No Green Bananas

Tablet Growth is Booming

When the iPad first came out some questioned if there was a legitimate need for a ‘tweener’ device that existed in the space somewhere between smartphones and laptops.  iPad is now in its third generation, the iPad Mini is here, Android tablets have started to gain momentum and Microsoft’s Windows 8 was clearly engineered to make them a player in the tablet and smartphone markets.  Meanwhile the Nook and Kindle continue to get beefier with every iteration.

•  The IDC Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker states that tablet growth is up 50% from last year in a year-over-year Q3 comparison
• IHS iSuppli estimates that 7” tablets like the new iPad Mini will double in sales by the end of 2013 to 67 million units worldwide and reach 33% share of the tablet market.
• In a strange twist of fate the tablet may be the final nail in the coffin for print publications but at the same time may prove to be their salvation.  Newsweek announced that 2012 would mark the end of their existence in print as they will be moving to a purely digital format starting in January 2013.

More often than not tablets are lumped in with “mobile” because they usually run the same OS.  However, behavior patterns are notably different between smartphones and tablets.  It’s important not to make the mistake devising programs for smartphones and assuming they’ll be effective on tablets.  Tablets are generally not taken on-the-go, they’re home-based devices more often than not.  They’re also more for entertainment purposes such as reading a magazine or book, playing games and watching videos.

People once questioned the need for a device between a computer and a smartphone. Now, Apple has taken it once step further with the iPad mini.

As more and more publishers move to a pure play digital format traditional print advertising should follow in a digitized format.  Ultimately these channels will be different than current banner ad creative or media planning and their print ancestors.  It’s a new hybrid advertising channel that multiscreen response marketers will need to cater to.  The incorporation of video into print and accessibility via tablets creates additional opportunities to incorporate online video ads into the overall response marketing mix.

Next, we’ll look at some of the aspects of the digitized TV and its implications in the multiscreen marketing world.