In iPhone and iPad application news, Saab released a new app for the launch of the 9-5. I believe this is Saab's first application on either platform and unfortunately it's not much of an effort.
The application merely mimics the content from their website where feature pages, a 360, an image gallery, and intro video are provided as content in the app. There is nothing more than the reuse of existing content repackaged for an application. It's very similar to what Mercedes did for the C63 AMG two-years ago.
I personally would've like to have seen some handraiser implementation within the application so the company could engage further with the app's users provided of course they are not disappointed after downloading something they basically could have seen on their iPhone or iPad's web browser.
Oh well, hopefully we'll see some more interesting things as Saab gets ready to spend big for their "Change Perspective" 9-5 launch.
Unless you live under a rock, you might know that Apple launched their latest device the iPad last Saturday. Along with the Apple hype and a lot of varying opinions about what the iPad means to computing, some automakers took the iPad plunge and did some marketing around the launch.
“Who reads a 300-page manual, anyway?' asked Mr John Krafcik, chief executive for Hyundai North America. 'Instead, they'll have a gorgeous colour touchscreen loaded with the manual, as well as photos of the whole Hyundai line-up.'
That’s right if you just bought a $50,000 plus Hyundai you’ll be reminded that you’ll be sharing the dealership service lane someday with a Hyundai Accent. Regardless, Hyundai definitely made the biggest PR splash with their iPad owner’s manual announcement with coverage across every major automotive blog, NY Times, USA Today, LA Times, and even several International publications.
Personally, I could care less about the iPad manual in the Equus. I'm more interested in how cool the backseat seating is in the Equus Long-Wheelbase edition.
Cadillac took a more expected path by being the first automaker to integrate fully into the new platform’s software/hardware capabilities with their integration into a trendy publication application for iPad called Cool Hunting. This probably would’ve been bigger news if Hyundai hadn’t usurped the car plus iPad news. The Cool Hunting application brings together some interesting style, hipster, trendy news stories and then integrates the CTS Coupe and CTS-V Coupe products into the app.
Lincoln and Toyota also showed up on the iPad with some media buys that coincided with the iPad launch. Funny thing though is that Toyota didn’t get much attention for its ad buy; rather, any Toyota buzz came from a custom stereo installer who modified the dashboard of a Toyota Tacoma to do the first iPad in-car installation. This in-car install had more buzz than the Hyundai Equus iPad manual news and made the installer the big buzz winner of all things iPad automotive related.
Lastly, some more gratuitous marketing ensued at the New York Auto Show that’s going on at the same time as the iPad launch. Volvo shared some pictures of their auto show models holding an iPad and I guess talking about how naughty the new Volvo S60 is or is it how naughty one can be in a Volvo S60? Oh well, it doesn’t matter because their effort worked and I made this attempt at iPad brand-association my blog post’s lead image.
The application merely mimics the content from their website where feature pages, a 360, an image gallery, and intro video are provided as content in the app. There is nothing more than the reuse of existing content repackaged for an application. It's very similar to what Mercedes did for the C63 AMG two-years ago. 
Oh well, hopefully we'll see some more interesting things as Saab gets ready to spend big for their "Change Perspective" 9-5 launch.
