The ever-expanding popularity of Apple’s products, iPhone and iPad, has become a useful element in marketing strategies. Not only do marketers develop apps for brand promotion and service extension, they also, making use of the allure of Apple products, attract consumers’ attention by giving out iPhones or iPads as gifts. From 2008 to January 2011, there were altogether 79 online display advertising campaigns that offer iPhones or iPads as gifts, involving 52 advertisers.
In terms of ad spend, the top 5 advertisers were DBS, Mobilegempak.com, Prime Credit, Colgate and J.P. Morgan Asset Management. DBS and Mobilegempak.com constituted a large share of these campaigns, as their total ad spend accounted for 50% of that of the top 10 advertisers.
Chart 1: Top 10 Advertisers by Ad Spend
The top 3 industries, both by number of campaigns and by ad spend, were Entertainment, Accounting/Finance/Insurance and Shopping/Retail. Accounting/Finance/Insurance had a remarkably higher ad spend than other industries, possibly because smart mobile devices are handy and attractive to customers interested in financial investments, and their trendy and high-end nature also suits the images of these brands. Besides, many of these advertisers have their own apps, therefore by giving out smart mobile devices they also encourage customers to use their service via their apps.
Chart 2: Number of Campaigns and Ad Spend by Industry
Of these online display advertising campaigns, approximately 90% were launched in 2010, the year in which iPhone 4 and iPad entered the market. Indeed, over 55% of these campaigns offered iPads as gifts, and the vast majority of the remaining gave out iPhone 4 instead of the other versions of iPhone. This shows that the increasing public fascination for Apple products, further boosted by the release of iPhone 4 and iPad, is recognized by advertisers, and by offering these products in lucky draws or as a gift for application for services, the advertisers demonstrated their confidence in these products’ ability in catching customers’ attention.
As the era of smart mobile device begins, and the craze for Apple products continues to grow, it is estimated that the number of online display advertising campaigns offering iPhones or iPads as gifts is going to rise, particularly when new versions of iPhone or iPad are released in the future.
