An interesting article by Mahesh Murthy of Pinstorm in WSJ
Just bumped into this article by Mahesh Murthy (through his twitter handle @maheshmurthy).
While the article highlights the importance of what I crudely call as ‘online PR’ with a mix of ‘online marketing’, I would tend to believe that examples like the iPad, Google Wave etc, is possible only for brands which have already been established overa period of time. Today, when these brands do a hush-hush selective release of information to create the curiosity value (like Google Wave), the world picks it up in no time, with a lot of print and air-time donated to the cause of these launches. Take the case of the iPhone. There were enough instances of images showing people waiting outside the Apple stores etc. Same was the case with Google Wave. There were so many ‘polished beggars’ (including yours truly) who shamelessly self pimped to get an invite. I am yet to see an instance of a ‘new brand’ getting such fantastic written word about them (online or offline).
However, these brands also have a small problem that they need to live with. Take the case of Google Wave. So much written about, over-hyped and fell flat on its face like a damp squib. Online is a space where once the arrow is fired, it multiplies itself and spirals out of control. One must also be really sure of how much can we let the brand spiral out of control to ensure that the results are palatable!
Aside note: Google probably saw through this problem and didn’t create much buzz about Google BUZZ. Result? Not much buzz and not much fizz either.
I believe in all this that finding the right balance and ensuring a bit of control to steer the brand / offering / product towards the desired goal is of paramount importance.
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No doubt brands like Apple is picked by every one and whatever they get to the market will be a great hit.
Having said that, it is difficult to guarantee a success for every launch of these iconic brands too unless there is an intrinsic value associated with it. I believe that Wave’s failure was because of such a problem. Despite having had a great online promo going, the product didn’t live up to all that hype and hoopla.