Sometimes all it takes is a picture. When you engage in any kind of strategic marketing, one of your key goals will be to grab attention. Grabbing that attention can mean creating good PR, generating winning online content or splashing your brand across every billboard in town. The target is always the same though, get people interested.
This week we’ve already spoken about the impact an image can have in marketing. Yesterday, Apple provided us with another lesson in strategic marketing and the use of images. In this case, all it took was a shadow.
The New iPhone 5?
Apple’s latest iteration of the iPhone is expected to be announced next week and as if there wasn’t enough hype already, the invites to the event have created even more buzz. The faint shadow of the number 5 below the confirmation of the date set the internet alight yesterday as people quibbled over whether this meant that the new iPhone will be officially referred to as the iPhone 5.
The chatter appears to be the culmination of a strategic marketing campaign designed to whip up as much iPhone frenzy as possible before the announcement. First some history, earlier this year Apple released “the new iPad” to much fanfare and the collective disgruntlement of the tech press who had been reporting it as the “iPad 3”. This led a lot of commentators to suggest that Apple were dumping the numbers from the names of their products. This made sense considering the iPad and iPhone were the only devices number their new incarnations.
All this may not seem too relevant to people who just want to know what the devices can do, but it was a hot topic for the notoriously dedicated Apple fanboys. As gic mastraterketing goes, throwing around a few red herring’s about a much-anticipated product is a pretty good starting point.
Speaking of red herrings, there have been a surprising amount of leaks about the upcoming iPhone 5. There have been pictures of most of the parts and concept art on what it might look like. One manufacturer in China has already released a copy of the concept. It feels like we already know all of the vital specifications of the device. But we don’t know the name.
Apple: The Strategic Marketing Tech Company
Apple are often described as a marketing company that sells technology and they’ve earned the first half of that description with these announcement invites. Good strategic marketing involves analyzing your market, and finding ways to generate interest and convert that interest into sales. The conversion will come from the announcement and the ads that follow, so the marketing has been focused on the announcement. The one issue that has been up for debate throughout all the leaks was the name. So Apple are having a little bit of fun.
The shadow on the picture has been widely reported as confirmation that it will be called the iPhone 5 but, there’s a ‘but’ coming. That ‘but’ came in the form of a new leaked image, of printers printing official artwork depicting “the new iPhone”, juts like the iPad.
Strategic marketing is at its most effective when it’s inventive and the timing of the photo, directly after the invitations was a little fortunate. It’s created uncertainty and uncertainty will lead to debate. The explanation some have come up with is that the new phone will have 5 rows of apps, but will be called “the new iPhone”. The doubt lingers though and is sure to generate more online chatter over the next week.
In many ways the iPhone is a difficult brand to market. Everyone knows what an iPhone is and in most cases those who want one, have one. There’s also a strong argument to suggest that those who are going to buy the next iPhone, have already decided to do so. The question is then, how do you create more interest and squeeze out those extra sales. Apple’s strategic marketing plan has created a bit of mystery and a lot of chatter.
All it took was a picture.
