Justin Marshall

A colleague of mine just pointed me in the direction of the new iPhone Chanel app in the App Store, just released today yesterday. (Pause. Go download.) Without question, the emergent use of the iPhone App store to market and advertise brands is something we will debate for days. But while most think this dilutes the App store with unwanted, useless applications meant for advertising (can anyone say “Dark Knight” app?), I find it a great opportunity for brands to add value to the mobile space by understanding the need they fill and meeting it through leveraging the unbelievably advanced (and unique) features of the iPhone, such as location-awareness, accelerometor, and–duh–the phone.

But, in looking at the Chanel app, I wanted to call out four reason why it is a successful application for the iPhone:

1. It’s first: If I worked for Gucci or Burberry, I’d be pissed. Chanel executed at just the right time, with just the right idea. Let’s hope the W gets the same feeling.
2. It’s beautiful: I think this is the first iPhone app I’ve seen that doesn’t “feel” like an iPhone app. It’s like I’m in the store with my wife (rolling my eyes), but still, I’m there.
3. It’s on brand: I imagine the content in the app isn’t that appealing to the larger rank of iPhone wielders, but to high-fashion, successful women (who likely have iPhones!), this is the app they’ve been dreaming of. Heck, I’m not one and I still liked perusing the imagery and videos.
4. It’s functional: While they opted for a browse mechanism instead of location-awareness, the one-touch dialing & locate your local store is super useful for those who found something of interest in the images or videos within the app. Not sure if the conversion is realistic, but it seems to be well thought out.

I have to admit, seeing this app in the store really gets me excited and anxious to think of the possibilities with my clients. It’s made me realize that time is a huge factor, but more importantly, executing on the right idea is crucial.