Actually, the desire and hysteria seem to happen organically, with little or no input from Apple.
an evolutionary process perhaps?
i would contend that apple's keynotes, when compared to other company's are almost religious events for many people. and are directed and choreographed to be such. jobs' illness caused cultish reaction. did jobs this intentionally instigate this behaviour? no, i presume not, but his style and personna over the last 20 odd years has created this adoration. can't imagine many windows users filling forums about gates' or ballmer's health situation. most windows user don't even know who ballmer is. most mac users know who jobs is.
Look at the number of Apple rumors-type sites compared to Microsoft rumors sites. Apple does not support or encourage these sites and has in fact shut down one of the most popular ones (ThinkSecret).
yes, i agree, but the lack of info makes people guess and talk more. so far we know nothing, absolutely nothing, about a possible tablet, yet people on this and other sites are arguing about which formats and filetypes will and will not be supported. and they get pleasure from this discussion, and this pleasure creates more desire. i see people in these forums declaring they wish they could today pre-order the - as yet unannounced & possible non-existent - tablet.
now i agree that apple's computers are good, but are they so good that people are willing to order something today, even though they don't know 'what' it is, never mind read some reviews?
Also compare Apple's secretive behavior to other companies that routinely leak information about their upcoming products, prototypes and vaporware in an attempt to create desire and hysteria. While you could theorize that Apple's secrecy is a marketing tactic, it seems far more likely that it's a response to the rampant copying of Apple products that goes on, which in and of itself is an interesting phenomenon that can't be easily explained away by marketing alone.
you may well be correct about the real reasons for their secrecy, but you'll agree that secretive behaviour is also an ingredient in creating a mystique and fascination for a brand. compare movies in production, fashion collections, etc
either way, their secrecy does not do their marketing any harm, people were intrigued by warhol, who seldom said more, than "gee, really?", the less he said the more they art critics and public were intrigued. to support your point, he delivered the goods -> interesting art work,
It's also worth taking a close look at the marketing Apple does engage in. It's actually pretty conventional. Their ads focus almost entirely on the product being sold. iPod commercials, for instance, are mostly product shots showing how cool-looking and simple the device is. iPhone ads are essentially just video demonstrations of the product in actual use.
well, i would contend that exactly this makes them pretty unconventional. most ads today show people in environments, having fun with a device, possibly flirting with the opposite sex, thus showing the device somehow has magnetic powers; apples ads are - as you correctly stated - usually stylish product shots, often with a pure white background. in itself quite unusual. maybe i am wrong, please point me towards other devices which employ identical aesthetics in their commercials
The Mac vs. PC ads are unconventional in presentation, but they still focus on the product by attempting to explain why the Mac delivers a better experience. Notably, Apple does not present lists of features as a reason to buy their products, but that's not so much "clever marketing" as it is an accurate representation of their design philosophy, which generally eschews feature lists in favor a superior real-world experience.
maybe we are confusing our vocabulary here? i would say that - for precisely these reasons - it's clever marketing strategy. experience vs feature list, accurate representation of design philosophy vs images of people in discos using the device. etc
you mention in your post above that you "liked the Mac because of the product itself, not it's branding or marketing. This is true for everyone I know that owns a Mac". i agree, and i also was using a mac before i had seen an ad, the platform was recommended to me by people working in music and video, and i am well satisfied and keep buying them.
recently, however, i have been touring and meeting people who can't afford to buy an apple device (mainly eastern europe, russia, south america). during concert set up, technicians and musicians crowd around my 2 MBPs, asking questions, asking if they may "use it for a minute", meeting local students after a lecture they want to hold the iphone, try the touch screen, etc etc. they have not been using max since the 80s, they havenever even seen a mac or iphone 'in the flesh'; but they have seen every ad for the iphone, they come onto these rumour sites to keep up with developments, and send each other links to the amusing get-a-mac ads. that is the power of marketing and branding to create desire. once they reach a level of financial stability they will buy a mac, much as after the fall of communism russians fulfilled their life-long dream to smoke "real marlboro", despite the fact that their own cigarettes were of similar quality.
i hope we can agree that apple make splendid devices, and that their advertising and communication strategies help give them an air of "specialness for many people, which helps keep people loyal to a brand known for its reliability and excellent design?
