The Age of the Tablet
It’s an epidemic. Recent reports reveal that tablet fever has completely swept our nation—nay, our generation. But what does it mean?
Basically, if four people own smartphones, one of those four people also owns a tablet device. What’s the difference in the use of these two types of devices? The biggest difference has to do with video watching. It seems as though people are using those tablet devices to watch video; not so many folks use their smartphones for video-watching.
What does this mean for those traditional, video-watching devices, like…televisions? People are choosing to watch videos on their tablets, and as they spend time on these devices, they also spend dollars. Interestingly, people are often still watching TV, sometimes simultaneously to watching the shows on their tablets.
Maybe they’re watching TV and doing other stuff on their tablets, but nonetheless, advertisers have been essentially making two distinct ads for the same product—one for TV and one for tablets.
But more people are turning to their tablets for all their viewing needs, which presents a problem for many advertisers. Whom should they target? Which market—the traditional television or the tablet? Both? Many long-time TV advertisers have been pretty slow on the tablet-uptake.
There have been tons of data that point to the connection between Internet use and TV. Advertisers in particular are noticing those sponsored links and television shows. Once an ad plays on TV, the number of hits that link gets increases dramatically.
Perhaps, if the trends continue, the advertisers will start to cater to those of us who love our tablets. There’s just something wonderful about holding the NBA finals—and the whole, wonderful Internet—in the palm of your hand.