‘Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything’ said Steve Jobs in his keynote when Apple launched the iPhone. In innovation theory there is a term for such a rare product. It’s called ‘dominant design' and was introduced by James Utterback. In his innovation classic, ‘Dynamics of innovation’ (1992), his definition is: “A dominant design in a product class is, by definition, the one that wins the allegiance of the marketplace, the one that competitors and innovators must adhere to if they hope to command significant market following” and the Apple iPhone has done just this. Just by looking at the aesthetics of mobile phones... They all tend to fit the same mould.
Apple’s been very fortunate as it has introduces a few of these dominant designs into the world. In 1984 they introduced the Macintosh, the iPod in 2001 and then the iPhone in 2007.
To quote Jobs some more, he said, "I have been looking forward to this for two and a half years", and that "today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone." Jobs introduced the iPhone as a combination of three devices: a "widescreen iPod with touch controls"; a "revolutionary mobile phone" and a "breakthrough Internet communicator". This is why the iPhone was truly innovative. It pushed the boundaries, created a product people didn't know they needed and yet it is a product which they now cannot live without and which many other mobile phone manufacturers have copied. Welcome to the take over of the smart phone.
The development of the smart phone has made a massive impact on the advertising world in particular. A mobile phone is a person’s number one possession and it is certainly mine. I cannot leave the house without it; I compulsively check it ever 15 minutes; it has all my contacts on it; my photos; my videos and is now a means of internet access. My phone is practically my life.
To advertisers, the mobile phone is a dream. If advertisers can successfully communicate via a mobile then they have hit the jack pot and this is why innovative advertising is taking place. The fact that your mobile is so personal is also a disadvantage. It is somewhere that people do not want to be bombarded by offers deals and messages. Overstepping the mark could be the death of a campaign. Simply sending a text to someone isn’t going to be effective; neither is a banner advertisement on a mobile website.
New ways of communicating through the mobile phone are being thought up all the time. QR codes, which I have previously discussed, are just one of the brilliant methods to connect an audience to a company through the use of the mobile. Hundreds of advertising agencies have popped up all around the UK
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