Which came first, the iPod or the marketing?

As a big fan of Apple, I’m yet again impressed with their marketing savvy. Steve Jobs’ has managed to keep his company ahead of the ever-intensive technology curve, and the latest offering from the company that brought us the Apple/PC commercials is the iPhone.

So what is this miraculous new device from Apple? And why does Apple seem to be able to offer the same functionality that other products offer in a package that people devour with voracious appetites?

One of the secrets to Apple’s success can be summed up with our Evangelist Effect® tool. The effect turns users of the products into mouthpieces touting the benefits of the product. By generating a buzz surrounding a product, the users themselves do the marketing. The Evangelist Effect(R) results in:
• Increased credibility of messages because they are delivered by experts, friends, or news media
• Strong two-way connectivity as evangelists share information using new tools and technology
• Increased brand "market" and "emotional" share

For example, the iPod is not the only portable music player around. It doesn’t do anything that other media players don’t. But what do you see everyone listening to on the street? And that presence becomes self-perpetuating marketing. Because everyone has one, everyone wants one. Because everyone wants one, everyone has to have one.

Although the iPhone offers essentially the same functionality as a host of other devices, it seems to already be seeing the benefits of word-of-mouth buzz. It remains to be seen if the product will catch fire like the iPod, but it seems to be positioned to do just that.