Wouldn't it be cool if apps had their own ads? Like say your watching the news or ESPN and say an ad for Hero of Sparta comes up! Wouldn't that be awesome? I've already seen and ad for the Sims 3 for iPod Touch and iPhone on the TV. I think that would be great and developers would rake in alot more money. Devs what do you think if your app was on TV and had an ad? Discuss.
"In this age of revolutionary technology, the power of computers must be harnessed, that is why us, the devs of tomorrow, would like to introduce to you our breakthrough in modern science... iFART!!!" *cue mushroom cloud* TV ads are a BIG no-no. Too many devs, too little time (and prime time slots are expensive), and too many stupid apps.
Besides, at the current rate iPhone and Touch users expect devs to sell their apps at, there's no way they'd be able to make enough money to afford TV ad space. Prime time ad space on a couple of major networks can run into the millions or tens of millions for even a short campaign. EA can afford to blow that kind of dough on a Sims 3 ad. Most others can't.
Yeah maybe during the Superbowl.... but an ad on a regular wednesday night on a kids channel could be worth it.
The system Apple has right now for showcasing cool apps with the 'There's an App for that' campaign is as far as I see this going. It might be cool if there were more commercials with more apps being showcased in this space but I think as it stands the indie developers (myself included) cannot afford the pricetag of an official TV ad for our game or utility application. I think that there should be some more work done with iTunes to bring to the surface some of the cooler apps that are out there. Maybe an App Review blog roll or internet television show so that cool apps can get more visibility and face time . . . all of this inside the iTunes application would be useful IMO.
Well, speaking of which, E-Trade Mobile has an ad and NationWide does too. That's all I can think of so far.
And all of these including EA, are because they are part of larger companies and have bigger budgets consequently. Indie developers can nowhere near afford this.
Superbowl ads can run over $2m a piece. One 30-second ad a week in a national slot on one network, while cheaper (comparatively speaking -- we're still talking a low-end of $100,000 for a national slot per 30 second block) will have minimal effect -- almost guaranteed not to be nearly enough to cover the cost of the ad in the first place for the average iPhone game. You'd better have a freakin' killer app capable of hitting 7-digits with the right marketing before you even think about it. TV advertising is the most expensive advertising there is, bar none. It's stupidly expensive. EA can afford it. 99.9% of the rest of the iPhone developers can't.
When I watch some German TV stuff on my iPhone ifun.de/tv I see ads in between for example an German ad just for Rick Rocketson... cool somehow
