It’s big product time again and once again, it’s another complete flop… but is it? Big companies are spending billions of pounds on an amazing marketing campaign which works. The iPhone is today’s example but other companies, including Sony do the same technique with every new model of the Playstation.

If you want to market a product or service, and have the budget, these big corps have got it sussed. Word of mouth coupled with overexposure leads the general public into a frenzy but there’s one more element we miss, the real clincher. They knew it worked, they knew people would be queuing from 1am outside stores to get their hands on one, they knew they need a system which is going to process thousands of credit checks an hour, and they knew they needed the stock available for the desperate public.

According to a Carphone warehouse representative, each store received on average 40 iPhones. The central Watford branch had 10 of the 16GB models and 30 of the 8GB models.  With £50 difference between the two (on lower contracts) it’s a no brainer, most people will aim for the better model with the (false) belief that it’s twice as good. However with limited stock, impatient individuals are now buying a substandard product and still left wanting. The stage is now already set for their next release.

Is there more to this than simply under supply? So far the general public are:

1. Under the belief that even Apple couldn’t anticipate how popular the new iPhone, making it even more desirable.
2. Determined to get one before anyone else throwing rational thought behind them. Humans are competitive and will fight for something for the sake of winning regardless of whether or not they actually need it.
3. Phoning and texting friends about how good the iPhone is. Thinking about blogs to write when they get home providing more free word of mouth advertising for the company.

Next problem, O2’s credit check system simply could not process the number of checks required and basically crashed, at least that’s the official report. According to one news site, the first iPhone sold in a UK store was at 10:15am in York. So before 10:15, not a single application was processed? Yet we are told they crashed through processing too many? They hadn’t processed a single application in hours.

In Oxford Street, people were queuing outside the o2 store from 1am and didn’t leave until 10. With more waiting, buyers are left with more determination to not waste their time and will walk away with the iphone if it kills them!

It seems like under-demand, underestimation, lack of planning and ignorance but it happens time and time again. It’s not that they don’t learn, it’s a fantastic piece of marketing. I’ve not even seen the iPhone properly so far and yet still I want one… I want one more than I’ve ever wanted any phone in the history of mobile communications.

They have me, and millions of others right where they want us. They now know the only part left for this sale is to hold up a phone for us to snatch away. No sales talk, no Q&A session, just a nice easy sell.

Take a small peice of plastic and hold it near a child. He will eventually pay attention and try to take it through shear curiosity, but snatch it away before he has a chance, make him wait for it and he’ll be hypnotised, repeat a few times and he’ll want it more than ever… and it’s only a peice of plastic. Minutes later he’s got it and disappointed, so do the same with plastic of a different colour, extra memory, slightly better camera… Now that’s true power!

This technique will probably not work for lesser brands and smaller businesses, but some elements of this we can take and use in our business lives. The most important one being not to stay still, keep improving yourself, keep making your business better and letting people know about it so they understand more about the message you are working hard to put accross. The internet is a great way to do this, more and more people are turning to the internet for news, updates and information and it’s up to you to make sure they get it. If your website is stagnant and needs updating, do it. Zako media provides an easy to use website editing suite at a very competitive price which is well worth a look.