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iPhone Campout = “Brand Loyalty Beyond Reason”
By Robert Gorell
June 29th, 2007
Has anyone camping out for an iPhone realized that you don’t have to go to an Apple Store? As you may recall (from the only negative moments in any of the reviews), it’s an AT&T device. I just called a few AT&T stores in Brooklyn. No lines.
Apple has become the #1 brand this year for making people blind to the obvious. Don’t get me wrong; we love Apple so much our entire office has gone Mac. Still, this is nuts…
In fact, it might be the biggest example ever of what Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts calls “brand loyalty beyond reason.”
So, contact AT&T if you don’t want to “reach out and touch” the person next to you in line. Works better than “The new AT&T,” doesn’t it?
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June 29th, 2007
1:40 pm
I think this may well cover what Bryan described asa prestige or aspirational purchase. For some, there’s a great joy in other people witnessing you purchase something, other than doing so in more anonymity.
June 29th, 2007
4:00 pm
It kind of makes some sort of sense to me – I would *much* rather purchase from an Apple store than an AT&T store, even though I have never been in an AT&T store – I would much rather be in an Apple store than pretty much *any* store
June 29th, 2007
4:08 pm
Exactly: “brand loyalty beyond reason.”
Just goes to show it’s about the experience, the myth and, for some, the live-blogging (yikes).
Still, any difference between this and the lines for a Star Wars movie? Where’s Triumph when you need him?
June 30th, 2007
10:38 am
Damn you, Robert. That video had me laughing for 10 minutes. Brilliant.
July 2nd, 2007
2:09 pm
I know people who called around LA as well. The Apple store had a huge line, so they called a few AT&T stores. Some had big lines and some had minimal.
They went to one store and were 25th in line at 2:30 PM. By 5:30 they were 10th because the store had not received their phones yet. By 6:30 or so they had ordered their phone to arrive later in the week.
They then drove over to the Apple Store, waited in line for a bit over an hour and got their iPhone. So the Apple Store was the place to go. Camping out was a waste, as they could have gone out to dinner at one of the decent restaurants near the store, then got in line after and not only done a few more hours of work, but eaten much better…
July 2nd, 2007
2:23 pm
Thanks for the west coast update, Brad. Amazing, isn’t it?
Anyone have a story about what it was like in their neighborhood?
Any of you actually purchase an iPhone? If so, where? Crazy lines? Crazy people?
July 3rd, 2007
5:40 pm
Here’s the best example I’ve seen of Natural Selection at an iPhone camp-out (at an AT&T store, no less).
July 6th, 2007
4:32 pm
I walked into the Apple store on Lincoln Road, Miami Beach and got some ProCare help at the Studio desk, then thought, “what the hell” and walked to the cash register, bought an iPhone. Turned around and there were 50 people behind me who wanted phones, but I got the last one in inventory. I could have sold it for a profit without leaving the store, but took it home to play with. I love it!
July 7th, 2007
9:31 am
We’ve just installed a plugin to format this blog to look better on the iPhone. If you have one check out http://www.grokdotcom.com on your iPhone Browser and let me know what you think.
October 27th, 2008
11:55 pm
When you have a product like the iPhone 3G that is packed with so many features, it’s much easier to “show” rather than “tell”. Imagine having to read a 500 word brochure itemizing all of the phone’s features and specific functions – that is essentially what the video accomplishes in just a couple of minutes.
January 7th, 2010
7:35 am
iPhone Bad Credit
January 27th, 2010
8:11 am
I can’t wait to see what they have to say at the next release. There will be lines for their tablet device just like what happened with the iPhone!