I finally bought an iPod. It took some strong arm twisting. Endorsements like "It has changed my life" and "Your life won't be the same again" were a little over the top, so I resisted. It wasn't until I started looking into the marketing phenomena of iPod that my interest was piqued.
There is much talk in the advertising industry about the need for tighter integration of creative work across all media. With thousands of avenues for connecting with consumers, no one or two mediums dominate. Advertisers face the very real possibility that their integrated messages simply disappear into this complex environment. Having a fabulous TV commercial is still powerful, yet backing it up with superb product design, retail presentation, e-mail support, product packaging, and an informative Web site are essential ingredients for achieving results. Creating top of mind awareness for a brand now requires a branded experience at all points of consumer contact.
No company understands this better than Apple. The iPod phenomenon is no accident. Piper Jaffray analyst Dean Munster predicts that Apple will ship more than 35 million iPods this year alone. Apple over the last two years has wiped out their competitors and has reinvented the entire digital music industry. The invention of iTunes as a companion to iPod is resurrecting the music recording industry and serving as a very clever way to rapidly expand the demand for iPods. In July of this year, iTunes sold its 500,000th song, much of that occurring in the last few months.
Serious marketers should look closely at iPod and Apple. There are many lessons for us about how to take advantage of new marketplace realities. For example:
•"Think Different" is more than an ad slogan at Apple. The Apple brand message serves as a rallying cry for all company employees. This many-year mantra has become the filter by which Apple corporate decisions are made. It also happens to be a brand idea that is compelling to Apple's core enthusiasts. Really strong brand ideas can rally employees, and this led to a group of people at Apple who thought differently. This led directly to iPod and iTunes.
•The genius of iPod started with superb technology that made this very complex device exceedingly simple and intuitive to use. It is so cool looking. Great marketing doesn't start with brand messaging. It starts with product design that looks differently at consumer needs. Apple was bold in design. And the company created a device that consumers are proud to carry.
•The advertising for iPod does not put the product front and center. It focuses on the consumer experience. The colors are bold. There is no discussion of features or how the product works. It just creates strong and favorable emotional reactions. And it is rigorously consistent. Great advertising creates affinity.
•The Web site does a superb job of selling the iPod and iTunes experience to a target audience that is clearly Internet savvy.
•The purchase of an iPod is rewarded by fabulous packaging. It is elegant, special, and the experience of unwrapping the box is reminiscent of opening a present.
•Word of mouth is the best seller of the iPod product. I put my new iPod on my belt and was proud to walk into coffee shop with it. I sent at least two people to the iPod store to buy their own. People simply feel cool to own and enjoy their iPods, and Apple has done everything in their power to encourage that feeling of independence and sophistication.
Apple has changed the rules of the way that people purchase and enjoy music. Every hour spent listening to iPod is time that is not spent listening to commercial radio. To a lesser extent, TIVO is having an impact on the efficacy of television. Today the amount of time consumers are spending in front of some sort of screen or device is increasing, yet in many cases consumers can limit the intrusiveness of commercial messages.
The companies that win in the future will deploy much more effective advertising arsenals. This will require replacing specialty discipline silos (like direct marketing and interactive) with structures where the entire mix is team based. And it will require a broader concept of marketing in most organizations that embraces product design and marketplace innovation.
If iPod can offer convenience, control, cachet, access, quality, legitimacy, and absolute genius in the simplicity and impact of its brand experience – all within the palm of your hand -- what might be possible for the rest of us who seek to answer the call to go Apple one better? Savvy marketers will be inspired by the lessons this marketplace phenomenon demonstrates to create advertising and communications programs that resonate in this brave new world. That means staying up to date about advancing technologies, realizing that effectiveness of advertising is not driven by tonnage, but by the cohesiveness of the brand experience, and revising communications programs continually with the best creative thinking we can offer.
What new strategies and methods are you and your best people exploring to explore, celebrate, and win in today's complex media environment? Let's talk about it!
Bill Fritsch is president of Hydrogen Advertising, an award-winning, Seattle-based advertising agency emphasizing superb ideas efficiently produced. Reach him at 206-389-950o, ext. 24 or email bill@hydrogenadvertising.com. For more information, visit http://www.hydrogenadvertising.com.
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