This week Apple announced the new iPhone 3G S, and all the fun hardware and software updates that go along with it. But did they fix all the items that people were clamoring for? Let’s find out.
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It’s June and that means the Apple Worldwide Developer’s Conference is going on, so all the die-hard fans can stop looking at the rumor sites featuring leaked bootleg photos from Chinese wholesalers guessing what will be announced. It’s here.
In the end, the phone itself was largely the same, with Steve Jobs and company giving it more speed, a longer battery life, and a video camera as major features. What, no Kindle-killer? No ultra-light “Macbook Touch” tablet? I guess I can go back to checking out netbooks.
But here’s the important fact for the millions of people like me that already have an iPhone 3G, and aren’t fanatical about buying every new piece of hardware that Cupertino pumps out. It’s the software.
Jim gives his thoughts on VIP parties, finding balance, and other marketing lessons learned from SXSW.
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The SXSW Interactive conference brought the new media community together from all parts of the country to share ideas. What were my key takeaways? Here are my thoughts from a personal and Wired marketing perspective. Lets get right to it.
Twitter is here
Yes, I know that Twitter has been here since SXSW 2007, when a cute little bluebird floated down and landed on a windowsill like a Disney movie. But now Twitter is HERE, demanding to be fed like a drunken Big Bird stumbling through a house party and spilling beer on your laptop.
I really think people should care a lot less about how Twitter is going to make money, and more about how their business is going to utilize the service – although it made for a great opening question for the Chris Anderson – Guy Kawasaki keynote conversation.
In fact, I predict that the “how your company should be using Twitter” service market is going to expand exponentially, much like search engine optimization advice. There are so many companies where the geeky marketing manager or the PR department will utter the phrase to the CEO ‘we need to be on twitter’ that not only will it be a key component of ad agencies, but individuals will start businesses to start this service.
Five. Hundred. Million. That’s the number of iPhone applications that have been downloaded as of mid January.
So what’s the best revenue model for iPhone applications? Lets find out.
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Apple did it to me again. Back in September when I was doing market analysis for the Wired Product Reviews iPhone application, I stated that a whopping 100 million iPhone applications had been downloaded. But when I checked my stats again a week or so later before the kickoff meeting, the number had already doubled to 200 million.
Then they did it again. I had some pretty recent stats that there had been 300 million downloads. Guess again. In mid January, Apple announced that they had ballooned to 500 million iPhone App downloads in just six months. To put that into perspective, it took 2 years for the number of iTunes songs to surpass half a billion.
Of course when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. In 2003 when the iTunes store launched, far more people were still illegally downloading songs on Napster and other file sharing services. The iPod didn’t have the stranglehold on the MP3 player culture that it does now. But in the last 5+ years, Apple has essentially educated a generation of followers on how to download digital content. The work done by iTunes has paved the way for the App Store. There was no learning curve.
So if you or your company are looking to build an application and jump into the fray, what’s the best – and most profitable – way to do so?
E-mail MarketingGuy [at] Wired.com or leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Revenue Model 1
Price: Free Audience: Mass Market Model: Content extension, advertising-supported Example: Wired Reviews, Facebook, Yelp, NY Times Outlook: Mixed
In this model, a company like Wired released a very solid, free application that brings real value to its readers. Users can browse product reviews that are updated daily, and the next version will feature the ability to view the latest tech videos, and a direct feed of Wired’s Gadget Lab Blog.
Ah, the Super Bowl. Two teams meet on the field, nearly 100 million friends gather to watch the game at home, and ad agencies are charged with making a breakthrough TV commercial in only 30 seconds.
While those in the online marketing world live and breathe social media, we have to remember that outside our inner circle, there are still millions without Facebook accounts and that many think Twitter is a Looney Tunes character.
In this article, I analyze which companies effectively drove their message home, and which ones fumbled their big opportunity. After all, a TV spot during the big game is expensive; extending that brand to your audience via social media costs far less, and is often free.
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The commercials were judged on the following two criteria:
1) Was the spot effective in driving their marketing message
2) Did the website deliver on that message
SUPER BOWL CALIBER E*Trade - The smart-talking baby commercials are hysterical, and may have just coined a new golf term, “shankopotamus.” You watch the spot, you laugh, and you know what the product is about. Upon arriving at the web site, there are links to view the commercials, including even more hysterical outtakes. Bonus: E*Trade bought the Google keyword shankopotamus.
Sent their users flowers when they’ve had a bad day
Received a 99% positive referral rating
Had an entrepreneurial blog and irreverent newsletter
Had a Twitter following so passionate that users solved problems
Instilled a little bit of “magic” into everyday life?
Well, if you’re a marketer, a manager, or public relations rep trying to improve your company’s image, then my interview with Saul Colt, “Head of Magic” for the online invoicing company “Freshbooks,” is a must-listen.
Our 20-minute conversation is a marketing case study for using social media and “retro marketing” to grow a loyal following. We discuss:
How Freshbooks was born out of frustration that many freelancers face
Why they take their customers — even non-paying ones — to free dinners
What just might happen if you get stood up on a blind date
His title, and what happens when the “Head of Magic” heads to Las Vegas
Why he has a Love-Hate relationship with Zappos.com
The iPhone promotion that differentiated them from every other company
Slumdog Millionaire is a love story surrounded by the harsh realities of life wrapped in a game show. While many inspirational and thought-provoking life lessons can be taken from the movie, I’m going to look at 12 Oscar-worthy marketing lessons from the film.
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4 MARKETING LESSONS FROM THE STORYLINE
1) Beware expectations
If you haven’t seen the movie yet, there are some ***spoilers*** in here so don’t say I didn’t warn you. The bigger problem for you right now is that if you haven’t seen the movie, now that it’s getting award show buzz and your friends are raving about it, it’s nearly impossible to live up to expectations.
Rana Sobhany is Vice-President of Marketing for Medialets, an analytics provider and ad network for mobile devices such as the Apple iPhone and Google’s Android phone. She sat down for an interview with Wired’s Marketing Guy Jim Hopkinson on The Hopkinson Report podcast.
Today I’m going to live up to my tagline and do exactly that, taking a look back at the marketing trends that mattered in 2008, and what’s to come in 2009.
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Hey Everyone… Christmas is just days away for me so I’m going to crank out a quick top 10 list before I head home for the holidays. I’ll give you the marketing trend that mattered this year, how that trend could evolve in 2009, and the podcast episode to go back and listen to that covered the topic. Let’s roll.
After years of Apple picking on Microsoft with their “Mac vs. PC” ads, Bill Gates and the evil empire are finally swinging back. Who will win this round?
Back in June 2008, the tech world – and yours truly – was obsessed with the all-encompassing marketing hype surrounding the Apple iPhone 3G launch, while Microsoft had just awarded ad agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky their $300 million consumer-branding campaign to make Microsoft cool again.
Since then, the iPhone has been the one with some PR problems, Microsoft has rolled out some new ads with some serious star power, and that podcast has been the third most downloaded out of 23. What, did you think Steve Jobs and Bill Gates would be more popular than an interview with Wired Cover Girl and self-promoter Julia Allison? Please.
This week’s episode is part rant, part How-to, and part customer service failure, as I take you through my special experience when switching cell phone carriers.
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When you’re just a kid, your mom tells you you’re special. That there’s nobody else in the entire world like you. And as I stood in line, speaking to the hapless worker behind the AT&T counter – telling my story, again – I was beginning to think that, well, that just may be true. Somehow, some way, I was the most unique mobile cell phone customer on the entire planet, and not a single person at AT&T, Sprint, Apple, Best Buy, or the vast expanse of the entire world wide web could solve my problem.
It was the weekend of July 12, and for fans of the Apple iPhone, it was truly Christmas in July. I had held off purchasing the original model, but for the past six months I had subscribed to 3 different iPhone RSS feeds, soaking in every rumor and secret screenshot, and was ready to get my hands on a gleaming new iPhone 3G.
This story is not about my quest to get the actual phone, although it could be. I bailed out on a 4-hour line at the 5th Avenue store in Manhattan that Friday night, was told inventory was sold out at an AT&T store on Saturday morning, arrived too late to get in line at the Apple Store again on Saturday night, but finally clutched the device in my hands after a 2 ½ hour wait at the Soho store on Sunday afternoon. The phone itself was mine.
My story is about what I thought was a very, very simple question.
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Ah, the Super Bowl. Two teams meet on the field, nearly 100 million friends gather to watch the game at home, and ad agencies are charged with making a breakthrough TV commercial in only 30 seconds.
