One week after the new iPhone’s debut, some of the most intriguing buzz centers around the development of native mobile applications. For marketers and brand managers alike, this poses one the best opportunities in a long time to create meaningful brand engagement.

Up until now, the excitement over mobile marketing had been trying to deliver relevant ads to various handsets. But the iPhone offers up a more relevant and useful platform for brands to develop applications that provide a real value for their users (And for those of you who track this blog, you know we love marketing ideas that provide a service for customers).

Chad Currie, VP-group creative director at T-3, wrote in AdAge, "The iPhone is a lifestyle device." He continued saying, "People will solve real problems with apps...The more you can add value to that experience, the better."

Brands like Bank of America, FedEx and EBay have already developed apps for the iPhone—with more on the way. They recognize that their marketing budget is better spent investing in applications that foster a relationship with the customer—not by interrupting through annoying advertising—but through utilities that meet their needs.

"What’s going to work in mobile is applications over advertising," said Chad Stoller, director-emerging platforms at Organic. "You have to provide utility and use." [AdAge]

While iPhone users are still a relatively small audience, opening it’s platform to allow brands to develop applications is an important shift in the continuing trend of transforming marketers from the inconveneint disruptor to relevant problem-solvers.