Apple Signs Brands for European iAd Launch

Apple plans to launch its iAd in-app mobile advertising product in the U.K. and France in December, with ads from launch partners L’Oréal, Renault, Louis Vuitton, and a slew of other top brands. The product will also launch in Germany in January, Apple said. It would not specify if or when it will be extended to other European markets.

Speaking with ClickZ News, Renault’s communications manager for marketing, Raphaelle Gomez, said the brand will be the exclusive iAd automotive sponsor at launch – as Nissan was in the U.S. – but did not disclose how long that period of exclusivity will last.

The manufacturer is preparing to launch a range of electric vehicles next year, and Gomez suggested the iAd campaign will reflect the company’s dedication to innovative technologies. “Our partnership with Apple is completely in line with our new strategy at Renault,” she said. “The iAd is the perfect way to start our marketing and communications efforts around electric vehicles… it appeals to users of new technologies and to a younger audience.”

Gomez said the Renault ads will go live “before the end of the year,” across all three available European markets.

Also among the launch advertisers for iAd in Europe are Nespresso, Perrier, Unilever, Citi, Evian, LG Display, AB InBev, Turkish Airlines and U.K.-based radio station Absolute Radio.

Recent reports suggested Apple had a harder time selling the product to European brands than it did to U.S. ones prior to its launch there in July. According to the Financial Times, the company was forced to accept buys below its self-imposed $1 million minimum spend to attract the major European brands it sought for its first wave of sponsors.

Commenting on the European launch in a press release, Apple’s VP of iAd, Andy Miller, said the company has doubled the number of advertisers on its network since it launched in July.

As in the U.S., developers implementing the ads will receive 60 percent of the revenue generated from their sale, with advertisers paying on a hybrid cost-per-impression and cost-per-click basis.

Earlier this month, Apple also announced plans to launch the iAd in Japan early next year, but opted to outsource sales and creative duties to local agency group Dentsu instead of handling those functions in-house as it is in the U.S. and Europe.

Apple’s insistence on handling creative production for the ads has caused friction with some brands and agencies in the U.S., and reportedly led some to cancel their campaigns completely. The Fincancial Times reported the European launch of the product has already been delayed by a matter weeks, so whether or not Apple’s December deadline for the ads will be met remains to be seen.