At MIXX Toronto on Sept. 29, 2008, mid-morning keynote Jacques Herve Roubert, President and CEO of Nurun (Global), gave a rousing presentation on the power of the iPhone, and its role in helping drive the branding goals of L'Oreal Paris. In particular, Nurun wanted to take advantage of iPhone users' propensity to view Video on the device.
According to a Digital Media Wire review of a January 2008 M:Metrics report on iPhone usage: "While the demographics of iPhone users are very similar to all smartphone owners, the iPhone is outpacing other smartphones in driving mobile content consumption by a significant margin."
According to the January study, 30.9% of iPhone owners reportedly watched mobile TV or video in January, compared with 14.2% of smartphone owners and 4.6% of the total mobile market.
But the device is not without its drawbacks... According to a Rubicon Consulting whitepaper, not all Websites are displayed properly on the current version of the device, and iPhone owners often pack a second phone to do more routine tasks such as making basic calls or sending email.
As well, over half of current iPhone owners are under 30 years of age, and as Rubicon notes: "This group of customers is great for launching a product, but there aren’t enough of them to create sustained growth. The biggest question about the future of the iPhone is whether Apple can reach beyond the early adopters to generate substantial amounts of mainstream demand for the iPhone."
So I thought I'd ask... Do you think the iPhone is a game changer in the long-term as well as the short-term?
And, would you advise Advertisers to invest in developing for the iPhone at this early juncture (assuming their target market is 25-49), or would you advise them to develop for other smartphones with more reach?
How would you advise Advertisers to budget for iPhone/smartphone development and experimentation (% of total marketing budget? percent of interactive budget?).
Let me know.
Paula Gignac, President, IAB Canada
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