Ecosystem Marketing and the iPad

I watched the whole thing. The announcement of the iPad. Via a combination of a Ustream feed and the gdgt.com blogger’s stills and commentary. It was thrilling. And once again, a brilliant marketing case study. (If you missed it, here’s the 180 second version)

What tires me is the press’ “responsibility” to report that tablets are all over, and why should Apple expect to have any more success than the other manufacturers (from HP to Toshiba, etc.). Answer This isn’t about devices. It’s about ecosystems.

When Apple introduced the iPod, they were late to a boring MP3 scene but redefined the space because they came to the party with a music ecosystem (iTunes store plus content from key providers) and a level of product integration that made the process so simple and inviting that there were zero barriers to adoption (from young kids to the very old – all have adopted the iPod). Then, once smart phones have been fully deployed by RIM and others…enter the iPhone. And an entire ecosystem – make that industry – of apps. Now, with the iPad, we’ll see the consumers of all kinds embrace the intimacy of content consumption from periodicals (and yes, with the potential to completely reinvigorate ‘magazine’ advertising), to books, to movies, and photo sharing. Right. it’s all been done. But not this well. And it’s not about all the other devices already available. The impetus has not existed. And it won’t take much. We can count on the iBook store to succeed. And we can look forward to carrying around our entire library of books and magazines, the latest editions and the most treasured classics, along with our music and movies if we choose. So that when we curl up on the couch, we’re ready to engage. Oh, don’t have the stuff you want? You’ll be connected on your home wireless or hotspot and you’ll quickly find it. And finally, the major progressive media outlets (can you say New York Times) can combine media in compelling ways for consumption. Yes! I can enlarge that photo from Iraq and see the detail. Or run the video of the Senator’s speech. Or watch the spelling bee final. Look out. Mixed media consumption will change fairly radically.

My favorite authority on the iPad and media impact? Colin Crawford. He’s leading the media industry in helping to understand what’s happening and what’s coming. Thanks Colin.

Also, my favorite new go-to development team for iPad apps? Clarus Agency here in Austin. (full disclosure: Clarus is a Chief Outsider client)

How Do You Measure a Super Ad?

Like most people, I LOVE the sport of rating the Super Bowl ads. It’s most fun in a group. Sort of a real-time focus group. And there were some wonderful spots last night. But let’s face it – even a highly entertaining ad that splits my side might not have the kind of impact that moves a marketing needle. How would you measure effectiveness of your Super Bowl ad?

Memorability of the Ad? Memorability of the Brand? (they’re very different, aren’t they?) For example, the Betty White football tackle was one of my favorites. But I had to really think hard to remember it was for Snickers. I mistakenly remembered it as a Doritos ad.

My favorite “case of the missing brand” is actually the annual Elf Yourself from JibJab. And who’s the sponsor? (most people guess one of three competitors – Staples, Office Depot or OfficeMax. It’s the latter.)  What was the most memorable brand this year? I think it had to be Doritos (or was it Tostidos? because there were so many…and mostly really good!

Conversion to Online Hits? GoDaddy and HomeAway played this card very hard. GoDaddy reported huge traffic and sales surge; their best in 6 years of Superbowl ads. I suppose if you want to build your brand identity around tank tops and shorts, ok. It hasn’t hurt Hooters, but it actually turns me away as a potential customer. Then, there’s HomeAway. With leadership from Mike Butler, CMO (of T-Mobile, CapitalOne and Kellogg) they’ve reported a 500% traffic surge today. I have to admit I cracked up over the mini-movie segments on their site. But for both of these companies they’ll need to impact their annual sales for the year by 10-15% or more to pay the bills. Will they? At least they’re able to put visitors in a position to buy with the online focus…

Special kudos to HomeAway who I just noticed is even buying Google Adwords to further leverage their investment

Super Bowl Commercial
See why hotels are no vacation.
The Griswold’s are back! Watch Now
homeaway.com/griswold_mini-movie

Clarity of Brand Promise? Easy to measure with the right research, there were a couple of spots that did this well. The benchmark has to be the Google ad. Using their product, they told a complete story. A touching one at that!  Even the Etrade baby spot with the jealous girlfriend did a reasonable job of laying out its value proposition.

And perhaps the least appealing ad – from Bud Select 55 – clearly told the story, but probably angered viewers for its lack of cleverness. Is that a backfire? Or will buyers consider the product because of how well they understand what it offers?

Positive Ad Buzz? According to Mullen’s and Radian6 BrandBowl 2010 who measured the traffic and sentiments of Twitter traffic, Google is #1 at one point, Doritos as #2, Snickers #3 and Focus on the Family #4 (surprise! That got NO VOTES from the pros). I like this measurement because it requires a voter to have mentioned the brand and then the Radeon6 tool also scored the sentiment. By the way, on this tally, GoDaddy is #9 with 1/1oth the Tweets of the Google ad.  And the measurement continues (which is why my visual to the right may be different from my reporting).

And finally, if you want a REAL ad professional’s opinion, be sure to see AdvertisingAge’s Bob Garfield in his annual review (you will see, we don’t agree on everything!)