During the
past 6 months, I've been using the iPhone for work email, calendaring, contacts,
etc. This was my second go-round with the
iPhone, both times switching from my beloved Blackberry. Each switch was primarily perpetuated by the "coolness"
factor of the touch screen itself.
When I
first purchased the iPhone, I was amazed by the technology and absorbed all of
the expert commentary that called it a game changer in a category that seemed
to be stagnant for more than a few years. After using it for awhile, the coolness factor wore off as I became
frustrated with the poor phone quality, synchronization issues and, yes, touchscreen
typing. I often summarized all of the
above to people by telling them that the iPhone was just not ready for
primetime; then I would follow-up kiddingly with something clever like "yeah,
Primetime just thinks that it's too hard to type..." Silly yes, but my choice to switch back to
the Blackberry was a serious one.
With the
launch of the iPhone v2.0, I became excited about the possibilities with Apple's
release of their SDK and access to the iPhone's accelerometer. It's shocking how quickly I left my prior
frustrations behind and raced back to the Apple camp. I told myself that as a digital marketer, I "needed"
to use the new platform and experience the bevy of new applications myself in
order to really understand it; y'know to provide better advice to my clients. Though, after months of incessant frustration
with the iPhone, namely MobileMe synchronization issues and that damn
touchscreen keyboard, I have finally given-up on it. This weekend I switched to the Blackberry
Bold; primarily due to the stability of synchronization and the mechanical
keyboard. Yes, I was very briefly
tempted by the coming Blackberry Storm, but I'm just not convinced that their
touchscreen will be any better than Apple's. My only reservation was leaving behind all of the Apple applications
that I enjoyed; though most didn't provide my life with any genuine utility.
So, what
does this all have to do with digital marketing? Here goes: Mobile
provides yet another platform for distributing a brand's presence; reaching
target consumers with targeted messaging where they live and work. From my research, I've determined that
consumers view the Internet as a utility, no different than electricity, natural
gas and water. They don't think about
how the Internet works or that they're going online to do something, it's just
there for them and they go about their lives. That said, consumers are increasingly accessing the Internet on their
mobile devices, but still don't think about it too much; they just want what
they want, when they want it. Where does
digital marketing fit into the mobile landscape? Currently, there are quite a few
opportunities to reach consumers via their mobile devices: display media, WAP
sites, SMS/Text/MMS messaging and/or promotions, search, audio/video AND
installed applications. All tactics are important elements in the digital
marketer's toolbox, however, the latter is likely the largest untapped
opportunity and holds the greatest potential for brands reaching and frequently
interacting with their target consumers. The iPhone has made significant advances by opening their platform to
developers who are developing all kinds of useful and not so useful
applications. However, Apple's iPhone
penetration rate among corporate users is minimal, which is largely the reason
for brands lack of enthusiasm for developing branded applications for the
iPhone. You can easily see this by
quickly scanning Apple's App Store; most of the top applications are games; not
utilities or brand/product applications.
This leaves
an enormous opportunity for Blackberry. Blackberry
has a captive audience and a platform that reaches millions of Blackberry
obsessed consumers everyday. To date, RIM
has done a poor job with allowing developers with complete access to their
development platform, which has resulted in lackluster applications, web
widgets and icon-based bookmarks that have very little branding and utility.
So, I ask
the question, with regard to digital marketing, is the iPhone or the Blackberry
the real game changer and which device has the greatest potential? Unfortunately, at this point, both leaders in
the smart-phone space remain seated. The
reason? The iPhone doesn't have the
penetration rates or the potential to beat Blackberry with corporate users. I just don't see corporate IT groups handing-out
iPhones to their employees anytime soon. Conversely, Blackberry doesn't yet have the open platform to allow
agencies to develop anything beyond a simple bookmark or widget.
Agencies
and brands are more than anxious to tap this market, however, RIM must lead the
way. Until then, I'll be on my Blackberry using web widgets and bookmarks while
trying to convince my clients that a real mobile game changer is on the way.
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