Apple's Tablet: A Big Opportunity For Advertisers

The gadget may change the way marketers engage consumerApple's new tablet computer, to be unveiled by Steve Jobs Wednesday, holds a lot of promise for advertisers.
The Cupertino computer maker has kept the new gadget under wraps, leaving consumers and marketers to speculate how they'll use it. But one thing is certain: The Apple tablet will offer a new way for marketers to reach consumers. But how?
The tablet--which might be called the iPad or the iSlate--is expected to have a 10- to 11-inch touch screen that will not only display movies, TV shows, games and publications, but also let consumers interact with them. That has big implications for advertising as an educational tool and as a sales channel, says Jeremy Lockhorn, director of emerging media at digital agency Razorfish, a unit of Publicis Group. It means that when consumers watch TV shows and movies, they could potentially be able to do more than just play, pause and stop. When viewing an episode of TV's Mad Men, for example, consumers could tap on objects, such as Don Draper's hat, to get more information about the items and where to buy them.
The iPhone inspired creative new features from companies, starting with useful applications such as Bank of America's online banking app and FedEx's package tracker, but the bigger size of the Apple tablet will allow marketers to introduce more browser and video functions. There will be opportunity to layer entertainment content, including newspapers and magazines, with educational facts and marketing pitches. "And it'll be easy to get consumers excited about all the new ways that advertisers are reaching out to them," says Lockhorn.
For the new Apple product, companies will turn back to sponsorships they've cut from tight marketing budgets, says Lincoln Bjorkman, executive vice president and executive creative director of New York region at Publicis' Digitas. "They'll all want to be a part of this and will work with providers to get their names on the tablet," Bjorkman says.
That means that money-conscious marketers that slashed their broad branding and newspaper ads to save money in the downturn will splurge this time around. Some will sponsor educational content; others will focus on entertainment.