iPad Changes Everything?

When it comes to the much-hyped debut of the iPad, brands would be advised to channel their inner Donald Rumsfeld. The former Secretary of Defense in 2002 summed up the murky situation in Afghanistan by saying, "There are known unknowns. But there are also unknown unknowns. These are things we do not know we don't know."

The iPad, which early reviews position as a "game-changing" tablet computer readymade for media consumption, brings up a host of known and unknown unknowns for brand advertisers. Many result from the fact that few people have used the iPad. The role of advertising on the device isn't yet set, nor is the size of the audience needed to establish it as an important advertising platform.

Perhaps most worrying for some, the iPad could lead to a separate operating environment from the Internet, threatening the progress the Web has made in becoming a credible brand advertising medium. Despite its tremendous potential, the iPad is mostly a mystery and it will continue to be until consumers have used them for a while.

"We're going to be looking at how many people are using it," said Jon Tauber, manager of digital media for MillerCoors, which is running Coors Light ads on the Sporting News iPad app. "Our focus is selling beer. It's important we market on platforms that can reach large numbers of legal-drinking consumers."

Even how consumers will use it is a matter of conjecture. R/GA's emerging technology team debated the issue, according to Rich Ting, director of the emerging platforms group at the agency. It concluded that the iPad would be unlike most mobile devices, which are personal, and instead be shared.

Robin Steinberg, director of print investment at MediaVest who is leading the Publicis Groupe shop's iPad strategy, sees 2010 as a time of experimentation for advertisers. Some won't have the stomach for the medium, with its small numbers and uncertain metrics. Many others are attracted by the lure of establishing a foothold on what they see as a major advance in mobile computing that includes a large screen seemingly ideal for brand messaging. FedEx, Nike and Cadillac are among the advertisers kicking off early programs on the device.

The iPad excitement has led some publishers to seek to turn the tables on advertisers on pricing, according to media buyers, seeing the chance to play off the scarcity of iPad impressions and their large canvas for branding.

MediaVest's Steinberg called the long-term, expensive commitments requested from many publishers "unrealistic." National Public Radio, which is selling advertising on its own iPad app, sees pricing above the Web and mobile, justified by the larger creative and what it is betting are higher interaction rates like those experienced with iPhone ads. "It merits a high CPM," said Blake Truitt, svp of sponsorships at NPR.

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