Strategy: Stylish periph 4 your favorite periph.
One topic that has come up a lot in several forums, but, due to the fact that these forums' threads look less like threads than buckshot spreads, hasn't been discussed at length is Steve Jobs' deliberate and radical new branding strategy.
The iMac, until the ploy proves itself either cash-money successful or a strategic failure, will be peddled as a stylish accessory for everyone's favorite peripheral, the ipod.
The iPod was not branded primarily as an Apple product, but the iMac 3 was, without a doubt, physically designed and strategically planned from its very conception to be branded as the iPod for the rest of your iLife.
Is this strategy intelligent? Is the possibility of higher sales and/or product recognition/association worth the belittling of the very same iconic, revolutionary product that made this company?
Or, conversely, was the most poignant thing that SJ contributed to the future of Apple the glass with which the company swallowed its own hubris? ---Bergz
The iMac, until the ploy proves itself either cash-money successful or a strategic failure, will be peddled as a stylish accessory for everyone's favorite peripheral, the ipod.
The iPod was not branded primarily as an Apple product, but the iMac 3 was, without a doubt, physically designed and strategically planned from its very conception to be branded as the iPod for the rest of your iLife.
Is this strategy intelligent? Is the possibility of higher sales and/or product recognition/association worth the belittling of the very same iconic, revolutionary product that made this company?
Or, conversely, was the most poignant thing that SJ contributed to the future of Apple the glass with which the company swallowed its own hubris? ---Bergz
Comments
Insert dazed look on the unsuspecting person followed by a deep lust. They now know in their heart that they must have the matching computer. The ultimate iPod accessory.
The resemblance to the iPod is deliberate, an effort to make the Mac more approachable to Windows users who like the iPod but haven't felt too warm toward the Mac.
Is the possibility of higher sales and/or product recognition/association worth the belittling of the very same iconic, revolutionary product that made this company?
I don't think the strategy is "belittling" the iMac. Saying to consumers "Hey, you really like this product of ours (the iPod) so c'mon and take a look at what else we've got (the iMac) that is equally cool," isn't a bad idea at all. It makes the iMac more hip, more acceptable to potential switchers, and probably generates some curiosity among the public.
The question is the association and emphasis of the recognition. People who buy Macs usually have an eye for design, quality, or something that's not Windows that everyone associates with quality (please, no GPU gamer responses) like they get when they see a Volvo and think "safety" without really knowing why.
When you see a Mac you think quality so you buy it. Why will the next gen buy a Mac? Because it goes well with the iPod?
High sales figures are good because we all benefit from a healthy company, but what if the focus on marketability makes more MacGeeks than a just few gamers angry at decisions made at Apple?
What if this decision leads to the iMac 4 being truly little more than a peripheral for the ipod?
iMac 4: a thin client not for .Mac, but for iTunes.
--J
Apple is merely utilizing skills that are American hallmarks. Consumer Electronics is a very lucrative field. I believe US companies have an advantage over the Asian companies. While they excel in designing and building the chipsets needed they do not show the ingenuity that the US doles out on a yearly basis. The greatest minds come to America because we value that breakneck forward motion and capitalism.
Apple can blow away most companies with their design chops. They just need to see the area in which their talents can best be utilized and move. I like Macs but it's going to be a long and slow incline in sales. The inertia that PCs have is substantial. A healthy Apple means a healthy platform regardless of where the $$$ comes from.