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Apples iPhone Strategy

I’m sure many of us criticized Apple’s first generation iPhone as sorely lacking in the technology department. However, no one can doubt the buzz the impending launch of the iPhone OS version 3.0 has created. On the flip side, if we can look through the marketing, we can see that there is a very clever strategy at work here.

Kontra from the very excellent Counter Notions blog has a great analysis of Apple’s iPhone Strategy and how it has evolved from a device into a platform.
In summary, the first iPhone generation introduced us to a device that could pull in all your Stuff in a logical manner. The 2nd generation 3G iPhone created a platform where, by leveraging on the iTunes store, you could download all your Stuff. Finally with the release of iPhone OS 3.0, (very apt don’t you think?) Apple plugs up most of the holes we have been complaining about and almost perfects the product. Thus making it.
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Kontra writes:

Apple consolidated its gains, marked its territory of 30M users+25K apps+800M downloads and built a very deep and wide moat around it. A moat so formidable that there’s not a single smartphone player capable of overcoming it.

Apple also methodically eliminated the vast majority of iPhone’s “missing” features: copy and paste, landscape text entry, global search, notifications, MMS, voice memos, new calendar format, Notes sync, stereo Bluetooth support, extended parental controls, browser auto-fill and anti-phishing… pretty much anything else that may have given potential customers a pause previously.

Another thing I like to add is that great products do not have to be 100% right the first time. Getting a product shipped that 80% right but with a 100% intrinsic benefit to your user is a lot better in my humble opinion. Just make sure to reiterate and improve your product very quickly after you have launched it.

This strategy is like a good baseball swing. You need to have a good follow through after you take your shot. Unfortunately the follow through is what many companies are just not good at doing.

I would highly recommend you read his analysis in full, both part 1 and part 2, to get the full course dinner!

About this social media thing…

What was my strategy when launching this blog? How about when I started using Twitter over two years ago when most people dismissed it as a fad, trend, and a tool for narcissistic individuals who wanted to tell the world what they had for lunch? My strategy – learning by doing!

I made mistakes, I also got some things right. I got less activity when I wasn’t adding enough value. I’d see additional followers on Twitter built over time and even some growth spurts when someone with influence recommended me. Same goes for blogging. I’ve learned almost everything I know about this space by doing it. I’ve always learned by doing. It’s instinctual for me—I have problems learning other ways. Which is why I’m perplexed that now that we’re seeing brands actually do what I’ve been doing for years (learning by doing), we’re all up in arms.
Brands will actively engage on the social web by doing—and learn in the process. They can’t sit on the sidelines anymore. The social web only kicks in AFTER something is put into the space. Just like I launched this blog in 2006. All of the effort came AFTER the launch. Listen. Learn. Adapt. This is what I believe in.
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From Forrester’s E-marketing blog

* Social media is a full time commitment. Across the teams those who were able to generate the greatest number of sales were full time bloggers (or at least full time social media gurus). Even among the so called digerati those of us for whom social isn’t our sole focus were left in the dust by those who do it for a living. What it means for marketers: don’t think you’re going to make an impact asking your current digital marketing manager to add Twittering and blogging to their current job description. Figure out what your role should be in the social media space and staff with people knowledgeable and connected who thrive on contributing to and participating in that space. Social media isn’t something you turn on and off for a campaign; it’s something you live and breathe every day.

* Suspicion runs rampant. No sooner had the project begun than the comments started coming back: who is this for, whom does it benefit, why should I give, how do I know this is legitimate? Fortunately Tide had provided teams with information, images and a website with full program details. Even so, most people needed a lot of proof points before they would embrace talking about the program. What it means for marketers: Anyone who thinks corporate Norway is welcome at the social party hasn’t been paying a lot of attention. Corporate messages and their bearers are viewed with suspicion and in some cases, derision. Overcoming it takes patience, information and most importantly truly good intentions at the root of your efforts.

* You can’t please all the people all the time. No matter what some people seem to believe that most corporate efforts spring from bad intent. What it means for marketers? Take time to plan for worst case scenarios: how could your intentions be misconstrued and how and when do you respond? Accept that you will never be welcomed by all but with a good faith effort, honesty, transparency and a long term commitment you can at least get a chance to tell your side of the story.