Is Apple The Only One That Has It Right?

It's an Apple world and we're all just living in it.

According to an article by Michael Fleischner on Marketing Scoop entitled “Where Has All The Good Marketing Gone?,” the only effective marketing Fleischner witnessed this past year has been from Apple backing his claim up by stating “How do I know? I own 3 iPods.”

Why someone needs three iPods, I don’t know. Bill Gates probably doesn’t even have three iPods. Regardless, Fleischner brings up some pretty interesting points worth discussing.

He starts off by bringing up a very important question: “What drives the consumer more, the product or the marketing?” Fleischner gives the cop-out answer of both, but I agree with him. Initially, it’s the marketing that gets the consumer to the store to buy the product. Then, it is product itself that keeps the consumer coming back for more.

Great marketing convinces the consumer that they cannot live without the product. According to Fleischner that is what Apple has done with its brand, and I cannot disagree with that. I see people getting into arguments day in and day out over what is better, a Mac or a PC. A Blackberry or an iPhone? I’ve gotten into a few of these arguments myself.

In most instances, I don’t buy things because of the marketing (which is a terrible thing to say being an IMC major.) When I bought my iPod, I bought it because I needed something to exercise with that was light in weight and would hold hundreds of songs. I couldn’t even tell you if I saw an Apple ad before I bought it. I just remember watching everybody at the gym, holding their little portable media players and knowing I needed one too, not because of marketing but because they looked convenient and reliable.

One of the reasons Fleischner believes Apple’s marketing efforts have been particularly successful is their comparison of new Apple products with old ones they’ve sold in the past. You would think that the smart way of marketing your product to consumers would be to belittle the competitor, which in some instances Apple does. However, in many commercials, especially when selling a new iPod, Apple will talk about how the iPod Touch is better than the Nano. It’s brilliant. All of a sudden, the iPod you’re holding in your hand is inadequate and you run to the store immediately to purchase the shuffle.

Towards the end of his article, Fleischman starts to ramble off on bits of advice that appear to be stolen out of a Marketing 101 textbook. Marketers need to develop a relationship between the consumer and the product. The consumer needs to feel that they cannot live without the product. Although true, this is nothing I haven’t heard before.


I personally don’t know exactly why I buy a product. I think it’s a little bit of everything. Sometimes, I look for a product because I saw a really great ad and it resonated with me until I found the product in the grocery store. Sometimes, I buy a product because I know it’s the only one of its kind that actually works. Then there are times where I’ll pay double for a product, just because I love the brand and don’t care how much I have to pay to get it. Whether or not the product had an effective marketing campaign, I don’t care. All I know is I need it. Whoever planted that bug in brain did their job and they did it well.