What a Long Strange Trip It's Been
|
Call me crazy (some Microsoft Watch readers surely will), but I really like the new Zune Journey Web site. |
Music is all about marketing. Apple has done plenty for the iPod—and now iPhone—while most other music stores and media player manufacturers sat idly by. My contention has long been that the iPod's success is about good marketing. For the longest time, the only portable media player commercials on TV were for the iPod. Is it any wonder that the iPod appeared to be the only choice for consumers shopping for a music player? The device is iconic now, but that wasn't always the case.
Not much has changed since iPods reached iconic status. Other than music-capable cell phones, the iPod still is the only media player widely advertised on TV. Will Microsoft change that? I sure hope so, because the Zune will never gain anything against the iPod without lots of marketing cover. The Zune Journeys Web site and this wicked Zune commercial really appeal.
I'm a child of the '70s, not the '60s, but the psychedelic approach to the Web site and commercial are attention-grabbing—and culturally topical. 'Sixties styles in clothing and hair (whoa, long sideburns) are in vogue again. What's old is new again.
Microsoft has gotten some IBM-like stodginess and pudginess in its midlife years, but at least one division, Entertainment & Devices, has got some fresh perspective and marketing approaches.
For anyone who didn't get it, the headline of this post is a Grateful Dead lyric.
Related Posts:
- Zune Gets More Social, Microsoft Watch, Oct. 3, 2007
- MTV Gets Real, Microsoft Gets Punk'd, Microsoft Watch, Aug. 22, 2007
- Is That 1 Million Zunes Shipped or Sold?, Microsoft Watch, May 29, 2007
- McCartney: Zune Scores, iTunes Misses?, Microsoft Watch, May 22, 2007
- Zune: It's Not a Fire Sale, Yet, Microsoft Watch, April 30, 2007
- What Apple DRM-Free Means to Microsoft, Microsoft Watch, April 2, 2007
- Jobs Calls for DRM Freedom, Microsoft Watch, Feb. 6, 2007
- Allchin's Windows Media Device Lament, Microsoft Watch, Jan. 21, 2007
- Microsoft's Connected Lifestyle, Microsoft Watch, Jan. 7, 2007
- Whoa, Zune Is Social, Microsoft Watch, Jan. 1, 2007
- Welcome to My Social, Microsoft Watch, Dec. 25, 2006
- Zune Chips Away at iPod, Microsoft Watch, Dec. 18, 2006
- Microsoft's Music Madness, Microsoft Watch, Nov. 27, 2006
- Zune Goes to War, Microsoft Watch, Nov. 14, 2006
Comments (4)
Joe, you are starting to support Vista, you are starting to bash Apple and you like Zune's website...Are you feeling ok lately?
Posted by evan | November 2, 2007 3:28 PM
Joe, you are starting to support Vista, you are starting to bash Apple and you like Zune's website... Is your bank account ok lately?
Posted by HarimaKenji | November 2, 2007 5:48 PM
Evan and HarimaKenji wrote: "Joe, you are starting to support Vista, you are starting to bash Apple and you like Zune's website."
No real change, guys. I'm not pro or anti anything. Vista has had its shake out and Apple didn't give Leopard enough shakedown before release. As for Zune, I've always liked it. Is iPod better? Sure, but that doesn't make Zune bad.
Joe
Posted by Joe | November 3, 2007 1:46 AM
I look forward to reading hands-on reviews of Zune 2.0, and it's related web sites.
In the long term:
"For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'."
-Bob Dylan
After all, the Sony Walkman didn't dominate forever.
Posted by TomT | November 5, 2007 11:22 AM