It may not have been the new, redesigned phone everyone (including myself, sigh) was hoping for, but the updates for the iPhone 4S that were announced by Apple on Tuesday are pretty significant. They made the best smartphone ever made even better.

While the upgrades won’t necessarily have an impact overnight for brands, there are three significant improvements that will over time:

1. An 8 megapixel camera

With this upgrade, Apple just raised the bar (though they’re not the first OEM to put an 8 megapixel camera in a phone) on cameras in smartphones. Their aim was to “be better than a point-and-shoot”, and while there will always be point-and-shoots out there that have more than 8 megapixels, this is a definite upgrade.

What this means for marketers is that low grade camera phones will be going away in a hurry. People will be excited to use their cameras. Who doesn’t want an HD recorder in their pocket or purse? That could translate into more scans of mobile bar codes or higher engagement with augmented reality. The most significant impact could be increase of sharing those high quality pictures and videos on social networks. Couple this will the new Timeline feature Facebook is rolling out, and brand engagements better be photo ready and worthy of sharing.

2. Faster Processor

Faster in anything is always better, especially in electronics. Apple upgraded to a new dual-core processor (think of it as having two brains instead of one). According to Apple it has two times more power and up to seven times better graphics.

The marketing implication is that consumers will now expect a desktop-type experience and rich experiences in everything they do – from apps, to web browsing and to just about everything. Brands that can take advantage of this new speed and provide a rich, engaging experience will get the shopper to come back time and again. Brands that offer a sub-par experience will not.

3. Availability on Sprint and a drop in prices

With the # 3 carrier in the US, Sprint, finally getting the iPhone, Apple added approximately 50-60 million people to their addressable market. Add in the fact that they dropped the price of the iPhone 3GS to free (on AT&T) and the iPhone 4 to $99 and they are going to sell A LOT of these things. This will definitely put a dent into Android device sales and bring some people back to Apple.

For brands, this means that if they did not have mobile marketing dollars in the budget in 2011, they definitely need it in 2012. According to Google, smartphone penetration is at 31% (1) and with this announcement is only going to increase. Therefore, people are going to be using these devices more and more. Brands need to be where their consumers are, or their competitors will be.

With these changes, there’s room for a lot of innovation in mobile marketing in the very near future. Make mobile part of your plan and use it as the connective tissue between channels. Be excited for the future, even if you weren’t for the new iPhone.

1. Source: Google,  Global Mobile Research: The Smartphone User & The Mobile Marketer, 2011

Tags: Digital, Digital & Mobile, future, Mobile Marketing, Owned Media, Social Media, Trends

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 6th, 2011 at 8:30 pm and is filed under Digital & Mobile, Trending & Insights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.