Apple's Got It Going On

It almost feels like cheating to write something yet again about Apple doing some smart marketing.

But here is a story about how Brand Mojo makes it into the lives of everyday people and gets a brand to be the topic of dinner time conversation.

Recently my husband's iPod was stolen. While he was upset, he figured that he really didn't need it and could easily get by without it. After all, there are so many other ways for him to listen to his playlist.

But after 3 weeks of trying to 'get by' he realized that it really wasn't that easy. He'd grown accustomed to having instant access to his personal playlist no matter where he was...in the car, on the train, working out, whatever.  

Ever the pragmatist, he decided to hunt down one of the old iPods we have laying around the house, discarded by the kids because it wasn't the newest model. (There's a whole lot of innovation mojo driving that constant 'trading up' dynamic, but that is a topic for another time!) He figured he could just fire it up, load his music and get back to business. And he did. Only, there was a glitch with the sound that was driving him nuts. So he took it to the local Apple store to see if it could be fixed.

And, yes you guessed it...he left the store with a new iPod that Apple gave him absolutely FREE.

But it is the back story that counts here. 

Once my husband was in the store, the Geniuses went to work. They figured out that yes, the old iPod could be fixed. They also figured out that the old iPod was past its warranty date. So that rather than fix an old machine at cost to us, they offered a new and improved model at a 10% price break. And while my husband was mulling over his options, they looked up our account online and determined that we were a family of diehard Apple devotees, having bought at least 4 laptops and 6 iPods over the last couple of years. And they came back and offered him a totally new iPod at absolutely no cost.

Apple is not dumb. Once they realized that we were one of them...we belonged to their community... they gave us yet another way to access their brand and keep us close. Conventional wisdom would say they lost a sale! But Brand Mojo wisdom knows they gained so much more than a few bucks in our evangelism.

And guess what my husband and I discussed on our dinner date last night? 

Apple.