(Authored by Amy Goffin)
Advertising Works! There is no other way to begin this post. I sell TV advertising and my husband and I continue to have fun debates over TV ad effectiveness versus online advertising ROI. This is a case study of why advertising and product integration works.
A few weeks ago Brett and I stumbled into the Apple store in our neighborhood. Not because we were looking to buy anything, but mostly because it was raining, we needed to kill some time and it was a cool new store that I have not been in. As we were walking out Brett said, " i think i want to put myself on the wait list of the iPad." Since I am not an early adopter (Brett had to sell me on the iPod when we first started dating and a big part of the sell was him agreeing to manage my music which he still does today) my response was - "Why don't you let some people get it first and see how it works." Second response was "Can't you leave something out there that I could buy you as a gift?" (knowing he is a tough person to buy for! - it was out of love, I promise). That was the end of that. We left the store and didn't speak about it again.
Last Wednesday we watched our new favorite show, Modern Family. The episode centered around the husband wanting the iPad the day it came out the the wife, wanting to be a good wife, trying to get it for him. We laughed, and that was the end of the discussion...until Friday evening.
Brett mentioned the iPad was coming our the next morning (I had no clue) and that many friends had asked him that day if he was getting it. As I went to sleep that night I mentioned that we should go in the morning, but we made no specific plan. I was up before Brett and I called the Apple store in our neighborhood to see if they were opening early, nope - normal hours. I went back to sleep and when i saw the clock said 8:45am I jumped out of bed and went to the living room and suggested we go to the Apple store and get it. The Modern Family episode really helped me to understand the mind of an "Early Adopter" and realizing my husband is one of these people, that getting the iPad on the day it was available would be exciting to him - and that got me excited. Brett wasn't as excited as I was at first - anticipating a crowd, long line and it being overall annoying. It was a beautiful morning so I suggested it would be a nice walk and if it was crazy we would leave. As Brett described in his post, while there was a line, it was an interesting experience. And that was what it became for me: an experience. As I said, I am not an early adopter, so being one of the first to experience the iPad was not a goal for me but, I am a shopper...and once we decided to go for it I wanted to be part of the iPad experience. There were camera crews filming people and as we left the store there were 4 store employees who cheered for you - how exciting! It felt like we were part of technology history. And that is the same way I felt the first time I used it...
As I started exploring I wanted to see if I could do the same 3 things I do online, email, photos and shop - they all work...I already won my first ebay auction using the iPad! Testing the book feature really was incredible. It is light and I would be so happy to have this with me on a plane or on vacation instead of a few books making my bag heavy. I think my only issue is that a new form of technology is another thing to that gets in the way of normal communication. It could be very easy for an entire family to sit on the couch, TV on, iPads in hand - and never have a conversation with one another. That part I do not like.
As an advertising gal, I can't wait to see how iAd does in the marketplace. Just another evolution in the business and the chatter is that the application for advertising will be a good one. But for now, I am impressed and can admit that product placement (paid for or not) and advertising worked on me!!
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