Microsoft acutely points out how consumer attention is shifting to smartphone devices. But what does it really mean?
Microsoft is launching the new Windows Phone 7 with an aggressive ad campaign. The key spot is entitled, "Really?" AdRants sets it up as follows:
How exactly does a commercial showing how obsessed we've all become with our phones supposed to convince us that yet another phone is going to change that obsession? It's not but that's the road Microsoft took with its new campaign for the Windows Phone."
You can file this ad under "it's funny because it's true."
"Really?" is an exaggerated view of how seemingly obsessed we've become with our smartphones-particularly with iPhone and Android devices, Microsoft's key competitors. On the one hand, we look boring and self-consumed. On the other, we're a menace to society. But what are we actually doing? Are we really obsessed with the phones? Or does this behavior represent a clear and reasonable choice?
The increased use of smartphones while in public-our supposed obsession-represents an extension of what we have at home with TV and the Web. They enable us to filter out the noise. Indeed, the world is an incredibly noisy place. No matter where we go, a barrage of irrelevant advertising awaits us. And to the delight of marketers, there was no way to escape it. That is, not until the advent of smartphones i.e. mobile computers with broadband connections and screens large enough to consume multimedia entertainment. This is essentially TiVo for the real world.
Smartphones enable us to fast-forward through pretty much any type of physical-world advertising: billboards, in-store promotions, pre-movie advertising, public transportation, red lights, window displays, and waiting in lines of any kind. Even ads in the men's restroom-the ones directly above the urinal-can be skipped (according to Microsoft). Just press "FF" on your smartphone to zip through it all. In other words, load up the entertainment, content, and advertising-the experience-you want as opposed to whatever crap is being forced on you by circumstance.
Is this an unhealthy obsession? Or is it the final frontier in permission-based marketing? Microsoft certainly makes it look bad. But it sounds a lot like the critique of a five-hour-a-day television junkie that playing video games is a waste of time. As if looking around at all of the irrelevant ads in my field of vision is somehow superior to viewing content I actually want on my smartphone. This Microsoft spot would be more appropriate coming from an outdoor advertising interest group.
And that's really the point for marketers. Location-based services (LBS) is more than just another channel. It's more than just social media happening in the real world. This is where consumer attention is shifting in a dramatic way. It's an opportunity to get ahead of the curve, to get a glimpse of the future, and to engage with the influential early adopters.
Because marketers will ultimately be left with two choices. They can be the advertising that gets skipped TiVo-style, regardless of where it's presented, or they can be a valuable experience that consumers choose.