Jailbreak-Only: The Next Hype In Mobile Advertising
April 4, 2011
Mobile advertising is a huge, but still a growing industry. Google has already been all over it with AdMob, but it has remained somewhat dull with its little ad banners. More recently Apple joined the party with iAds, which are better integrated and interactive. Yet, while Apple's ads have many advantages, like their high-value and integration with iOS, Apple keeps a tight grip on who and what can get in the program. Not to mention, it's pretty darn expensive.
The iAd program is a bit like the App Store, so it's not surprising that some advertisers are taking a page from some app developer's book, and are now going the jailbreak way. To promote one of their new cars, one of Toyota's brands, Scion has put together a special theme for Cydia. That's right, the very Cydia known by ever jailbreaker, which allows you to purchase, download and install apps that haven't been approved by Apple.
Hosted by Modmi, and available on Cydia, their "Scion 2011 Theme" will replace your lockscreen and icons with Scion's branding.
It's a very interesting move. First, the Cydia theme allows Scion to integrate much more deeply with iOS than iAds, by replacing even the lock screen button with a car. Then, it allows them also to target a very specific market of tech-savvy iOS users, who still account for almost 10 percent of iOS users, which is more than enough to be attractive (about 1.5 million people log into Cydia everyday).
The big caveat is: How do you get people to willingly install such a theme? Yet, knowing how many people are ready to promote brands on their Facebook page, this just might work. Or, they might actually consider incentives like giving you Cydia credits if you agree to use the theme for a while.
Would any of you jailbreakers go with something like this? Tell us in the comments!
[via iPhonedownloadblog]
