The look of an iPhone and the fact that it provides constant internet access to users are easily among the main reasons for its success. Somehow though, most of the brand advertising that we have seen on the iPhone so far hasn’t been very innovative. Dockers is set to change this with its ‘shakeable ad’, which it claims is the world’s first such ad. Media agency OMD and Medialets, an agency that specialises in advertising for the iPhone, are behind its creation. Perhaps this will set the standard for a new kind of mobile advertising.
[via Silicon Alley Insider]
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Target did a shakeable iphone app last christmas. More appropriately, it was a snow globe that you shook to reveal deals at Target.
April 21st, 2009 at 8:44 am
Judging from the youtube clip, this doesn’t really add anything. You have to shake the iPhone for the guy to dance, but they could have just as easily made you press a button.
It seems a bit forced to me…
JB
April 21st, 2009 at 11:04 am
Gibbleguts-thanks, you’re right. The Target app was the first shakeable one, so Dockers’ claim is off!
JB – That’s the whole point, shaking it, as opposed to pressing a button. It’s the shaking that adds the fun interactive element, and is what makes things like Carling’s iPint so successful. People happily paid to download that, so if shakeable ads develop to the stage where people are willing to pay for it, that’s a whole new kind of advertising waiting in the wings.
April 21st, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I’m with JB on this one – the shaking just triggers the next batch of content, rather than actually affecting it in real time. Consequently I can’t help but think this advert is as interactive as one which uses a button in order to activate the next part of a sequence. This is also the reason why, for me, the iPint is infinitely superior. The Dockers ad just looks like a poorly executed attempt by OMD/Medialets to create buzz around the fact the ad is shakeable. The ad isn’t shakeable, the iPhone is shakeable. Sorry Anjali, no offence meant!
April 21st, 2009 at 6:05 pm
The Target and iPint examples are apps, not ads in the tradition digital sense. The immediacy of distribution and ability to target to specific audiences are key distinctions, as are the significant cost differential between building an app and building an ad (the ad is much less expensive).
There’s no question that movement between sequences could have been triggered by button presses, gestures on screen, timers, sound input or maybe even forward velocity of the person holding the phone (seen any of the heads-up display apps in the App Store?). The goal was to get both consumers and the industry engaged with the brand and thinking about how different mobile advertising can be from the SMS and banner campaigns others have run to date.
Just like the first Flash-based ads, these will evolve quickly and incorporate more and more of the native device’s capabilities to deliver increasingly app-like functionality within the ad unit. That means that more of the landing page experience can be incorporated into the ad itself removing the need in many cases to drive from a banner click to whatever the desired click action otherwise would have been.
I’m always happy to talk more about this. Drop me a line anytime.
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:38 am
I hope that these full-screen ads are not a trend. They are so intrusive and tacky! At least give users a big “skip” button.
June 14th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
I agree with some of the other comments. Shaking the phone to make the guy dance makes the ad seem like it’s trying too hard to be cool, but is sort of senseless.
June 14th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
It’s a monkey grinder ad! I don’t see a decent sized close or skip button.
I would be okay with the dancing dude in a commercial playing before a free TV show on my phone. But, I hate the idea of my iPhone screen suddenly and unexpectedly being taken over by a full-screen ad while I’m using an iPhone application, even a game.
June 15th, 2009 at 11:48 am
The ad only gets two stars on Youtube.com I’d like a huge “CLOSE” button on this one!
June 16th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Leave these big take-over-your-screen ads for the infomercial brands and put them only in celebrity gossip related apps. It’s not classy to take over someone’s screen with a huge ad. I don’t like it on the web, and I’d like it even less on my iPhone!
June 16th, 2009 at 11:26 am