Canadian Marketing Blog

How do you get Apple style media coverage? It's a secret.

If you're only slightly interested in technology, no doubt you've seen or read about Apple Computer's new MacBook Air this past week, announced at MacWorld 2008 Conference and Expo in San Francisco. Already there are more than 5 million Google hits for a product that was announced less than a week ago.

Weighing in at 3 pounds, measuring just 0.16 inches at its thinnest and costing $1,799US, if MacBook Air catches on, it will no doubt force other PC manufacturers to roll out slimmer, lighter laptop designs in a hurry. Similar to last year’s iPhone announcement, Apple generated incredible global media coverage with their latest product announcement.

So how are they so successful?
I’m sure all over North America executives at Sony, Dell and HP are left scratching their heads, wondering how they can generate this level of product buzz. Paradoxically, Apple’s media success can attributed to their obsession with secrecy. They carefully guard product information announcements and plans until MacWorld. Then the products are demonstrated by Mr. Jobs himself.

It you host it, they will come.
According to the show site, the annual Macworld Conference & Expo is “the world's most comprehensive event for the Mac operating system. Only Macworld brings together the loyal yet diverse base of Mac users in creative services, education, entertainment, application development, enterprise and small office/home office environments.” For Apple fans, it’s one of the few opportunities to hear firsthand about the company’s focus and product priorities for the year ahead.

When Steve talks, people listen...
The keynote address by Steve Jobs (some people wait up to ten hours in line to get a coveted seat to see him), began with a recap of Apple successes from the past year, which focused on the iPhone launch. According to Gartner research, it sold 4 million units in its first 200 days in the US, garnering 20% market share of the smart phone market. Mr. Jobs says this is equal to the smart phone shares of Palm, Nokia and Motorola combined.

The next order of business was a sneak peak of the new TV spots planned for the fall. Then he shared the stage with Intel’s CEO. It was Intel who collaborated with Apple to redesign the core 2 duo processor chipset to fit into the Air’s all aluminum case. After watching the show, what’s undeniable is Steve’s passion for Apple products – he directs their design and knows them intimately. Anyone watching him talk about the iPhone can attest to this.

So, it’s no small feat that in our media saturated world, Apple was successful keeping the MacBook Air out of headlines until they were ready to announce it. These other factors likely played a role too in the product’s coverage:

1. By hosting a ‘one size fits all’ show format, organizers maximized the number of ears and eyes attending.
2. Steve communicated meaningful corporate information to customers so they felt ‘privileged and on the inside track’ with the company, perhaps predisposing them to writing favourably.
3. Apple effectively leveraged blogging and chat room communities to fuel product speculation and buzz leading up to the event.

But the only sure fire way to getting folks to pay attention is to announce something truly new and innovative that we simply didn’t see coming. Apple proved there is power in the element of surprise. Judging by the smiling faces of attendees ogling over the MacBook Air, the surprise was worth waiting for.

I think that the reason why Apple is so successful when it comes to launching new products is, in part, due to the secrecy that surrounds the development of new Apple products but more so due to the actual products themselves.

I would argue that its success in the last few years - coming back from a computer company that was about to fall off the face of the technological planet to one that was launching the new iMac - is due to the high level of innovation that goes into their products.

The reason why executives at Sony, Dell and HP are left scratching their heads is because they rarely release truly innovative products. Hey, it may not be their fault - they are forced to work with an operating system that is far less interesting and innovative than those that Apple computers use and that, in its latest incarnation, has done its best to look like the Apple interface.

In terms of creativity in the product development department, those other companies are just lacking. Apple's touch screen interface on the iPhone and iPod Touch is completely different than anything else that is out there and to top it off, it makes using them more interesting. There is also a clear design directive with all Apple products - they match one another so there is more impetus to buy more than one electronic from them.

I would wonder then what these other companies would have to do be able to compete with Apple in a meaningful way...?

I would have to agree that using the secrecy marketing strategy works to build the anticipation of Apple's new products and intrigue consumers paying attention to the company.
As for PR strategies, monitoring blog sites to fuel the buzz surrounding the new MacBook Air proved to be quite effective. For one, it was cost-effective. Instead of paying for advertising, they spread the message and the speculation in a cheap but successful way. Secondly, once ads are over, the message is dead. With social media, the message can live longer. Apple was able to hold people's attention for a long while.
My question is, do you think that if Apple embraced social media a lot more, such as social networking sites like Facebook, they would be able to build better relationships with their consumers? Many people hold disdain for the company because they make it difficult to insure the products once you buy them, and charge high replacement costs. If they spent more time building relationships with their consumers, by hosting blogs and where people can vent their frustrations and Steve Jobs can actually LISTEN and take them into consideration, people might be even MORE inclined to keep buying Apple products?

I would agree with you completely - using PR can generate a lot of buzz at a relatively cheap cost compared to advertising.

Blog sites are another inexpensive way for Apple to get people talking about new products and when combined with tools, such as PR, the buzz can last far longer than that created with ads alone.

I would argue that the best way to generate sustained interest for a product - from Apple or any other company - is to use a balanced marketing mix that uses everything that has been discussed here and more... with the possible exception of widely popular sites such as Facebook. I have been invited into sponsored groups on Facebook which I see as blatant and directed marketing and turns me off those products.

I just think that companies need to be careful what forms of social media they choose to use as people are prone to feeling more violated when companies infiltrate media that individuals feel as if they control.