Sam OliverCiting two mobile industry executives, Silicon Alley Insider has claimed that Adidas pulled its campaign because "Apple CEO Steve Jobs was being too much of a control freak." Adidas is rumored to have a creative concept rejected three times, prompting the move.
"In addition to Apple's unusual control over the ad creation process, advertisers complain about the lack of control over visibility into where their ads appear, lack of third-party ad serving tools, and other issues," the report said. "Apple plans to open up the process once its' more comfortable with the program, but it appears some advertisers have lost their patience."
The report largely reaffirms what The Wall Street Journal claimed in August, when the paper said that advertisers have been frustrated over Apple's "tight control over the creative process" for iAds. It was said that Apple's mobile advertisements take between eight and 10 weeks from start to finish, and Apple, which builds the ads itself, was taking two weeks longer than advertisers expected.
It was noted that Chanel, one of the launch partners with iAd, decided to cancel its campaign. If true, the departure of Adidas would be the second high-profile customer lost.
iAds provide richly interactive ad experiences inside developers' apps, providing them a 60 percent cut of the advertising revenue. The hope is the advertisements — noted by the iAd logo in the corner — will be more compelling to users, because they don't have to leave their app and launch a browser to view them.
Competitors have been quick to highlight Apple's unconventional approach with iAds. In September, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said she thinks Apple's tight control will drive advertisers away and cause the fledgling service to "fall apart."
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60 Comments
Apple evidently puts out insanely great products and in order to do that it can take extra time and effort. It is understandable that some companies may not wish to put in such an effort even at the cost inferior results.
I believe that if every iAd advertisement is insanely great then Apple will benefit in the long term when advertisers know their chance of a successful ad campaign on iAds is very high.
I for one actually look for iAd advertisement to see them because I know that they are very cool. They are like the best Super Bowl ads. Not only do you watch them you talk to you friends about them.
If Adidas does not want to put in the time and effort for an awesome ad then so be it. I will gladly watch Nike ads and buy their products.
Are there any iAds for "Le Coq Sportif"? Better start using iAds...
Time will tell.
I actually think Chanel would have been one of the brands that would have benefitted most. They could have really done well in my opinion.
Competitors have been quick to highlight Apple's unconventional approach with iAds. In September, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said she thinks Apple's tight control will drive advertisers away and cause the fledgling service to "fall apart."
I never know where Yahoo is with ads. I tried them back when they had just switched to the Overture service that they bought & renamed. It wasn't any good, trying to find basic features was a job in chasing your own tail, with a useless help system and no way to contact them with a question. I thought they were now using Microsoft's ad network, but I can't find that source anymore.
Apple evidently puts out insanely great products and in order to do that it can take extra time and effort. It is understandable that some companies may not wish to put in such an effort even at the cost inferior results.
I believe that if every iAd advertisement is insanely then Apple will benefit in the long term when advertisers know their chance of a successful ad on iAds is very high.
I for one actually look for iAd advertisement to see them because I know that they are very cool. They are like Super Bowl ads.
If Adidas does not want to put in the time and effort for an awesome ad then so be it. I will gladly watch Nike ads and buy their products.
Are there any iAds for "Le Coq Sportif"? Better start using iAds...
Time will tell.
Well said. Apple should hold out for Tiffany-level companies anyway.
Unfortunately this isn’t telling if iAds is widely profitable or not for Apple. There are bound to be some unhappy customers with Apple doing this differently. When have there not been with an Apple product? Yet they still keep making money hand over fist.