After Barack Obama's keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, Barack became something of a big deal. He has Become the embodiment of "audacity and hope" and has become a political rock star. He has since declared his intention to run for President and is currently in the midst of his campaign.
Apple computer has also had a very similar astronomical rise over the same course of time with their iphone, ipod, imacs, and a whole bunch of other things. Steve Jobs is the "cool" CEO with the "cool ideas" and is innovating the way technology and the future.The problem with both Barack's and Apple's rise to the top however, is that a large percentage of both of their popularity is derived from the college aged generation. And in the case of both Barack and Apple; are they really at the top? Hilary is ahead and the polls and Microsoft sells 19 computers to every one that Apple sells.
If you were to walk through a dorm room, or college library and were to look around to see what type of laptops the students are using, you will most likely see the white or black Apple Macs being used by at least half if not more of the students. Apple has a 5.6% market share of laptop computers. But, you would never know this if you only looked at college aged students.
This is the same phenomenon that Barack Obama is a part of. Although he may register with many outside of the college crowd, his popularity is overrepresented by those in the college crowd. He has the most Facebook friends. His books are decorations for many college aged kids. If Facebook friends led to electoral victories, then surely Barack is going to win. But reality is reality and the college crowd's perception of Barack's popularity does not necessarily extend to the general publics' perception. Much like Apple laptops.
What is encouraging if you're a Barack Obama supporter is that things that are flashy and cool, like the iphone or Obama, are able to draw huge crowds. People want to see what everybody else is talking about. You have a great platform, and if the product is as advertised it will be well received. Whether it is the best choice or not, it sure gets a lot of attention. If Barack is to do well, he has to be more ipod and less iphone. In the case of the ipod this means actually be the best solution for music playback, or in Barack's case, the best presidential candidate . Hopefully Barack is not relegated an iphone, a cool accessory that has a lot of flashy features that falls up short of its hype and is the 6th generation ipod.
-y
1 comment:
Wondering if your opinion has changed since July. Creating hype is a still in its infant stage of full marketing understanding, but I think Obama has gotten it down. To receive the endorsement of the Kennedy in line of his Vietnam to Iraq comparison of youth drawn political surge in voting is quite something, but after notching in Maine this weekend I think we can get a better feel for his other features. I believe it was Keith Ferrazzi who said this, that each man is his own brand and the image he portrays is equally if not more important than the qualities within. We have the former, the latter is often a life long course to gauge.
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