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The Apple iPhone vs. Microsoft Zune hype war
22 comments- IT TOPICS:Mobile & Wireless, Personal Technology
Gosh! What a coincidence!! At almost exactly the same instant that Microsoft launched its much-gossiped-about Zune media player, word leaked about Apple's much-more-gossiped-about iPhone.
Since the original Mac rolled out more than 20 years ago, Apple has been masterful at using its base of fervent fans to spread well-timed stories (some of which are actually true) about its products. Typically, word mysteriously leaks to one or two standard media outlets or industry analysts. From there, it takes, oh, about 18 seconds for the story to spread to the dozens of Apple rumor sites. Then, it takes, roughly, another 10 seconds, for the story to spread to the rest of the world. Voila! Instant buzz.
To help get the word out about iPhone and, not coincidentally, to blunt this week's Zune hype, this sequence of events occurred not once but twice in the last month. First, Forbes carried a story last month saying that an industry analyst heard through his unnamed ultra-secret sources that Apple is likely to unveil a smart phone and a music phone at MacWorld in January. Then, this week, an Asian business publication ran a story saying a Taiwanese vendor has been selected to manufacture a reported 12 million phone/music player devices. Perhaps coincidentally, Forbes was the first to pick up the story in the West.
This is brilliant stuff. I'm not talking about the iPhone, which surely will be <insert your favorite Apple hyperbole here>. Rather, I'm talking about a massively successful PR campaign done primarily by volunteers. Besides being virtually free and remarkably effective, the best part is that it doesn't even have to be true. Apple released no information (officially), so it can just sit back, say it doesn't comment on future products and let the hype build.
In the meantime, the groundswell for the product begins, the company gets free feedback not just from its adoring fans, but also from supposedly unbiased industry analysts and pundits. This, in turn, allows Apple to fine-tune its marketing efforts if the device ever actually ships. Or, of course, if there is no iPhone in the works, Apple effectively takes much of the shine away from Microsoft's product introduction.
Microsoft, of course, must seethe every time this happens. But it goes without saying that Microsoft would do the same thing if only it had a willing army of fiercely loyal volunteers who loved its products and were willing to spread the gospel.
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