the iPad finally launched this weekend? There was significant buzz around this event that appears to started out with 300,000 units sold (200,000 of those were pre-orders). Lines formed at all the Apple stores in the US but I found it rather funny that in an interview segment conducted by the Wall Street Journal featured a rather tired sounding mom getting 2 iPads for her kids and another guy who was there waiting in line because he Mom told him to get her one! Well, advertisers are hoping that the rest of these 298,998 users of the iPad are ready to accept some advertising. We have looked at this before at MP but now that the iPad is on the street we’ll take another peek. Clickz tells us a little more . Hoping to capitalize on the massive hype surrounding the launch of Apple’s iPad device, major advertisers have forked out substantial sums to align themselves with some of the dedicated applications now on offer. According to reports, and echoed by interactive agency sources in New York, advertisers are spending between $75,000 and $300,000 to secure sponsorships of applications at launch, typically for a period of one or two months. Some of these sponsorships are initially being sold at flat rates. What is probably most interesting is the initial 300,000 sold came in low from some estimates so those buying expecting more reach may have been a little disappointed. Many advertisers though figure that tying their brand to the initial frenzy that accompanies Apple launches like this one could be worth the risk. Jason Klein, co-president of interactive agency LBi U.S., said the high-profile sponsorships are just attempts to capitalize on the hype surrounding the device. “It’s not necessarily a matter of the immediate impression impact. Reach and frequency take a back seat to the novelty and PR impact of being associated with a launch like this.” he said. Some of the brands jumping on early include Chase Sapphire who sponsored the New York Times free application launch and intends to stick with this for a few months. Of course, the Wall Street Journal is sticking to its guns and going the paid app route with a variety of sponsorship partners. It is likely that the WSJ is putting a stake in the ground saying essentially that nothing is free anymore regardless of what people say. I actually think it is a smart move because if the New York Times ever wants to charge for anything regarding the iPad it will have to turn its free-appers (my term for freeloaders in an app driven world) into paid customers and that doesn’t usually work so well. The Wall Street Journal’s paid application launched last week with sponsorship from major global brands including Buick, Capital One, Coca-Cola, FedEx and Oracle, all of which will make use of full-screen interstitial ads which appear in between article and section pages as the user consumes content through the application. All in all it is just way too early to tell if there will be any true value to the iPad platform for advertisers. What will be telling for those interested in just how viable this new medium is for advertising efforts are the sales figures in the next month or two. With the economy still on the fritz there could be a sizable market sitting on the sidelines waiting for the reviews of the iPad to come in. Thus far the buzz has been much more positive than negative but the slower than expected first day sales usually is an indicator of a rough road ahead. If people are not willing to experiment right out of the gate they will come up with excuses to continue to sit on the sidelines. Product introductions like this depend on blockbuster initial day sales because it is the thing that tells everyone else who wants to play with the cool kids that it’s a good thing to do. OK, Mr. or Mrs. Advertiser, are you getting ready to jump in the iPad express or are you going to where more people are? Is this initial iPad crowd influential enough to make you think again about jumping in? So many questions and so few answers but considering this has only been around or 2 days maybe we should relax a little and let something actually happen.

See the article here:
Advertisers Interested in iPad for Now

With the introduction of the iPad to the marketplace on April 3rd there has been some strong activity from advertisers looking to get a spot on many publishers’ iPad apps. This kind of activity is a testament to the power of Apple and its ability to create a stir with its new products. The New York Times Reports : Getting ready for the April 3 iPad introduction, FedEx has bought advertising space on the iPad applications from Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. Chase Sapphire, a credit card for the high-end market, has bought out The New York Times’s iPad advertising units for 60 days after the introduction. These are strong indicators of interest early on but there are a few factors that may be attributing to the initial interest in ads. Not the least of which is that many savvy advertisers are seeing that while they are spending ad dollars on a pre-market product with a small advertising audience (about 200,000 pre-orders for the iPad at the moment), they could be getting a bigger bang for their buck. How? Their ad money will get them a seat on the “Apple Express” which will be the media hype and buzz about the product itself. Imagine the number of screenshots of various apps that will be used in blog posts etc to show the iPad to the world. The reach of that iPad app ad suddenly gets much bigger at least in the early stages. Big names in advertising are lining up for the start and it will likely make many stand up and take notice. Advertisers including Unilever, Toyota Motor, Korean Air and Fidelity have booked space on Time’s iPad application. In a draft press release, The Journal said a subscription to its app would cost $17.99 a month, and the first advertisers included Capital One, Buick, Oracle, iShares and FedEx. Of course this is a completely new venue for advertisers and many questions remain including just how will these ads look on the iPad. Also, since Flash is an Apple no-no many advertisers will need to re-jigger existing ads to fit the new platform. So will this initial buzz be long lasting? That is impossible to predict. Questions about pricing for the ads regarding whether they should be flat rate or per impression charge are things that will be hammered out over time. Some publishers are looking for higher rates than their print offerings. There are questions about success metrics for iPad ads. Honestly, they are all perfectly normal and valid business questions that are going to need time to see just what a good answer looks like. Maybe it was best said by Mark Ford, president of the Time Inc. News Group, which includes Time and Sports Illustrated Mr. Ford said that while advertiser interest had been intense, “we’re all learning.” “It’s a moving target,” he said. Hmmm. Taking time to learn and see just what will happen versus getting all antsy about what might happen. Mr. Ford, please stop making sense. On that very fair, reasonable and logical note I will wish you a fine weekend. Take care.

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iPad Advertisers Ready to Go