Recently 'mobile' has been much talked about as the next big thing. Mobile agencies have sprung up like wild flowers in spring, some have already sold for millions, multiple mobile operating systems have arisen (Apple, Windows Mobile, Android, Blackberry), and the mighty iPhone has been the standard-bearer throughout.
This latest platform, like those before it, is seen as some kind of stand alone entity; experts in this platform arise in agencies, large clients will create individual managers for the discipline, reporting in to a digital manager, up through a marketing manager and so on. And this is reflected in the way media is structured, owned and sold.
The segregation is usually by media in other words. Always was. TV dept, DR, Shows and Exhibitions, PR, Print etc.
To this you must add web, search, email, social media, games, apps…. (there will be another one along in a minute). And you can now watch TV and read your newspaper on a (mobile) screen.
Thus all media are in play as they compete for the ad pound that pays the bills and keeps it all afloat.
And now we have a new player on the block. The iPad. Already whole industries are frantically re-evaluating their business model, their marketing strategies and much more besides. Has there ever been an example of an industry (telecoms) collectively waiting to see if the arrival of one product will be a game changer?
I'd like to offer a slightly different way to look at the effect of the iPad by considering the way we use these new devices.
Generally we see the desktop PC as sitting at the top of the pile. The most powerful, the mother ship, the most connected, the biggest, the most expensive. Then comes the laptop, now universally able to connect with wifi, which is becoming ever more pervasive, fast and free.
Mobile was the dividing line at this point. And mobile meant phones. The dongle has now given that capability to laptops. Smartphones, led by the iPhone have stolen people's time away from the wider web and desktops as apps provide more and more functionality and access to specific content e.g. YouTube, BBC, FB. iPhone watchers were also surprised to discover that a significant percentage of users were happy to read books on the small screen. Which brings me to my point…the screen size
The iPad is a bridge that will allow us to see screen size as a new discriminator in marketing. The screen size determines how and sometimes where you use the device. And that means what you do with it. Already many are describing the iPad as a couch device. You can spend the evening with it listening to music, watching video, playing games, using social sites and so on. But it's not (yet) much of an inputting tool for anything beyond reference data or status updates. For that you will move to your larger desktop or laptop. Out and about, in the evenings, in your social world, you are likely to use a (smaller screened) phone.
Already content is configured for the device it will be viewed on. Dot mob sites are not what you look at on your laptop. Equally, www does not play well on traditional, small screen Nokias.
The screen size governs the nature of the communication and how advertising will adapt to these varying sizes; small single line ad units at the bottom of any app are not the place for Big Strategy; it's a signpost that you are best advised to point to your shop or website. On the other hand the web is the place to put thoughtful, commissioned content that draws users to watch and spend time in your brand space.
And if you have produced or are thinking of producing an iphone app, consider this - an average smartphone user will tolerate up to 5 or so full screens of apps. After this it becomes too difficult to manage (folders are coming to iPhone 4 to help with this). So if you want a user to give up some of this most valuable screen space on a device which has such an intimate relationship with its owner, your app had better earn its keep.
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