Apple Won't Deliver on July 1st iAd Release Despite $1-10 Million Entry Ticket [Report]
According to AdAge, marketers forked out between $1 to $10 million to have their campaigns carried on Apple’s iAd platform but it looks like the slated July 1st delivery is unlikely to happen – mostly due to Apple’s solo dealing of the technical issues.
iAd: Marketers Don’t Mind Paying
iAd was unveiled in April but already the entry ticket on the platform equates to a rate of $10/1000 banner impressions and $2 in cost-per-click for people that click and enter the iAd experience, AdAge said. Hardly surprising, knowing that Apple was seeking seven-figure sums for the first iAd buys. And yet, marketers remain unphased and are willing to invest the money in what is touted as a unique experience. Point in case, AdAge quotes Carrie Frolich, digital director at WPP unit MEC Global as saying: “I think as a media format it has the potential to surpass anything that has come before.” He added: “It delivers all the emotive qualities of television or video advertising with the interactivity of a website, plus the functionality of location and all the bells and whistles of Apple devices like the accelerometer.” His agency bought iAd inventory for Citi, AT&T, Chanel and Campbell Soup.
iAd Competition
The highest price tags go to those brands willing keep competitors off the platform, AdAge said, citing agency executives close to the deals. Nissan, for instance, will be the only automaker and Citi, will occupy the banking vertical solo. The sources said the companies could elect to be “presenting” and/or “charter” sponsors. The ‘precious’ ads will be delivered on the iPhone but advertisers mostly target the iPad as a privileged support.
iAd: Marketers Don’t Mind Waiting
The effective roll out is scheduled for July 1st, but apparently, neither Apple nor marketers are ready yet. Being protective as usual about its product development, Apple (with Quattro Wireless, its “newly-acquired mobile and networks and production shop,” said AdAge) is handling all the technicalities and dealing with the multiplicity of formats to be adapted to the iAd platform. The announced delay is six to eight weeks to get on the platform.
At the same time, advertisers themselves are also short of time but do not seem to mind. AdAge reports that many of them are still in the early stages of creation. It quoted an agency executive as saying that the July 1st date anyhow make little sense for many brands who are aiming at launching their campaign for/in the Fall. “Most advertisers won’t be there on July 1; there just isn’t enough time,” an agency executive who has several iAds in the works was quoted as saying.
iAd: New Market, Creative Budget Sourcing
What’s striking is that the platform is not only attracting existing mobile budgets but also pockets those from digital, TV and PR who, altogether, make the bulk of the $60 million overall iAd booking, according to “multiple execs across different brands” quoted by AdAge.
So iAd is engulfing all budgets… and Steve Jobs’ early-June prediction at the Worldwide Developer Conference for Apple to grab a 40% share of the mobile ad market between July and December this year seems to be coming true. And just like the pricing and delay, Apple’s regulatory issues over the iAd platform don’t seem to bother marketers.