The marketing strategy behind a December iPhone announcment
Gizmodo has a three sentence story claiming the iPhone will be announced on Monday, December 18. I can't claim to have any information on the topic, but I can perhaps shed some light on why Apple might do this (if they do)
One of the biggest challenges for marketers is getting "space" for big announcements. When a big show like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) or MacWorld happens, literally thousands of announcements are scheduled to be released with the show. The result: show announcements can actually get lost in the clutter.
Now we wouldn't expect that to happen with the announcement, but this year, MacWorld and CES are the same week, doubling the normal number of tech stories. And while the week before Christmas is a busy time, there actually aren't that many tech stories cluttering up the airwaves. The result: doing an announcement the week before Christmas might actually generate more press coverage than an announcement at MacWorld.
One more thing: you can bet that Steve Jobs wouldn't announce iPhone this week if that were the centerpiece of his MacWorld keynote. If iPhone were announced next week, that implies that he has bigger and better things to show at MacWorld. It may also imply a broader theme other than music phones at that event (for example, the digital home). Bottom line: if iPhone sends tremors through the phone world in December, we can expect something more earthquake-sized in January.
One of the biggest challenges for marketers is getting "space" for big announcements. When a big show like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) or MacWorld happens, literally thousands of announcements are scheduled to be released with the show. The result: show announcements can actually get lost in the clutter.
Now we wouldn't expect that to happen with the announcement, but this year, MacWorld and CES are the same week, doubling the normal number of tech stories. And while the week before Christmas is a busy time, there actually aren't that many tech stories cluttering up the airwaves. The result: doing an announcement the week before Christmas might actually generate more press coverage than an announcement at MacWorld.
One more thing: you can bet that Steve Jobs wouldn't announce iPhone this week if that were the centerpiece of his MacWorld keynote. If iPhone were announced next week, that implies that he has bigger and better things to show at MacWorld. It may also imply a broader theme other than music phones at that event (for example, the digital home). Bottom line: if iPhone sends tremors through the phone world in December, we can expect something more earthquake-sized in January.
Technorati Tags: Apple, CES, iPhone, MacWorld, Marketing, Announcements
posted by Carl Howe at
9:35 AM
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