It’s
been three weeks since the iPhone was released in the biggest media
blitz for a single product ever. Let’s take a look back and a look
forward at this historic media event. Historic even for Apple. First a
look back....
• The actual tally of iPhone media stories is hard to fully gauge,
but it sucked up much of the media landscape for the month surrounding
the launch. As lines formed to buy the product, TV news jumped on the
story. When reporters include other media as part of a story, you know
the hype has gone into the stratosphere.
• A Google News search of iPhone headlines during launch week showed
17,126 news stories on iPhone (aggregated from Google’s 4500 media
sources).
• AppleInvestorNews.com’s database of stories with iPhone in the
headline almost tripled for launch week (actually 2.8 times) from the
week before.
• Most reviews from influential media agreed the iPhone is a
breakthrough product that sets a new standard for smartphones. Most
said it is elegant to use, hold and look at. Most don’t like AT&T’s
slow EDGE network, and some don’t like the non-user replaceable
battery. Some quibble about the keyboard, mail program and AT&T
call reception too. But my assessment is that most reviews have just
about, well almost, equaled the hype. This is extraordinary. Apple can
enchant the press, but they can’t really control them. If the product
didn’t shine, the reviews would have said so.
• The iPhone blanketed network TV on launch week with coverage on
every network morning show and evening newscast. Jay Leno joked about
it and David Letterman's Friday Top 10 List was “Top Ten Things
Overheard In Line To Buy The iPhone.”
• According to the iPhone Buzz Index at Blackfriars' Marketing, iPhone media coverage peaked at 22,000 stories on July 8.
Now that the blitz is behind us, let’s look forward. Because in some
ways, media coverage over the next month can be more telling than that
of the launch itself, and may have more of an impact on the long term,
sustained success of this product.
Will there be a media backlash? Will the follow-through product
reviews be as glowing as the initial ones? Will there be a correction
in AAPL’s lofty stock price after earnings on July 25? And what are the
first iPhone owners, who’ve now lived with their product for weeks,
telling their friends? Some initial observations:
• It’s interesting that Friday morning’s (July 20) Google News “last
day” tally of stories with the word “iPhone” is at 17,600, not too far
from Blackfriars' reported peak of 22,000. That’s a full three weeks
after launch.
• The content of media coverage speaks to a highly successful
launch, with initial sales estimates, and therefore future projections,
beyond even Apple’s initial sales goals.
• The media historically likes the chance to knock something down
after raising it on a pedestal, but the media landscape has been mostly
devoid of negative stories. Oh sure, there have been a few articles on
the iPhone’s expensive and cumbersome battery replacement scenario and
a few stray stories on how it could be virus-prone. But largely the
general media and financial media are discussing rising sales
projections and the next iPhone models. Today analyst Gene Munster of
Piper Jaffray (who was the first analyst to really understand what was
going on at Apple, even before iPod became a cultural phenomenon) upped
his price target to $205 and projected a staggering 45 million iPhones
could be sold in 2009.
Apple took a PR risk orchestrating such an enormous media frenzy.
The iPhone marketing machine was riding the good will of the iPod’s
cultural impact. If the product was not as well received as it has
been, Apple might have squandered much of its golden image. The risk
paid off.
Apple is in rare air right now, even for Apple.
