“After whipping people into a frenzy a couple of months ago for his $599 iPhone, [Apple CEO Steve Jobs] now says he’s slashing the price by a third. The announcement Wednesday instantly drew scorn from Apple enthusiasts who’d rushed out to purchase the high-priced gizmo and now wonder whether they got played for chumps,” David Lazarus writes for The Los Angeles Times.
Lazarus writes, “It also ensured yet more free press for a company that excels at the art of buzz and at manipulating both consumers and the media — a sophisticated practice that’s increasingly being employed by businesses and political players. ‘Apple and Jobs are the masters,’ said Ramez Toubassy, president of Brand Sense Partners, a Century City brand-consulting firm that counts Britney Spears and MGM among its clients. ‘All consumer-goods companies can take a page from their book.’
“As Apple’s buzz machine kicked into high gear Thursday, the company said it would offer $100 in store credit to angry iPhone owners like Toubassy, thus guaranteeing still more publicity and the prospect of even more profit,” Lazarus writes. “Such is the power of buzz and the power of a hot brand.”
Full article here.
