Marketing Things #3: Apple, Meta, and MasterClass šØāš«
Marketing Things Editorās Note
Google and Facebook are the talk of the week: Facebook Group is becoming Meta, Google is under fire for antitrust cases (yet again).
Thatās why this week Iāve decided to focus on another tech company that seems to be doing slightly better than the others when it comes to huge scandals: Apple. Instead of looking at their entire marketing strategy Iāve looked at two specific topics: how Apple lost its edge when it comes to framing, and the way of āstagingā Apple stores.
Because life is not all about Apple the other topics of this weekās Marketing Things are:
How Youtube selects the videos recommended to you
Some classification of offensive words by the British public
MasterClass, where it comes from and where itās headed.
Enjoy š
Bryan
P.S: If you enjoy this post please share it with your friends or subscribe. Since this is quite new for me Iām super keen to hear your feedback so please reply to this post if you have any.
Articles
What Apple can learn from Microsoft when it comes to keynotes
Apple used to be the king when it explained to people how a product would change their lives: iPod, a thousand songs in your pocket. For the past few keynotes Apple has instead focused on presenting a laundry list of incremental innovations. Here, the writer makes a comparison of how Microsoft does product launch, and the lessons Apple can learn from it. READ on Bettermarketing
A dissection of the Youtube Recommendation engine
One of the reasons why weāre hooked to social platforms (TikTok and reddit being my personal favourites) is partly thanks to the way they push content to us. Some of them do that better than others like TikTok and Youtube. They are rewarded by users spending more time on site, and therefore have the opportunity to show them more ads, which means more $$$. Because these recommendation engines are black boxes they are often heavily criticised. In this article, Youtube adopted a proactive approach by explaining, partly, why they choose to feature certain videos. READ on Youtube blog
Audience attitudes towards offensive words in the UK
A bit of light reading this week. Some (crazy) marketers sometimes think itās a good idea to use offensive words, I disagree. While they do attract attention by shocking people they also come with a heavy cost. Using the wrong words could really negatively impact your brand image if theyāre considered too offensive. This paper by the UK media regulator analysed the publicās reaction to a long list of swear words. READ on Ofcom
The Apple Store as a carefully managed drama
Surprisingly, this article about Apple is written by a PhD in the history of science. It explains why the Apple store is more like a drama than a tech temple. People come to the Apple Store for the āexperienceā, not for the products. The only way Apple could build such a nice experience is through extremely tight controls around recruiting, employee behaviour in-store, and architecture. This article details it all. READ on Logic
MasterClass, the brand built on peopleās impeccable brands
By now weāve probably all seen some MasterClass trailers across the web, featuring celebs like Gordon Ramsay or Hans Zimmer. MasterClass has partly reinvented the MOOC model relying not on the course content (no one will become Gordon Ramsay with a few hours of video content) but on the social capital of top creators. This article analyses what makes MasterClass MasterClass. And for those looking for a more practical analysis of their marketing strategy you can find one here. READ on The New Yorker
Tweet of the Week
Personally this week Iāve heard too much about the Metaverse, and I still struggle to understand what it is. I think this is the most straightforward explanation Iāve read.
Number
1 Billion - The number of meatballs IKEA sells per year globally, one of the greatest trick to keep people longer in the store - source