Lovely example of how to take a commodity service and make it talkable/likeable
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How to really *sell* a new product
fake steve labelled this “How our NLP embedding works”. Lol!
Reported on Gadling, this is the very essence of talkable, likeable. Beds in economy. Oh yes.
As Kathryn Gregory, director of marketing for the Americas region recently said, “We like to look at what the other airlines are doing in their marketing and then… don’t do that.”
Awesome.
Thanks to @jackschofield for the heads up
Steve Jobs on Apple’s brand values
[edit] via 9t05mac
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where do the best ideas come from?
This is a great article on the origins of Pop Idol. It’s interesting enough given the TV format dynasty it’s spawned, but what really caught my eye was this line:
It was not the work of market research, he points out: “This was not the product of a strategy meeting, it was experience and instinct.”
While careful strategy and structured thinking is of course necessary, I believe that really good ideas spring forth unexpectedly – apparently from nowhere. The challenge in today’s left-brain, back-covering culture is getting support for ideas you know are absolutely right but can’t easily prove why.
This snippet of Apple’s Jonathan Ive talking on Stephen Fry’s recent series in the USA is short but revealing. Ive talks with touching sincerity about how fragile ideas are and how easy it is to snuff them out. Evidently Apple aren’t one of those companies.
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Where is my mind?
Most holiday advertising gets no more sophisticated than showing sun-soaked beaches with a cocktail in near focus.
Which is why it’s nice to see The Body Holiday. Their proposition is crystal clear and seems to tap into a genuine consumer insight.
With rumour and excitement around Apple’s newest creation hitting fever pitch, I’m reminded of this fabulous article from 2003 which recalls Steve Jobs views on the Segway scooter prototype. It offers a rare insight into the great man’s thinking and his exacting standards around product design. His criteria are instructive and wonderful:
- Is it elegant
A beautiful word, and something that sets Apple’s products apart. Even power adaptors have to be gorgeous. - Is it innovative
A much used word, but in Apple’s case it’s evidently true - Is it anthropomorphic
OMG have you ever even thought of word that when considering products? Maybe one of the reasons that pinch-to-resize, flick-to-scroll and shake-to-undo are so compelling is that they feel right. It’s human. It’s like real life.
Steve also seems to believe in launching and committing with absolute ferocity. ‘Putting it out there’ and getting a bit of impact is cautious and prudent. Your CFO will like that approach. But it’s not for Steve,
“I understand the appeal of a slow burn,” he concluded, “but personally I’m a big-bang guy.”
Finally, and this is the killer test, Apple understand the wow factor, the ability to deliver jaw dropping moments. Jobs is quite clear on this one…
“You have this incredibly innovative machine but it looks very traditional.” The last word delivered like a stab… “There are design firms out there that could come up with things we’ve never thought of,” Jobs continued, “things that would make you shit in your pants.”
Here’s to next Wednesday…
I’ve said before that it’s better to be brilliant than say you’re brilliant. Here’s a great way to showcase your coffee store by providing a beautifully shot ‘how to’ video. Much more powerful than an ad could ever be.
via boingboing
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I slate the iSlate
Rumours abound about the name for the (apparently) forthcoming Apple tablet. iSlate? iReview?
The romantic in me still thinks reclaiming Newton would be the daring move.
Shameless plug alert
I’m quite proud of these two iPhone app projects that I’ve been part of. So far they appear to be doing pretty well. I genuinely recommend them (click for iTunes links)
Lovely low-cost marketing for a hair loss product. From JWT in Hong Kong.
I wrote a piece back in May saying that people would pay for content if it was made easy.
The Guardian have just launched their iPhone app – priced at £2.39. On first use it looks very slick and well thought through.
There’ll be plenty of people looking to see how this does, but to me it it feels like a far smarter option than paywalls.
Opinion appears divided on this campaign for an anti-landmine organisation. Rip the sachet and red spills out of the leg.
I’m not usually a fan of shock tactics for charities and causes, but I think this is such an unexpected medium, and the experience so tangible, that it compels people to take notice and discuss it.
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The 10 most-read posts of 2009…
Here are the 10 most read posts on Talkable Likeable in 2009 (I’m trying to beat the Xmas rush.)
10. Strike-through cut-through – lovely poster from the ever-reliable VW
9. Hey you, get off of my cloud – why IT departments don’t like employees moving faster than they do
8. PR as fireworks – appreciating the right sequence for news announcements
7. “Please RTFM and we welcome you to teh interwebs” – LOLs beat command-and-control marketing any day of the week
6.Connecting with your face -facebook is going to be frighteningly important in 2010
5. Clinginess is the new spam – the pitfalls of over-communicating
4. If you type “Google” into Google, you break the internet – funny every time
3. It’s marketing Jim, but not as we know it – sometimes, little executional touches go a long way
2. Will people pay for content? Wrong question – however fragmented channels become, brands are what matter
1. The story behind Maybe It’s Because I’m a Londoner – how that Capital Radio ad was inspired by Oliver Twist and Christopher Walken
Rumours abound that Murdoch and Microsoft might team up to make Bing the only place where News International content can be found in search.
As a stick to wield at Google, it’s pretty much the only one Rupert has. And as they trail by miles in search share, Microsoft won’t miss an opportunity to team up and gain an edge either.
It must be tempting for Google in turn to consider exclusive deals with Murdoch’s competitors.
But what do consumers want? Imagine a world where you have to know “I can find this kind of content on Google but that on Bing, or that on Google but not on Bing”. It’d be awful. Like having to dial 118 118 for these phone numbers, but 118 247 for those phone numbers.
We want everything in one place.
I wonder whether Google would open up a PR front championing “search neutrality“? i.e. position themselves as wanting to bring you the whole web and de-position others as wanting to fence it off.
Spotted in Soho, promoting the new Star Trek DVD – get yourself a Spock haircut
