Apple

I know that suggesting marketing ideas to Apple is like telling the Beatles how to write popular songs, but the brand that borrowed its name and famous logo from the aforementioned band isn't above input from outside, whether it likes to admit it or not.

I totally agree with the conclusions of this article that Apple products are and will continue to be popular with older people. I don’t agree with the rationale for reaching this conclusion.

The author is basically saying that older people buy Apple products because the want to be ‘hip’ and this gives them an easy way of achieving this goal. Here are some of the quotes:

A friend of mine visited me from Japan and our conversation was around mobile search, since Apple’s acquisition of Siri, a company that makes voice-operated personal assistant app for the iPhone, people wonder what Apple's intent was. This move has big implications for the future of mobile search and is just a first step into the game.

My latest column in Advertising Age reaffirmed a phenomenon I've seen for a while now: the topic most marketers want to talk about is social media. Praising or deriding Apple comes in a close second.

The first video is from the Ellen DeGeneres show. It is an amusing parody of the Apple's iPhone 4 ad. I have to say I think it contains a smidgen of truth.

The next video is Apple's response.

Apple is considering splitting into three companies and selling of its computer division. Yes I make that up. But it was equally crazy if I was telling you in 1995 IBM would get out of the computer and laptop business. The Thinkpad was doing so well and they were good machines. Unthinkable? Well they did.

Those of you who are Star Trek fans would have felt right at home with me the other day. I went to check out the new Microsoft store which just opened at Fashion Valley mall here in San Diego because I wanted to do a compare/contrast to the Apple store in the same mall. My fellow fans would have felt at home in the Microsoft store not because it was a cool look at the future of culture and technology, but rather because it seemed to be the Mirror Universe.