Feb
3
2010

Top 10 Marketing Opportunities In the Wake of the iPad

For months there has been speculation that the new iPad would be the second coming of technology. Sadly, it appears the iPad will not solve world hunger nor will Steve Jobs be awarded the Nobel Prize. It’s no wonder that a few days after their announcement, Apple’s stock dropped over 20 points.

What’s missing? A lack of a USB port, bandwidth challenges and no physical keyboard are a few on the long list of grumbles. But what the list doesn’t take into account is the most important feature of all: delightability. It’s that spark that we feel when we hold and touch something that delights us in unexpected ways.

Using an example we’re all accustomed to by now, the iPhone is loaded with delightability. Yes, Android is great and an up-and-coming platform, but it lacks the pure delight that one feels with an Apple product. It’s like comparing Disney World to all the amusement parks within a short drive. All are amusing, but only Disney is designed from the ground up to delight.

So let us not focus on “should have or could have,” but rather on what might be with the iPad. Here are 10 delightful marketing opportunities that the iPad is accelerating:

1. The door to video has been pried wide open—think video, video and more video at all levels of marketing.
2. Mobile providers are taking one more step to being pure data providers. They have no choice—data wherever and whenever will be our reality and reaching people will only get easier.
3. Advertising will evolve and create new opportunities to develop richer and more connected messaging. Check out Time’s thoughtful video below.
4. If you can think of it, there will be an application to help sell it.
5. The death march for bookstores will accelerate. Books will be cheaper and easier to access and start to integrate video. Yes my friend, Moby Dick and all your favorite classics will have embedded imagery.
6. Words alone will feel naked. Expect commercials in books or contextual product placement.
7. Hand out more shovels for the hole being dug for video stores. Just a few more feet to go.
8. The movie studio will evolve into something else based on a different access and pay model.
9. Look for vertical market applications that redefine entire industries. Start with healthcare.
10. And of course, the biggest of opportunity of all: the idea that hasn’t be thought of (yet).

Don’t underestimate this device. Wait till the delight begins. Look instead to new user experiences that we never dreamed of.  I can’t wait, I’m already dreaming. Looking for more marketing tips? Subscribe to our RSS feed.