It's not often that you come across something that manages to compel complete strangers to compromise your privacy. And I'm not talking about the virtual privacy that Facebook and its leadership are currently contending with. No, I'm referring to the physical world/personal space kind of privacy. The kind where you can be minding your own business in a public place and nearly every stranger in the vicinity feels obliged to approach you and introduce themselves -- not to you, but to the iPad in your hands.
Previously, there were only two ways to elicit this sort of reaction in public: puppies and celebrities. Unless you own a new puppy or have been "lucky" enough to attain a certain level of fame, you wouldn't necessarily expect this phenomenon where perfect strangers, from the perfectly nice to the perfectly strange, basically throw themselves at you (and your iPad) like groupies.
In considering how to best share some thoughts on the iPad's impact on the world of consumers, brands, and marketers, I reflected on some of the common questions I'm hearing from marketers. I'll start by addressing the core issues and questions regarding the iPad. I'll also offer a perspective that further expands the conversation about the implications to consumers and marketers of convergent devices like the iPad.
1. Is the iPad really that big a deal? Isn't it just a giant iPod touch?
Let's put this one to bed. It is a huge deal for consumers, businesses, and marketing professionals. As Seth Godin wisely notes about Apple's success, "[The company] didn't sell 300,000 iPads in one day, [it] sold them over a few decades."
In other words, the brand's deep bonds with its consumers represent an incredible cumulative effect among a following that has been carefully cultivated over many years; the market for every future creation is rooted in the brand's almost mythical past. So that helps explain how Apple builds excitement for a product that's never been seen. It's built on the trust that Apple's consumers have that something of unique and significant value will be gained when they receive the iPad, even when they don't know exactly what form the value will take.
But is there something else happening here besides a brand cult following? I would say yes and point to the unprecedented consumer pull-through demonstrated with the iPad.
Brand love is not the lone factor driving impressive iPad adoption rates. The more basic reality is that consumers are ready for the next type of device in their lives and are pulling this desired change through the system. They hunger for the convenience and "magic" of media convergence the iPad provides, backed with the consumer-friendly and familiar iTunes content distribution system. In other words, consumers are voting (so far) with their wallets that Apple is the brand they trust to teach them the relevance of convergent devices (this is the second time -- they voted against the Apple Newton many years back).
And lest you think that the rapid adoption of this new convergent technology will be limited to the black t-shirt and Converse set, I would invite you to think about the impact that the iPhone has had on the smartphone market. Is there a major manufacturer that hasn't created a competing product, complete with touchscreen and budding app catalog? In fact, it might even be recognized that a closed-system provider like Apple may be more inclined to lead the market in new innovations of this sort because of the healthy profit streams likely to come from content and ads.
So consider the significance of an emerging device that delivers the power of convergence and that people can't simply chalk up to being a replacement for something that already exists (like the iPhone). Henry Ford hinted at the power a visionary can have on a market when he stated, "If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse." Similar to the way the automobile changed the transportation paradigm, I predict that the iPad will be viewed as pivotal in "three-screen convergence" (oh wait, I guess that term is already antiquated). Yes it's that big a freaking deal.
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