The evolution of devices such as the iPhone will give the term "mobile" a vestigial distinction. We are merely looking at format sizes appropriate for larger or smaller images. DVRs have continually crept into the marketplace, causing increasing skepticism about simultaneous commercial exposure or even the fear of total skippage of all ads.
iTunes is featuring more and more video content for download, which will likely include every major small and big screen release. All content will be accessible by an iPhone-like device, transferable to an Apple TV-like device and consumable by HD TVs and home stereos. This is not just an Apple-centric future because there will be many competitors that offer nuanced advantages, and open-sourced devices always drive innovation. But the current suite of Apple offerings points toward a future where media can be accessed and consumed at any point among your home, office and leisure destinations. Marketers and advertisers must be prepared to create holistic communications that can convey their value proposition within any of these consumption points.
What this means for marketers and advertisers
Convergence is a term that has lost much of its meaning as it continues to fail to come to fruition. The computer-centric entertainment room does not yet exist in most homes. The adoption of an iPhone or possible Google Phone will invariably help to accelerate this convergence. Apple TV and Joost are all much more attractive if we are constantly using the push-and-pull capabilities that are inherent with these new phones. They can become the true universal remote controls that feed our big screens and speakers for movies, video chatting and aspiring deejays. And we can skip all the intermediary steps that are now involved. Even the savvy consumer is overwhelmed by downloading on the internet, setting up their TV schedules, arranging their song lists and then morphing into a "lean-back" experience.
As advertisers, we must contemplate what will compel the consumer to ever willingly be exposed to a marketing message again. Brand placement is having its challenges for ROI, and branded content will be undesirable if we can get it by another means. It becomes a true exchange of value for consumers' ever shrinking time in their personally controlled content environments. Current offerings such as Free411, which enables callers to avoid steep information charges if they listen to a short commercial message, may be the currency of the future. Advertisers have to increase the tangible value we give our target audience in exchange for their time and attention. Why would a phone trigger such a revolution? It is the most personal of all devices and most people would lend you money for a call before they would let you use their phone.
If the iPhone lives up to half of its promise, then we are on an even faster ride for emerging behaviors in media and marketing.