The ol' Bait and Switch Worked for Apple!

There I was minding my own business, doing my own research, asking a million and one questions and I was finally convinced. Blackberry was the way to go. I use my phone for business. I don't play games on my phone. I don't even text if I don't have to. I wanted something simple that I could check email and easily respond. "Blackberry" they all said. "Yes, the iPhone is really cool, but it's not really all that great for business and email," they all added.

Armed with that information, ignoring the snide comments from my facebook friends who laughed at the mere mention of Blackberries when the almighty iPhone was in the same room, I went to the trusty AT&T store to take one more look at the Blackberries and figure out if I needed the $99 or the $199 one that had just come out. The clever salesperson told me that in fact, I could get an iPhone for $199 as well and it did everything the Blackberry did...but more.
Hmmm. But what about the difficulty in texting on that flat screen. "You get used to it." He said. Then he told me how he cried when he lost his iPhone and had to convert back to the Blackberry due to financial difficulties (I assume the $99 fit his bill) As he wiped a tear in memory of his iPhone, I was almost convinced that I should at least consider the $199 iPhone even though I had no original intentions of spending $199 for the Blackberry.

The salesman carefully placed it in my hands and made it do things I couldn't even begin to imagine. The thing can turn itself into a FLASHLIGHT for heaven's sake. Suddenly, angel choirs started to sing (I think it's a sales tactic at the AT&T store) and a bright light started to eminate from this little piece of equipment that I used to call a cell phone. This mini computer was nothing short of amazing. (SCRATCH - insert loud sound like an album being scratched by a needle.) BUT, I don't want to pay $199 for a phone. I'm too cheap. Let me go home and think about this for a day or two and I'll be back to buy the Blackberry as I originally planned.

Then, the news broke. In its unusual and unexpected way, Apple put the cart before the horse and started offering its NEW AND IMPROVED iPhone for $199 and its old boring one (that I held in my hand just hours before) was now $99.

I ran, didn't walk (well, actually drove) to the AT&T store certain that there would be a crush of people. I told the man, "I want the iPhone!" Which one? Uh, duh, of COURSE the $99. Every thought or consideration I ever had about the Blackberry went right out the window. I never even gave it a second thought. Brilliant marketing technique coupled with perfect timing and Apple got the sale that Blackberry wanted. Now, I'm an aging GenXr learning how to use my cool new phone. My few Blackberry friends (who are the same age) are waiting anxiously for my verdict to see if they too could be cool enough to have an iPhone. Apple has made this one of the coolest products on the planet that even a 40 something technobackwards girl can get her arms around.

The marketing lesson to be learned? Timing is everything and if you're going to hype something around generation Xrs, you better start with their friends. In the end, that's really what made me change my mind. The facebook chatter was quite convincing. Use social networking to sell your brand, then put it on sale and create a sense of demand...it will be a winner! oops, my iPhone is vibrating. I think it wants to go out for a walk.