Whilst I have been a bit sceptical about both the cost and reach of iAd, it seems that some ad agencies and clients think its pretty good. In an article in emarketer, the overall conclusion was that iAd was good for business. This is not in terms of response rates, but more in terms of branding, mobile media and mobile advertising as a whole. One interesting point was that iAd offers a ‘return on innovation’. Apple is currently the coolest brand out there, certainly in the techie sector, so if you want to be seen as a cool, cutting edge brand, then iAd offers an opportunity to associate with that.
The other key point is that Apple has brought mobile advertising and in-app ads especially, up the agenda and shown the possibilities of mobile as a branding channel. Even iAd’s (indirect) competitor, AdMob, have said that the awareness of the channel is good for business by raising mobile marketing’s profile.
I previously blogged about comments from a Publicis director who felt that iAd had a tiny reach, was too expensive and will ultimately fail. I agree there are issues, but if you want to appeal to a particular, option forming tech savvy audience then iAd offers some real possibilities. As long as you have the budget.