Last year around December, there was a wave of “Airpods memes” that looked like this:
While a lot of these are making fun of Airpods, they did generate a great awareness of the products. Previously, people thought the idea of these Airpods were stupid, as no one needed a small ear bud that could be easily lost. However, after the wave of these memes, it became more of an appealing status symbol. Some people suspect that this was a method of guerrilla marketing by Apple.
Guerrilla marketing involves unconventional campaigns that relate to everyday lives. They are extremely cheap, as the main cost is creativity. Some examples are art that is displayed for the public, advertising at award shows, and presence on social media. Relating to social media, this is very cheap compared to other advertising, like the Sprite campaign. The Oreo campaign that we saw in the “Marketing” documentary is an example of guerrilla marketing that used creativity and a platform that the audience uses to advertise its product. It created a sense of understanding with the product and the customers, and was on a social media platform that is commonly seen. Especially if it’s on Twitter, the use of retweets spreads posts –– spreads free advertising. The idea that the “fangirl” promoted The Hunger Games “for free” also relates to this marketing, where she feels like she benefits from this.
With the Airpods memes, it generated “buzz” where Airpods were being talked about in almost every social media. It positioned Airpods as a status symbol of wealth, and that if you didn’t have Airpods, you were “broke.” It showed people showing off their Airpods, and making jokes about it, but all while making them look more appealing and less ridiculous than how people previously thought of them. There was already a market for wireless ear buds, so Apple may have needed an effective tactic to make their Airpods desirable. Personally, I did think that Airpods were useless at the beginning of its sales, but after seeing the prevalence and connotation that comes with Airpods, I reluctantly found myself wanting to buy some.
The guerrilla marketing we have seen through social media has provided a great way of advertising for companies. Next time you find yourself being intrigued by a product due to social media posts, understand what the tactics are behind this.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2019/feb/10/how-did-apples-airpods-go-from-mockery-to-millennial-status-symbol
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/guerilla-marketing-examples
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ReplyDeleteApple's strategy of Guerrilla Advertising through the use of others spreading info on the product for free, feels very similar to how Minecraft did its marketing through Youtuber's playing the game and talking about it for free. Now both are very different products, but this use of advertising will work for any product in any industry. Unlike Mojang who didn't have a massive budget to advertise on, Apple is worth billions and surely has enough money to spend on some advertisements, but decided to go the other route and let the community do it for free. I saw very few commercials for the AirPods, so why did Apple decided to got the route of the Guerrila Advertising instead of their more traditional route?
ReplyDeleteApple does use traditional advertising methods, specifically video commercials. However, I feel like the company is so big that this type of marketing isn't their main priority. I do notice Apple commercials, but not as many as I would expect considering the brand's size and influence. The guerrilla advertising style can influence consumers without them realizing. When certain branded products are talked about online a lot, such as Hydroflasks with the "VSCO girl" memes (despite those portrayed in a more negative way), it makes me wonder if there is behind the scenes marketing happening. However, I think sometimes these popular topics of discussion may just be the Internet's joke of the week. Overall, I agree with Tripp's comment- even though I've noticed Apple does use video commercials, I never saw any for Airpods, so the Airpod memes were probably useful in their campaign.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, almost everyone now has an Airpods, a form of headset that has become this year's "fashion icon." But what is the cause of this phenomenon, I personally don't see a lot of relevant advertising, perhaps more because of the brand effect? Actually Apple isn't the first company to launch this kind of headset, but people only buy Airpods, what causes Airpods becomes the "only" one?
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