iAd review. Touched for the very first time...

Yesterday, I expressed my disappointment with my first iAd experience:

http://brianshall.com/content/popped-my-iad-cherry

Today, I have to admit, it felt much better. I can begin to see what everyone else is talking about.

Once again, I was in the New York Times app. As big and bright and beautiful as the iPhone 4 screen may be, there is still a premium on usable space. The iAd banner strip along the bottom of the screen is probably the perfect size, all things considered, althoughit does make you realize how difficult it is to craft exactly the right look, feel and message within such a small space. Of course, music, video, text, graphics, in-app interactivity and location are obviously the powerful lures to mitigate this new reality.

By the way, I have never seen an iAd banner that was anywhere but at the bottom of the screen.

While scrolling through stories I saw three iAds: Dove, JC Penney and NFL/DirectTV. Yesterday's test of the NFL 'contest' didn't go so well. Today, I clicked on the Dove ad. This was a much better experience. The ad was responsive to the touch (ahem), made it clear that I was still within the New York Times app while at the same time providing a new, semi-immersive experience. Since the Yankees are the devil, I clicked on the Albert Pujols picture instead of the one of the guy who's the devil's handmaiden.

I was presented with a well-made video story of Albert and family. Oh, and why a big successful athlete man would use Dove products. Very well done. Great branding. Maybe at some point in my life, when I need soap and see that Dove for men is on sale, I'll try it. Of course, the *only* reason I clicked on the banner itself was to test the iAd experience. If the New York Times is smart, they should get some coin just for putting that banner strip on over their story content.

This was a successful start for iAd, I thought. As I noted yesterday, there is definitely a place for Big Brand on Big Content in Big Ad. If Apple and its developers can capture several percentage points of this, they've done themselves well. I still do not feel, however, that I've seen the future of advertising in the age of the smartphone.