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Hi gang,
In Palo Alto today and witnessed the unloading of the new MacBooks.
Hard to tell by this picture but there were well more than 100
computers delivered to this fairly small store. On checking with the
staff it was hard for them to keep MacBook Air in stock and it remains
to be seen if today's modest MacBook update will keep Apple's portable
growth going. Were you a bit disappointed that Apple did not make more
form-factor improvements?
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Launch iTunes today and you'll see the fuss. Apple is pairing their brand with the Fox hit show American Idol. Soon we'll see the young artists hawking iPods and iPhones during the show (similar to the Ford and Coke product placements)
This is a big deal. A perfect tie-in for Apple's brand since it speaks to people's ambitions and families watch this show together. And it's a boon for the millions of people who vote for their favorite singer every week (use that iPhone!) or download the songs they just saw on TV (use that iPod!) And soon I'm sure you'll be able to download entire episodes or seasons you missed (use that AppleTV!)
Another example of Apple's marketing brilliance. This is great brand awareness and great product usage tie-ins. More...after the break!
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Okay, admittedly it has only been out for a week, but I'm not feeling the blogosphere love for the MacBook Air. Usually, when Apple has a hit product on its hands, the early adopters go gaga for their new toy and can't help but spread the word to the world. Normal humans read what the early bloggers say and follow suit, kinda like how reviewers can help make or break a movie. In many ways, Apple plans for this viral effect and it is actually baked into their marketing spend.
But I know they must be asking the same thing I am today. Where's the love for MacBook Air?
Engadget hasn't had a story in over a week, the Technorati bell curve has bottomed out and even Alexa shows slowing traffic to Apple.com.
I'm going out on a limb here. As much as I love Apple, I think they've violated my 2nd rule of Apple-Style marketing (you can read all 5 here for free.) "Never be first to market." Apple was hellbent on producing the world's thinnest laptop but there is no research pointing to pent-up demand for a super thin laptop. People want lighter, cheaper, more powerful and better battery life. But they focused all that great Apple energy into "thinnovation" and this isn't what the market was asking for. Consequently I'm not sure it is going to net Apple the rewards they seek. They did this before with the Cube and with the Newton. And we all know how that turned out.
Do you think the MacBook Air will go the way of the Cube? Would you make it your Valentine?
I'd love to hear your answers. Next column: my theory behind the real goal of MacBook Air.
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I spoke before about Apple's tendency to under promise and over deliver, or "uPod" regarding its business outlook. Well I had just had an experience with an overlooked, but amazingly powerful feature that, to the best of my knowledge, Apple has never hyped or even marketed at all.
That feature is the "Migration Assistant." Here was my dilemma. I was having lots of issues with my personal MacBook Pro and it was slowing down my productivity big time. So my company ordered me a new one last week and it was delivered this Monday. But I've been so busy I could not find the time to switch over, so I stuck with my unreliable MacBook simply because it had all my stuff in it.
During one of my frequent reboots I remembered the Migration Assistant. (I've never used it before because I'm one of those old-school techies who likes to build his hard drive one install at a time) Basically, all I had to do was reboot my old Mac into Firewire disk mode (try that MacBook Air!) and connect a Firewire cable to my new Mac. A few clicks (and a few hours) later, and my new MacBook was a carbon copy of my old one.
I was amazed! Every file, document, email, iPhoto, iTune, even the arrangement of icons on my dock and my desktop was preserved. It is the most amazing feeling to pick up a brand new computer and hit the ground running with everything where it should be in just a few hours. Such a feat usually takes about a week.
Clearly this isn't the coolest feature around, but perhaps the most practical when trying to get people to buy a new Mac. I think Apple should invest in a PC vs Mac commercial where Justin speaks to this feature since there are lots of people like me who stick with their old computers for fear of the hard work of migrating. Have you ever used the Migration Assistant?
2/8/08 Update: AppleInsider describes the challenge for MacBook Air and Migration Assistant, as does MacNN.
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Another great story in the ongoing saga of unlocked iPhones. Really speaks to one of my "5 Secrets of Apple Marketing" that I speak about in my free eBook. On one hand, Apple truly does want to empower early adopters of the iPhone, using them to spread the Apple gospel. It is important to get the early adopters to show their friends, family and business contacts just how amazing this phone really is. (After all, there isn't an Apple or AT&T store everwhere) By a large margin, that strategy is working as the iPhone is setting sales records for a new consumer electronics device. But Apple is also losing out on service revenue it assumed it would generate from the AT&T network every time some uses an unlocked iPhone.
You can see how urgent it is to prevent people from unlocking the phone (lost revenue) but at the same time you can sense how important it is for Apple to generate marketing lift to stimulate sales (they still have about 6 million iPhones to sell before the end of the year to hit their targets.)
What do you think? Is Apple's strategy working?
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