iPhone, Sivaji and Harry Potter & the deathly hallows
What's common with the 'iPhone', 'Sivaji' and 'Harry Potter and the Deathly hallows'?
All of them were veiled in a shroud of secrecy while in the making. The buzz generated on all of them has been huge. And each of them has tasted commercial success, at least till now.
Brings us to 2 important issues.
One, to generate the buzz silence the trumpets. For word of mouth to spread ensure that the veil of secrecy around the product or service remains and is guarded thoroughly. That gives people something to talk about. And they will, in droves.
This is a lesson most marketers find hard to learn. They would rather waste their advertising dollars and have the consumer bombarded with as many communiques as possible. Sure what needs to be remembered is that all the three products mentioned, did have a 'past' to bank on. A past where advertising did have a hand to play. In fact Harry Potter sales took off only after the release of Book 4 (Goblet of fire) and since then it has done extremely well in terms of sales. Similarly Apple's had an illustrious past with the iMac and iPod. Similarly 'Chandramukhi' did rake in the moolah.
Second, once the buzz reaches maniacal proportion, and the product is released it must live up to expectations. If it doesn't the fall's gonna be steeper than the rise of the buzz. Again, the lesson for marketeers is, there are times when it makes sense to keep the buzz down, by design, and to release with caution testing the waters first.
Whatever, marketers must learn that, sometimes, not saying anything is saying it best.
All of them were veiled in a shroud of secrecy while in the making. The buzz generated on all of them has been huge. And each of them has tasted commercial success, at least till now.
Brings us to 2 important issues.
One, to generate the buzz silence the trumpets. For word of mouth to spread ensure that the veil of secrecy around the product or service remains and is guarded thoroughly. That gives people something to talk about. And they will, in droves.
This is a lesson most marketers find hard to learn. They would rather waste their advertising dollars and have the consumer bombarded with as many communiques as possible. Sure what needs to be remembered is that all the three products mentioned, did have a 'past' to bank on. A past where advertising did have a hand to play. In fact Harry Potter sales took off only after the release of Book 4 (Goblet of fire) and since then it has done extremely well in terms of sales. Similarly Apple's had an illustrious past with the iMac and iPod. Similarly 'Chandramukhi' did rake in the moolah.
Second, once the buzz reaches maniacal proportion, and the product is released it must live up to expectations. If it doesn't the fall's gonna be steeper than the rise of the buzz. Again, the lesson for marketeers is, there are times when it makes sense to keep the buzz down, by design, and to release with caution testing the waters first.
Whatever, marketers must learn that, sometimes, not saying anything is saying it best.
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