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iPhone 5 – Learn marketing from today's most popular landing page

22 points by JoshLedgard 14y ago

thomasjoulin 14y ago
Complete bullshit. If Apple had put a shady HTML form it would have been the same. People in the east cost put their alarm clock at 3am, I don't think the design of the page made them change their decision
- ajanuary 14y ago
  There's a reason they started putting their alarm clocks on; they were pulled in with marketing like this.
  - cheald 14y ago
    I think they were more pulled in by brand cachet than they were by this marketing specifically.
    - SpikeDad 14y ago
      I think they were more pulled in my wanting the best phone out there as early as possible.
      - cheald 14y ago
        How can you make that statement with a straight face without realizing that you're purchasing pure marketing at this point? Nobody's used it, reviewed it, torn it down, or broken it in yet. You're stating that it's "the best phone out there" purely on the value of the brand. (That's not to say that it won't be, but I hope to point out that saying "it's the best phone out there" is ridiculous when there is literally no way to know that except for the marketing that has been done around it.)
- JoshLedgard 14y ago
  I don't buy that. I agree it doesn't have to be that good, but you still have to execute on basics... which is what the post is trying to highlight.
Tichy 14y ago
Wouldn't they have sold out no matter what? I mean all they have to do is produce less devices than they have orders. It's not as if you can buy one today, or can you? So wait one day, get 10 million orders or whatever, call Foxconn and order 9.9 million devices. Bingo, another headline for Apple.
- napierzaza 14y ago
  Just like many things on sites like HN and Reddit the title is link bait. That title doesn't make everyone click on the link. Nobody on earth was just browsing the Apple website, unaware of the iPhone 5 announcement, and was then convinced by this webpage that they should buy the iPhone5. There was a talk given that was covered everywhere.
- arrrg 14y ago
  Apple being sold out is not great, it's a failure of their supply chain. If Apple could, they would never be sold out (but they also would want to never have any stock). They want to make money after all. They certainly do not need to appease investors by lying about the demand they are getting. (Though I maybe should add that the iPhone being initially sold out might be an inevitable failure of the supply chain. It’s not like you can switch production on just like that and churn out new phones at full speed. There is some ramp-up. Add to that some pent-up demand, and iPhones being sold out quickly might be inevitable – though that does at least indicate that the new phone likely is no dud, beyond that there isn’t much information in that.)
  - dfxm12 14y ago
    More headlines = more marketing = more iPhones sold. Being (temporarily) sold out just adds to the mystique of any device. Remember, people want what they can't have. Also think of the herd mentality - if millions of people are buying this, it must be good! I don't think it is ever Apple's strategy to sell out, but there are reasons that this is good (as well as bad, like you say).
    - arrrg 14y ago
monkeyfacebag 14y ago
I'm not a marketing guy, so I have no idea what I'm talking about here, but shouldn't a call to action include an action? Something like (again, not a marketing guy): get yours today! If the iPhone 5 banner is considered a call to action by marketing people, the term doesn't seem that useful.
francov88 14y ago
Great post and detailed analysis Josh. Thomas - While the design/layout/marketing elements may not have had an effect on the loyal zealots setting their alarm clocks early, it certain did help convince those who were on the fence about the upgrade 9not saying it's right - I'm an Android/Linux user myself and will never buy into the heard mentality - but it keep making Apple money. The key lesson here is what elements works well and how you can reapply them to other industries and products.
- JoshLedgard 14y ago
  Thanks for understanding the point of the post is to educate folks on how they could learn from best practices. They still had to execute on their marketing. If you compare their landing pages to the Samsung, Microsoft, or Nokia ones... it's no comparison.
  - jeffehobbs 14y ago
    This was a great examination. Thanks for this.
tbull007 14y ago
Nope - this page could have been a MySpace or GeoCities page and they'd still have sold out.
- indiecore 14y ago
  http://wonder-tonic.com/geocitiesizer/content.php?theme=2&music=9&url=www.apple.com/iphone/ http://wonder-tonic.com/geocitiesizer/content.php?theme=2&#3... I dunno...
  - JoshLedgard 14y ago
    That's awesome. I'm going to have to use that tool more often. :)
glhaynes 14y ago
Amazing how a couple of words in a headline can affect the discussion on the article. Read it as "Good analysis of Apple's iPhone 5 website marketing." Yes, they would have still sold out on day one if they'd had a page with just a "Buy Now" button, an "Under Construction" gif, and a "Netscape Now!" badge, but these marketing pages will be up for a year or so.
- jack-r-abbit 14y ago
  If there was ever a case for the Mods editing a post title it is this. The linked to article makes no claims about this page being the reason it sold out in an hour. But people are less likely to click on a link titled "iPhone 5 – Learn marketing from todays most popular landing page".
- JoshLedgard 14y ago
  Everyone tests different titles. It's part of marketing. I'll freely admit to: 1. Writing a best practices post on a timely subject to grab more attention. "How to create a good landing page" wouldn't do nearly as well. 2. Testing headlines to see what drives the most clicks. Although this one was my first try on Hacker News. I'll bet over the next 6 months Apple changes the headlines on their landing pages as well.
  - glhaynes 14y ago
    I wasn't clear: I'm not bothered by the headline, just by the comments being entirely dominated by discussion about it. Not that I'm helping. :) Thanks for the article!
  - jack-r-abbit 14y ago
    Maybe just my opinion, but I don't think HN submissions should be used to test which headlines get more clicks. (Wouldn't that pretty much fall into the "Link Bait" bucket?) The HN Guidelines[1] has some pretty clear, simple text on submission titles. It mostly boils down to "use the original title... unless a few of the mentioned cases exist". [1] http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
andreyon 14y ago
You guys commenting seem to hate or be frustrated about online marketing.
tjoff 14y ago
"Visually the link is below, but the entire section and image is a link." The only thing that will accomplish is inadvertent clicks. Are you going to sell something as expensive as an iPhone because of an inadvertent click? I get quite annoyed if I click somewhere to gain focus or something and is taken to another page because of it. I can't imagine it doing any good and cherry picking it as good design seems quite convoluted.
- JoshLedgard 14y ago
  Mom and pop don't like hunting for links. Watch normal people browse the web. They try to click on anything they think will give them more information about what they want.
  - tjoff 14y ago
    Yeah I watch them all the time. Nothing breaks their trust as much as an action they never even thought they initiated -> they barely dare to touch anything.

22 points by JoshLedgard 14y ago

Complete bullshit. If Apple had put a shady HTML form it would have been the same. People in the east cost put their alarm clock at 3am, I don't think the design of the page made them change their decision

ajanuary 14y ago
There's a reason they started putting their alarm clocks on; they were pulled in with marketing like this.
- cheald 14y ago
  I think they were more pulled in by brand cachet than they were by this marketing specifically.
  - SpikeDad 14y ago
    I think they were more pulled in my wanting the best phone out there as early as possible.
    - cheald 14y ago
      How can you make that statement with a straight face without realizing that you're purchasing pure marketing at this point? Nobody's used it, reviewed it, torn it down, or broken it in yet. You're stating that it's "the best phone out there" purely on the value of the brand. (That's not to say that it won't be, but I hope to point out that saying "it's the best phone out there" is ridiculous when there is literally no way to know that except for the marketing that has been done around it.)
JoshLedgard 14y ago
I don't buy that. I agree it doesn't have to be that good, but you still have to execute on basics... which is what the post is trying to highlight.

Tichy 14y ago

Wouldn't they have sold out no matter what? I mean all they have to do is produce less devices than they have orders. It's not as if you can buy one today, or can you? So wait one day, get 10 million orders or whatever, call Foxconn and order 9.9 million devices. Bingo, another headline for Apple.

napierzaza 14y ago
Just like many things on sites like HN and Reddit the title is link bait. That title doesn't make everyone click on the link. Nobody on earth was just browsing the Apple website, unaware of the iPhone 5 announcement, and was then convinced by this webpage that they should buy the iPhone5. There was a talk given that was covered everywhere.
arrrg 14y ago
Apple being sold out is not great, it's a failure of their supply chain. If Apple could, they would never be sold out (but they also would want to never have any stock). They want to make money after all. They certainly do not need to appease investors by lying about the demand they are getting. (Though I maybe should add that the iPhone being initially sold out might be an inevitable failure of the supply chain. It’s not like you can switch production on just like that and churn out new phones at full speed. There is some ramp-up. Add to that some pent-up demand, and iPhones being sold out quickly might be inevitable – though that does at least indicate that the new phone likely is no dud, beyond that there isn’t much information in that.)
- dfxm12 14y ago
  More headlines = more marketing = more iPhones sold. Being (temporarily) sold out just adds to the mystique of any device. Remember, people want what they can't have. Also think of the herd mentality - if millions of people are buying this, it must be good! I don't think it is ever Apple's strategy to sell out, but there are reasons that this is good (as well as bad, like you say).
  - arrrg 14y ago

monkeyfacebag 14y ago

I'm not a marketing guy, so I have no idea what I'm talking about here, but shouldn't a call to action include an action? Something like (again, not a marketing guy): get yours today! If the iPhone 5 banner is considered a call to action by marketing people, the term doesn't seem that useful.

francov88 14y ago

Great post and detailed analysis Josh. Thomas - While the design/layout/marketing elements may not have had an effect on the loyal zealots setting their alarm clocks early, it certain did help convince those who were on the fence about the upgrade 9not saying it's right - I'm an Android/Linux user myself and will never buy into the heard mentality - but it keep making Apple money. The key lesson here is what elements works well and how you can reapply them to other industries and products.

JoshLedgard 14y ago
Thanks for understanding the point of the post is to educate folks on how they could learn from best practices. They still had to execute on their marketing. If you compare their landing pages to the Samsung, Microsoft, or Nokia ones... it's no comparison.
- jeffehobbs 14y ago
  This was a great examination. Thanks for this.

tbull007 14y ago

Nope - this page could have been a MySpace or GeoCities page and they'd still have sold out.

indiecore 14y ago
http://wonder-tonic.com/geocitiesizer/content.php?theme=2&music=9&url=www.apple.com/iphone/ http://wonder-tonic.com/geocitiesizer/content.php?theme=2&#3... I dunno...
- JoshLedgard 14y ago
  That's awesome. I'm going to have to use that tool more often. :)

glhaynes 14y ago

Amazing how a couple of words in a headline can affect the discussion on the article. Read it as "Good analysis of Apple's iPhone 5 website marketing." Yes, they would have still sold out on day one if they'd had a page with just a "Buy Now" button, an "Under Construction" gif, and a "Netscape Now!" badge, but these marketing pages will be up for a year or so.

jack-r-abbit 14y ago
If there was ever a case for the Mods editing a post title it is this. The linked to article makes no claims about this page being the reason it sold out in an hour. But people are less likely to click on a link titled "iPhone 5 – Learn marketing from todays most popular landing page".
JoshLedgard 14y ago
Everyone tests different titles. It's part of marketing. I'll freely admit to: 1. Writing a best practices post on a timely subject to grab more attention. "How to create a good landing page" wouldn't do nearly as well. 2. Testing headlines to see what drives the most clicks. Although this one was my first try on Hacker News. I'll bet over the next 6 months Apple changes the headlines on their landing pages as well.
- glhaynes 14y ago
  I wasn't clear: I'm not bothered by the headline, just by the comments being entirely dominated by discussion about it. Not that I'm helping. :) Thanks for the article!
- jack-r-abbit 14y ago
  Maybe just my opinion, but I don't think HN submissions should be used to test which headlines get more clicks. (Wouldn't that pretty much fall into the "Link Bait" bucket?) The HN Guidelines[1] has some pretty clear, simple text on submission titles. It mostly boils down to "use the original title... unless a few of the mentioned cases exist". [1] http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

andreyon 14y ago

You guys commenting seem to hate or be frustrated about online marketing.

tjoff 14y ago

"Visually the link is below, but the entire section and image is a link." The only thing that will accomplish is inadvertent clicks. Are you going to sell something as expensive as an iPhone because of an inadvertent click? I get quite annoyed if I click somewhere to gain focus or something and is taken to another page because of it. I can't imagine it doing any good and cherry picking it as good design seems quite convoluted.

JoshLedgard 14y ago
Mom and pop don't like hunting for links. Watch normal people browse the web. They try to click on anything they think will give them more information about what they want.
- tjoff 14y ago
  Yeah I watch them all the time. Nothing breaks their trust as much as an action they never even thought they initiated -> they barely dare to touch anything.