Tech giant has mastered art of marketing in the new age

If you've ever wondered just how good Apple's marketing team is, consider this. As this column goes to print, the next generation iPad is being unveiled in San Francisco. According to the internet buzz, it could be heavier, fatter and more expensive than its predecessor. At almost any other tech company, that kind of pre-release hype would mean instant death. The engineers and designers would be tarred and feathered, if not by their own people, then by the press. The public relations team would spend more time deflecting questions about the viability of a company that had seemingly lost its way than it would promoting the product. But not at Apple. Instead of derision, it's the usual pandemonium that precedes the launch of any of the company's iProducts, whipped up by a masterful mix of "leaked" information, fan speculation, official press releases, and, of course, a proven track record of innovation. Do a Google search for the launch of the new iPad and you will find pictures of callipers showing how thick the new device is, shots of "leaked" pricing sheets, and photos of what is supposed to be its internal components. The images all look like the kinds of photos PR teams have been placing in press packets for decades. They're boring and unimaginative, which is why journalists usually ignore them. But Apple's use of creative marketing has turned that on its head. Those are no longer boring promotional photos. Now they're leaked images of the hottest gadgets being released by one of the most secretive companies in the world, allowing you to play at being James Bond with a stash of smuggled documents. But are they authentic? No one cares. It's all part of the show. When the tech community watches CEO Tim Cook describe the new iPad's feature, they'll also be comparing notes to see who was really in the know. Apple had also carefully peppered the pot with a number of authentic press releases, usually aimed at reminding us just how popular and forward thinking they are. Last Friday they sent out a press release letting us know that users have now downloaded over 25 billion apps for the iTunes store, complete with details about who the lucky downloader was (he received a $10,000 iTunes gift card) and what app he downloaded (it was Where' My Water?, an annoyingly cute family game from Disney, which has topped the download charts for months). Then on Tuesday, there was the Forrester Research story letting us know that Apple owns a 73 per cent share of the tablet market, while no Android-based competitor has more than 5 per cent. There are also a few suspiciously timed internet videos. Last week there was a YouTube clip making the rounds among the office geeks showing a scene from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Although the movie was made in 1968, the clip shows a scene of people in a space port reading the news on a device that looks suspiciously, if not eerily, like an iPad. It's a great message. Apple has finally achieved what we once saw on the big screen. It can only be a matter of time before we all drive around in Apple-branded spacecraft controlled by our iPhones. Whether Apple had anything to do with the video's sudden popularity is hard to tell, but it does make you wonder why the clip is suddenly making the rounds 44 years after the movie's release. The timing may have nothing to do with Apple and everything to do with Apple fanboys. The pre-launch circus would be nothing without them as they always provide extra blood for the media feeding frenzy. My favourite bit of fan speculation is the iBoard, a giant mock-up of an iPad that looks like it has a 42-inch screen. You know it is not real, but that hasn't stopped the image spreading across forums and social networks. Photos like these only help drive the speculation about what Apple will deliver next. Thanks to that, it really doesn't matter that the only major advancements this generation of the iPad will probably see are a higher resolution screen and a better processor. So what if it's a little heavier or a millimeter thicker? The constant stream of internet-born possibilities keeps people thinking about the next launch. Will the company reverse its stance on 7-inch screens? Will it be 4G capable? Will it be able to cook a crème brulee? It's not enough that we will just wait a see. We need to spend the next few months talking about what Apple will do next. And we do. From gulfnews