Every business is aware of the need to build their brand and to market their products in order to increase awareness but in the twenty first century, where it seems our lives revolve around the latest technology, is it really still necessary? Marketing is used by the big technology companies to create a buzz around their new products but with people already eagerly anticipating these, would the advertising money be better spent in other areas?
In the modern world, the best way to determine when and where a new technology product is being released is to follow the queue of people that is snaking down the high street at four in the morning. The diehard technology fans seem to know more about the next version of a product than the manufacturers do and all it takes is one mention of a release date and the day is fixed in their minds and circled on their calendars.
Brand Loyalty
Customers of technology products are unlike those of any other retail industry and seem to show a lot more loyalty. Companies such as Apple and Xbox only need to worry about getting these people on board and then they have a fan base for life. Unlike with clothing, music and even food; a technology customer will quite happily spend their whole life only purchasing from one manufacturer.
For example, it seems that in the world of computing, you’re either an Apple person or a Microsoft person and although other brands have their share of the market, customers rarely switch from one giant corporation to the other. Whereas in other areas, people are likely to change the brand that they buy from for any number of reasons including price, convenience and season. Technology brands seem to create a lot more loyalty.
A Focus On Technology PR
With this being the case, maybe the money spent on large advertising campaigns would be better used for technology PR. A lot of people may be thinking that marketing and PR are one and the same but although they are very similar, they do focus on different areas. Whilst marketing is tasked with creating awareness of a specific product, PR concerns itself with building up the image of the whole brand and creating good relationships with the people that are going to be buying the products.
Keeping this in mind and with the thought that once technology companies form a relationship with their audience, it may make more sense to concentrate more on Technology PR than massive marketing campaigns for new products. Most people that buy Apple products are so enamoured by the brand and the fact that they are regarded as a leading light in the technology industry, it probably wouldn’t matter how good the new product was, they’re going to want it anyway. There is so much trust and loyalty built up that they know the purchase is going to be worthwhile and will need no persuasion.
It will still be necessary to make people aware of release dates and product information but is there really the need for elaborate advertising campaigns that spend millions on making the product look amazing with a slick soundtrack in the background? Is it not a lot simpler to merely announce a date, let the audience’s imagination do the rest and use the money saved for new customer acquisition?
Technology PR seems as though it is much more important to these companies than advertising or marketing. New products will always create their own buzz but getting people to build a relationship with your company from an early age or at an early stage in their use of technology is crucial. Large brands such as Call Of Duty and Nintendo know that every customer they gain is likely to be a customer for life and the best way to establish this relationship is through technology PR.
This article is written by Chris Mayhew when working for Eclat. This technology PR agency, who are based in Surrey, help their clients to build lasting relationships with their customers through the release of interesting and unique content.
