“There is one clear winner in the Bei-ca-ching advertising and branding sweepstakes,” John Scott G writes for Advertising Industry Newswire.
Apple.
Scott G writes, “Yes, I know they don’t appear to be on any of the lists of official partners, sponsors or suppliers. Yes, I know they don’t seem to be purchasing any ads. But what is the one thing viewers keep seeing on such athletes as super swimmer Michael Phelps? The distinctive white ear buds of Apple’s iPod.”
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve seen Apple iPhone ads during Olympic coverage. Why they don’t air “Buy a Mac, Get a Free iPod” ads targeted to students and their parents is a vexing mystery, albeit predictable. For all of their marketing prowess, sometimes Apple can be maddeningly stupid.
Scott G continues, “This may be the finest example of product placement in world history. And it may have cost Apple absolutely nothing,” Scott G writes. “How do we know those ear buds are attached to an Apple product, I hear someone ask. Couldn’t they actually hook up to a Zune?”
MacDailyNews Take: Poor SanDisk. They are the clear-but-distant number two to Apple’s iPod juggernaut and have 3 times the market share of the woefully anemic Zune failure, yet they almost never get mentioned.
Scott G continues, “Couldn’t they actually hook up to a Zune? Well, no. First of all, Michael Phelps is a winner.”
“Second, and most important, it doesn’t matter if they’re hooked up to an Apple product, a Zune, or nothing at all (sorry to repeat myself). The point is that Apple owns the white cord and buds so when you see them, you think ‘Apple.’ I do believe they call that part of the branding thing,” Scott G writes. “It takes big brains but it doesn’t necessarily take a big budget.”
More in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “dslarsen” for the heads up.]
Gotta love it: “Couldn’t they actually hook up to a Zune? Well, no. First of all, Michael Phelps is a winner.”
Just pull the plug already, Microsoft. They would if they were smart. Of course, if they were smart, there wouldn’t be a Zune to discontinue in the first place.
It’s not just Michael Phelps, of course. Lance Armstrong sported iPod earbuds routinely during daily warmups throughout the nearly month-long Tour de France for many of his record seven wins. Many sports figures use iPods, not only for music, but to watch video of their respective sports, relax with a TV show or movie while traveling, etc.
Ubiquity offers excellent opportunities for free promotion.
Something that I really don’t understand about Apple is that they are so slooooow when it comes to promote the mac, the iphone and anything they make in major sport events worldwide. Apple could take advantage and create an Olympic iPhone or iPod to support the USA Team, could create a ipod or iphone with the flag of every major country participating at the Olympic Games, could sponsor the X-Games (Disney Property), could create a MLB ipod or iphone with the logo of every team and load it with pictures and stats, but instead they buy two advertising spots at NBC every night, I have seen those Ads and let me tell you, tooo bored for this kind of events. The olympic are the hottest event every 4 years and Apple missed it. Apple is creative in one thing and sloooow thinker in other
Colbert was awesome last night. And when did he get a 3G iPhone? Earlier in the week, when he was checking for his Democratic Convention mail message (not), he had a 1st Gen iPhone……..
Does Liukin know that it costs something like $2 a minute to use an iPhone in China, thru AT&T;’s plan? I wonder if she unlocked it, and is using a Chinese SIM on China Mobile? It’d be cheaper.
who is watching the olympics???
who obsesses on these athletes and what they are wearing or have hanging off them?
who buys something because some swimmer owns it?
who does not already know about an ipod?
@Anonymouse
I don’t think she cares about that after the win. I’m sure she’ll be able to afford it when the bill comes.
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“who does not already know about an ipod?”
It’s not just him. I watched footage of the American womens gynastics team walking to the gym, sevral of them were sporting the iconic white earbuds, too.
In fact they’re all over the place.
Yes, it IS an iPod. There have been many stories on this. (I do love John Scott G’s story though)
Here’s one that even list what’s on his iPod!
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=2142
Being a former swimmer (somewhat close to the Olympic Trials cut-off times), I can only say that Michael Phelps is a freak of nature – he was born to be an Olympic gold medalist.
Cubert,
“he was born to be an Olympic gold medalist.”
Or, an amphibian.
Yeah, but can Phelps stop enemy warships with a loud honking noise?
Nick Fury,
“Yeah, but can Phelps stop enemy warships with a loud honking noise?”
Have you seen what that animal eats in one day?
The tsunami from one of his dumps could capsize the 7th fleet!
This just in. Hillary Clinton’s supporters are now lobbying to get her to replace Nastia Liukin as the women’s gymnastics individual all-around winner.
Vote for me, friends.
White earbuds come only from Apple? *rolls eyes*
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