Apple vs Google: who launched it better?

The launch of Google’s new Pixel phone provides an interesting challenge to Apple, especially when it comes to launch marketing, says Matt Lawton.

Ask 100 people what recent product launch they recall and you’ll hear a lot of them talk about Apple. They’ve become the cliched reference point when it comes to product launch success even for people who don’t watch Gruen.matt-lawton-five-by-five-sydney

Such is Apple’s notoriety that it may have even transcended being useful to marketers as a blueprint – to emulate its success seems the impossible task. How did this happen and how should its rivals be competing in the high stakes world of launch marketing?

Launch marketing. It’s a thing. Journalists flown from around the world to attend a launch event in San Francisco. Live streaming executive presentations, carefully co-ordinated ad campaigns and hands-on demos. It’s definitely a thing and Apple wrote the rulebook. But perhaps what it did most effectively was to establish a consistent calendar for launching new products.apple-iphone7

We now know that every October/November there will be a new iPhone. Better, sexier, more powerful than its antiquated predecessor that’s now so scratched and boring. Apple learned from the world’s largest entertainment franchises that had already established this pattern.

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