While the usual suspects are sitting back and waiting to see how the i-Pad develops, smart marketers have realised that they are part of the story. If i-Pad doesn’t transform your business you only have yourself to blame.
Every organisation should have their i-Pad app in production right now, if not already released and be encouraging their customers to get tooled up with a tablet ASAP. Anyone who takes the view “its Apple’s job to sell them and if they get penetration we’ll join in” is frankly an arse! This isn’t about hardware and apps this is a choice that could be life-changing for your business if only you get involved.
It doesn’t matter that the tablets are limited in their capability right now. Make it work for you and Apple and other developers will get to work on broadening the capability faster than you can say on-line marketing. Just get your arse out of gear and work with what it can do right now and you’ll quickly realise just how much that is! I can’t think of a consumer facing organisation that couldn’t boost and sometimes transform their business by adopting this new channel.
More than a year ago I was working with investors in Norway on an initiative for chain restaurateurs that relies on this technology. I have since explored opportunities with retailers in a number of sectors for whom the i-Pad could be a real life-saver and I have even had a discussion with a business that believes it is viable to give i-Pads away to their customers. There are some truly electrifying opportunites in this technology.
Marketing is about doing things and going places that nobody has done or gone to before. It’s about taking risks, challenging the status quo. If you think you are a real marketer this is your chance to prove it. Apple have done all the hard work, but it will only fly if you get involved now. Get those aps out there and watch your business take off. If it doesn’t work out you can tell me “I told you so”, but at least we’ll have done some real marketing!
Michael Weaver
May 28, 2010