Evidence of the iPhone Euphoria
June 27th, 2007 | Categories: blogs, launch, marketing, strategy, trends
Days before the official launch, iPhone euphoria has reached a feverish pitch. It seems that any daily news summary or wrap-up is riddled with numerous iPhone articles. Everything ranging from pricing information, to detailed features, to early reviews have surfaced. The online world is currently being overrun by an iPhone frenzy. You really gotta hand it to Steve Jobs and his ability to create such a stir around a launch. The majority of companies beg for PR folk to show up. Jobs is forced to beat them back with a stick. This is definitely rare in our day and age, but it is a true testament to the culture and loyalty that Apple has created.
Having said that, let’s take a look at some of the online craziness that the iPhone has caused:
Digg: While perusing Digg yesterday, I noticed that nearly half the front page stories were iPhone-related. Talk about hype. Obviously, Apple has a huge presence on Digg due to its loyal following, but this is ridiculous. Today, the frenzy must have died down a bit as I only counted two iPhone-related articles on the front page. In any case, it seems that everyone and their dog is interested in the iPhone in some form or another.
Online searches: Today, Hitwise launched a report containing some striking information with respect to recent iPhone searches. The report claims:
- iPhone searches rose 583% for the four-week period ended June 23; it was also the 131st most frequently searched term for this period as well.
- Queries focused mostly on price, reviews, news, and released date; price queries accounted for almost 5% of total queries.
- The official iPhone website grabbed 54.44% of all “iPhone” related search traffic.
My feed reader: Every time I open my feed reader, I am staring a crop of new iPhone-related articles and posts. Every single time. The relentless onslaught of news and reviews has hit strastospheric levels. My hope is that the launch will dampen some of the euphoria and allow the online media world to move onto other topics.
The iPhone launch certainly ranks among the top in recent memory. I can’t think of an event that has caused such madness and rapture. One thing is for certain: as sweet as the phone may be, people are buying into a culture rather than a feature set.