Parce que je le vaux bien!
There will be a distinctly Gallic air to Apple's mobile advertising network when it launches in Europe next month. According to Apple, France and the UK will be the first two countries to partake, with Germany following in January, but les français seem to have embraced iAd more whole-heartedly than we have.
Brands including L'Oréal, Renault, Louis Vuitton, Nespresso (yes, we know Nestlé is Swiss), Perrier and Evian have all jumped on-board for the launch, giving an indication of the kind of demographics mobile advertising may be able to target. To be fair there are some other countries represented: Unilever, Citi, LG Display, AB InBev, Turkish Airlines and Absolute Radio.
Apple claims to have signed up "...over half of the top 25 leading US national advertisers in just four months." 13 then. It reckons it will have 21 percent of US mobile advertising revenue in 2010.
"We're thrilled to add leading global brands to the iAd Network in Europe and create even more great opportunities for developers," said Andy Miller, Apple's vice president of iAd. "In just four months, we've doubled the number of advertisers on the network and thousands of developers now have a valuable new source of revenue."
"We're thrilled by the quality, the interactivity and the depth of iAd's user experience, giving us an unparalleled opportunity to reach and serve the most engaged and discerning customers at the digital forefront of beauty, hence our choice of Lancôme to lead our iAd campaign." shrugged Marc Menesguen, L'Oréal's head of strategic marketing. You'd never guess he works in marketing would you?
Of course, mobile advertising is a major front in the war between Apple and Google to dominate the mobile Internet. Google has a massive advantage, with it not only being an ad sales company to the core, but its acquisition of the mobile advertising market leader AdMob. However it would take a brave person to bet against Pomme Apple these days.
