“If you’re in marketing and you’re not in charge of the doing, you’re not going to be able to do your job.”
May 28th 2010
Steve Jobs (via Tapbits)
“Be careful of the “everyones” who say pageviews are imperfect but the best we can do. They’re the ones who are happy with the web as a market for bullshit.”
John Gruber, Pageview Pumping
“Building a story for your app also gives you something to get the media and public interested in before the product launch. If you wait until after the product launch, it’s much harder to generate buzz. Look at the example that Apple sets.”
Craig Hockenberry, principal at Iconfactory, gives some great advice on app marketing, approval, and design.
As a follow up to my previous post about messaging today, I’d like to point out Nokia N97: The Truth, a video from Mobile Inc. discussing the advertised vs. real life experience of the N97. Doctoring a photo to remove blemishes or brightening the display in your video is one thing, but outright lying about your experience is another. Sure, you might sell a few extra hundred widgets by doing so, but you’re setting up your customers for disappointment — the worst long term strategy possible.
The Desk Phone Dock from Kee Utility is an odd little product. From the makers:
No more multiple phones, bunch of cables and other accessories on your desk. Use your iPhone smarter with Desk Phone Dock.
Now, don’t get me wrong: This thing is beautiful (so much so I might consider purchasing it) but their marketing copy is a stretch. From what I can tell, the Desk Phone Dock doesn’t clone your office phone number. Instead, the website seems to suggest you replace your office line with your mobile:
Your iPhone is the main telecommunication device you need in your office or home, especially if you or your business has a special service plan from your carrier.
But wait, you say — then it’s a shell of a phone for… my phone? Except with this, you can’t bring it into the kitchen to get a soda. Lots of the features on the website are simply benefits of using your iPhone for business, like VoIP and having one place to manage contacts.
Again, don’t get me wrong: I quite like the device. Maybe it’s easier to cradle between your head and shoulder than an iPhone. Maybe it’s got a better speakerphone. Maybe it’s easier to pick up while you’re working than wrestling an iPhone out of its dock and sliding to unlock. Maybe it’s just a beautiful thing. I just think the website could be simpler and better aligned to their audience.
When you’re selling something, keep it simple and focus on your strengths. You don’t have to change the world and you don’t have to make everyone happy.
Side note: I’m going white for my next iPhone.
The Myth of the Rational Buyer: How Too Much Thinking Can Hurt Your Brand »
FastCompany discusses a book by Harvard scholar Gerald Zaltman, How Customers Think, that suggests only 5% of consumer purchasing behavior is based on rational thought:
Especially in these tough times, people want simplicity and authenticity. That’s the exact thing most great designs provide naturally, and the distinction that helps brands earn a place in consumers’ hearts.
“My feeling is that everything you do is marketing all the time. Your products are marketing. Your Web sites and your customer service are marketing. All of those things to me are what marketing is all about; it’s not a department.”
Jason Fried, interviewed on TechRepublic
“Search Engine Optimization is not a legitimate form of marketing. It should not be undertaken by people with brains or souls. If someone charges you for SEO, you have been conned.”
Derek Powazek in the best SEO rant I’ve ever seen.
Also noted:
-
Aaron Staton and Rich Sommer checking out Tumblr on the set of Mad Men.
-
Very friendly Monster Friends poster series available from Familytree. The Kracken, Yeti, Loch Ness, & Sasquatch, by Alex Pearson, ... -
This article is specifically about pixel “density”, a relatively new concern to digital designers. In the mobile environment, screen resolution has...
