No company in business history has played the scarcity card in media relations with the deftness of Apple. People talk of the genius of Steve Jobs in regard to product design, pushing people to achieve the seemingly impossible and developing a cult-like following from customers. Often lost in this discussion is how Jobs orchestrated Apple’s …more
“Best” is such a subjective word. One person’s “best” is another person’s “meh.” Sometimes, the word carries zero meaning as in “You’re the best.” With the New Year philosophizing out of the way, we can skip to the posts that kicked the hardest as determined by me — not the Google Analytics. 1. Tim …more
Apple’s recent product introductions generated the expected media hoopla. I think the only publication that did not write about Apple’s announcement was “Miniature Donkey Talk Magazine” (yes, it exists). Apple under Steve Jobs essentially invented the show-biz event for introducing tech products. They know how to do this better than any company on the planet. …more
Hey, if Bono can assemble some of his favorites into “U2’s Greatest Hits,” why can’t I do the same with blog posts? Exactly. Tapping posts published between 2012 and 2014, here’s the latest version of Ishmael’s Greatest Hits (minus the tinted shades and tattoos). The Worst Customer Service Narrative in the History of Branding United …more
Apple plays the communications game with the ferocity of the guy at the poker table with all the chips. It has a way of exerting its will on others, including journalists. Combining an unconventional media relations strategy and owned media, the company’s announcement of a fund for advanced manufacturing dominated the media at the end of …more
Hyperbole wrecks a news release. Words like “breakthrough” and “revolutionary” in a new release essentially say to the journalist, “Stop reading. This announcement is nothing more than corporate drivel with yet another claim of changing the world.” Yet, an exception occurred ten years ago when Apple distributed the news release with the Spartan headline, “Apple …more
