How to market part 2

Reactions are still pouring in to Apple's announcements yesterday. One of the more interesting bits introduced was the iPod Shuffle, which is a $99 package-of-gum sized iPod with no display. Hard-disk-based iPods have LCD displays that allow users to choose what play lists they want to hear and generally control what they hear. The iPod Shuffle has just two modes: play what's on the device in order (it holds about 120 songs, 240 on the 1 Gig model), and play the songs in random order. No pretty display, no playlists, no breakout games.

But as CreativeBits notes, Jobs, being a great marketer, didn't focus on the limitations of the device. Oh no. Instead. he introduced a new slogan, "Life is Random", named the product the iPod Shuffle, and promoted the limitation as a feature! By redefining the problem -- users are looking for tunes to listen to and don't want to hassle with user interfaces -- Apple has turned its the iPod Shuffle's main limitation into a feature.

Based upon some initial reports of iPod Shuffles causing near stampedes at Apple's retail stores, we again doff our hats to Jobs' marketing mastery.

Oh, by the way, in case you think this type of marketing can't possibly have anything to do with real business, Apple just reported its best quarter in years, with over $3 billion in sales, and nearly $300 million in profit, nearly four times the numbers a year ago and blowing past analyst estimates.