Marketing Lessons From Apple's iPod

Apple Computer just announced that their earnings from the last quarter more than quadrupled mainly due to robust holiday sales of the iPod digital music player. More than 10 million iPods have been sold since it was introduced in 2001.

There are some important marketing lessons to be learned from all this. First of all, Apple has created a product for a hungry market that has the financial means to purchase it even with the relatively high price point. If you find a hot and hungry market, create a product for it and you are almost guaranteed to succeed.

Apple Computer

Lesson #1: Find a hot and hungry market

Ever since the introduction of the MP3 file format, we have seen the popularity of converting songs from a CD so that they can be stored on the computer. Even the Napster episode showed us that there is a huge market for a device like the iPod.

Here's the summary of the first lesson - don't sell shovels to fishermen and fishing poles to gold miners. Rather, sell the shovels to gold miners and the fishing poles to fishermen. Create a product that already has an existing market.

Lesson #2: Create different versions

Now Apple just announced the introduction of the iPod Shuffle - a lower-priced version of the iPod with flash memory instead of hard drive storage.

This strategy is called versioning.

First create a product that sells. Then create another version of the product for a different market segment. In this case, Apple first came up with a more expensive product and followed it up with a cheaper product.

Lesson #3: Create the halo effect

The halo effect is essentially this: increasing sales of one popular product will generate more sales for your other existing products. In this case, the tremendous popularity of the iPod has created enough buzz that more people are buying Macs.

In the past, Macs have made inroads only to a small segment of the market. But now, we're likely to see Apple increase its market share of personal computers in the months to come.

So whatever you are selling, there are definitely some general marketing lessons to be learned from the success of the iPod. Think about it the next time you use your iPod.

Marketing Lessons From Apple's iPod

The Impact of the 1984 Superbowl Advert on Apple's Brand

The impact of Apple's 1984 Superbowl commercial can't be overstated. It has been named a watershed event, and named the commercial of a decade. The commercial has been credited with pushing societal perception of computers from scary industry tools to accessible - and fun - devices for home use. The commercial certainly contributed to Apple's bottom line and paved the way for the company's brand and identity as an accessible, empowering, and game-changing technology company.

The Rise of The Home Computer

Apple Computer

Prior to the release of the Mac - heralded by this iconic commercial, computers WERE industry-specific, huge, unwieldy, and required incredibly specialized skill-sets to learn. Apple's intent with the Mac was to create a computer that was both affordable and useful for everyone. Steve Jobs referred to the Mac as the beginning of, "the democratization of technology," which, indeed, it turned out to be.

How did the most memorable of Apple commercials - 1984 - play into this image? By casting existing technology as overpowering, controlling, and malevolent - the talking-head overlord of the commercial - director Ridley Scott tried to capture society's current paradigm with regards to computer technology. Ridley's evil technology personified was in control of the user, not the other way around. The on-screen manifestation of Apple, in stark contrast is an athlete - a woman - lean, powerful, and in control. The technology of the Mac itself? A hammer - the most simple and basic of tools, familiar to all and useful beyond measure. This is the way Apple presented it's product in 1984, and remains a key part of their branding today.

Apple as The Liberator

In the 1984 commercial, the Mac literally destroys the status quo, freeing the inhabitants of Scott's world to live their lives without the yoke of controlling technology. Here, Apple is cast as liberator of the people - the Mac was intended to let people interact with technology on their own terms, to do the work that they need to get done, unlimited by the designs and desires of the technology's makers. Again, this remains a big part of Apple brand and image. Intuitive interfaces, "friendly," product design, and the epiphany that was user-created apps reinforce Apple's "liberator" image, though the advent of their pentalobular screw heads and other tamper-proofing measures do cast the company in a bit more of a Big Brother light than before.

Apple consumers view the company as friendly, supportive, and cool. They expect Apple products to be easier to use, nicer to look at, and better-supported than the alternatives. Apple set these expectations for themselves with the Mac, and cemented this image in the minds of consumers with a groundbreaking television commercial that has become a part of the modern zeitgeist. Surely, the company hired Ridley Scott to make a commercial that would reflect the image and culture that they WANTED to project, but one has to wonder whether the overwhelming and unanticipated success they met with pigeonholed the company to some degree. Would Apple still be marketing themselves as the liberating underdog were it not for 1984? It's hard to tell.

The Impact of the 1984 Superbowl Advert on Apple's Brand

Best iPad 2 Cases Compatible With Apple's Smart Cover

Apple's Smart Cover is about as popular as the iPad 2 device itself. Unlike the device, users have been quick to find one major design flaw with the Smart Cover case - the lack of protection the case provides. If you are familiar with the case, you know that it is a unique case with ultra-unique features. You may also know that it only protects the screen of the device and that is only when it is not being used.

Many users have found themselves in a bind because they want a case that has the same features of the Smart Cover - which no other cases do, but they also are looking for a case that provides full bodied protection. The solution for these types of iPad users is to buy a protective iPad 2 case that works together with the Smart Cover to protect the device.

Apple Computer

iPad 2 users are having a hard time finding these types of cases so here is a list of the different cases that work with the Apple Smart cover:

Speck Smart Shell for iPad 2

Speck has just released its newest iPad 2 case, the Speck Smart Shell. This case is a hard plastic shell that protects the back and sides of the device, allowing the Smart Cover to protect the screen. The neat thing about these cases is that they are available in the same colors that the Smart Covers are available in. This is the only smart cover compatible case that comes in these colors.

Custom Coveroo for iPad 2

Coveroo has released a line of cases that are very similar to the Speck Smart Shell. The awesome thing about these cases is that you can choose any design, emblem or logo to go on the back. Are you an animal lover? This case is available in over a 100 different animal prints, including a zebra print cover for your iPad 2.

These are just two manufacturers that have released iPad 2 cases that work with the overly-popular Smart Cover from Apple. Apple seemed to think they could corner the iPad 2 accessory market, but instead they only fueled other manufacturers' creativity and ingenuity!

Do yourself a favor and invest in an iPad 2 case that will protect the back of your device. These cases are significantly cheaper than the cost of replacing your iPad 2 due to it being damaged.

Best iPad 2 Cases Compatible With Apple's Smart Cover

iPad Touch - Apple's Latest Fruit

Is there anyone who doesn't want to have an iPad touch?

Apple has once again produced a fruit of genius---the iPad touch. The fresh product of Apple, iPad touch, is one of the most coveted multi-purpose devices that allow users to peruse the Web, use email, play music and games, store pictures and watch videos, TV and movies. The iPad touch looks very like a bigger iPhone, but is not simply an iPhone. It also features a portable or a netbook but it is smaller in comparison to that. In fact, iPad is a new, exciting technology that works as a full laptop and an iPhone yet is a class all its own.

Apple Computer

In addition, the device is 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds - lighter than any netbook and includes a 9.7-inch LED-backlit display with IPS technology. It also includes a 1GHz Apple-built A4 processor which incorporates the CPU and graphics. It's got a 178-degree viewing angle and sports a 1024768 pixel resolution display at 132 pixels per in.. That implies iPad permits you to execute things you can't do on any other machine. Plus it has the following features for such a sleek and light device:

Safari
The large multi-touch screen on iPad lets you see webpages as they were intended to be seen - one full page at a time.

Mail
by using a split-screen view, you can see both an opened email and all the messages in your mail.

Photographs
iPad is an extraordinary way to enjoy and share stills. For instance, you can collect and display your stills in an album like they're in a stack. You can flip through your photos, zoom in or out, watch a slideshow, or even use iPad like a digital photo frame. One of the other good features of iPad is easily importing and synchronizing stills from your personal computer.

Video
any sort of video can simply be observed on the big and high-resolution screen on the iPad. IPad has a huge screen with no buttons and no other distracting features. So you can watch your HD movies, television shows or any videos by feeling completely immersed.

iPad is integrated with iPod apps.

iTunes
To skim and buy podcasts, TV shows or music, just tap on the iTunes Store icon. You will quickly find thousands of television shows, movies, songs and podcasts. iPad also enables you to preview songs before you purchase them.

App Store
iPad is virtually integrated with 140.000 apps from the App Store. By drumming the App Store icon on the screen, apps can be perused, bought, and downloaded wirelessly without delay to the iPad.

iBooks
iPad offers us another a great way to read or buy books.?t is even possible to see topography with the new terrain view. But there's more: you may also search for a close-by business type and tap the business to see the route and directions from where you are.

Notes
iPad uses an expansive display and large, onscreen keyboard to make jotting down notes straightforward for you.

Calendar
iPad supplies the calendar you need by showing Day, Week, Month or List perspectives. In this fashion, iPad allows for a top level view of a whole month, or the details of a single day.

Spotlight Search
you can search your mail, contacts, calendar, iPod, and notes across iPad. Its spotlight Search feature even permits you to search apps you have downloaded from the App Store. This allows you to quickly find what you're trying to find. I mean, just imagine how such a light contraption could carry a large amount of hi-tech features in its body; you certainly won't expect it to be as inexpensive as you want it to be. Or certainly you could not expect Apple to create such a device only to give away free iPad touch to us, right?

However, there are sites that offer to offer you free iPad touch if you complete their offers and if you are actually prepared to have one, you can check for free iPad touch offers in the net; Or if you can afford to purchase one, why not? Either way, the iPad touch will not give you any regrets for purchasing it. I suspect those wonderful features, fascinating and classy design is reason enough as to the reasons why you should buy one right now!

iPad Touch - Apple's Latest Fruit