Apple and Social Media

One of the most profitable companies in the world is also one that is holding out on any form of social media marketing. Despite their popularity Apple Inc. puts very little effort into any social media sites. This is something that does not seem to be changing quickly. Apple continues to promote new releases primarily with traditional forms of media such as TV advertisements. Overall it does not seem to effect the company negatively but it’s difficult to tell how long this will remain the case as the competition is closing in. 

 

 

Apple has no official Twitter account and  the Facebook pages’ only contribution is its 8.2million likes (OK fine that's a lot). The page has literally no other value. It’s about section contains one sentence on the type of company Apple is. Zero photos and Zero wall posts contribute to zero social interaction between the company and its fans.

To give an idea of how little Apple does in terms of social media marketing we can look at the comparison between the launch of the IPhone 4s and the Samsung Galaxy S3. Samsung had an active Twitter account with about 2 million followers. The Galaxy’s Facebook page was updated on a daily basis and had over 10 million likes. So the Galaxy S3’s Facebook page had over 2 million more likes than Apple’s main page. 

Perhaps one explanation to why Apple is holding out on social media is the company’s incredible success. What would motivate Apple to put energy into something that is not essential for the company to do really well? After all the company has had a profit of $41.7 Billion in 2012. That’s more than the combined profit of Microsoft, Ebay, Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Amazon which was $34.4 Billion. 

Apple’s large success may not remain for coming years as its competition has been gaining ground. This is evident in several areas but one of the best is the release of the IPad mini last year. Prior to his death, Steve Job’s paid little to attention to tablets smaller than the IPad, he believed that they served very little purpose and were too close to the size of an IPhone. The competition quickly proved this statement to be incorrect however as both Amazon and Samsung quickly released cheaper smaller tablets that took large percentages of the tablet market away from Apple, thus the release of the smaller IPad. 

 For Apple to maintain its status above its competition, it must start actively reaching out to its customers. Social Media has proven very useful for companies in attracting and maintaining customers in the long term. That being said it can also have very large negative effects if it is not used properly. The release of the Apple Maps software would have caused an even greater headache for the company had social media marketing been in place.

  Overall, Apple has a reputation for releasing nearly perfect products. If the company can manage to avoid incidents such as that surrounding the mapping software, social media marketing will do nothing but help the company as long as its not overused. The competition is building for Apple so it will be interesting to see if the company changes strategies in the coming years.

Augmented Reality

Over the next few years we will be treated to the steady perfection of augmented reality. The idea of AR is to take a computer generated "layer" of information and place it over a live view of ones surroundings. 

Several AR applications already exist for smart phones although they are still imperfect. They have many features and can be used for a variety of different searches. LAYAR is one of the most popular and is available for both Apple and Android operating systems. It has a selection of "layers" that allow users to do location based searches for almost anything. One of the most useful I have found is the apartments for rent search although it is best used within a large city.

Google is said to be working on their own version of AR which will incorporate the already released Google Goggles app.  The technology they are developing will be able to recognize specific objects or locations just using equipment that is already in all smartphones. The app can already be used to identify bar codes, artwork, landmarks, labels, and of course wine labels.  One of the uses that Google has said it is planning is plant leaf recognition software for.... plant people I guess. Regardless the concept is pretty cool and we will see it be perfected in the next few years.

Personally I see one of the more successful applications for AR is its use with instruction. Today if someone wants to know how to build, fix, or do pretty much anything chances are there is a video of exactly how to do it on You Tube. In the not too distant future most of us may be turning to AR for this particular issue. Below I have included several videos that are great examples of exactly what I am talking about.

How to assemble IKEA furniture.

 

Although I feel like BMW mechanics should already know how to take apart one of their own cars, this video is one of the best illustrations.

Matt Mills of Aurasma, demonstrates their version of AR and its uses.

On You Tube

When Success equals views. 

With its explosive growth in social media, You Tube has become so popular that it is almost if not totally impossible to live one day without seeing at least one video from the site. It's ever increasing popularity coupled with its ease of accessibility has allowed for a digital environment in which 8 years of video content is currently uploaded every day. With this enormous portfolio, we have a huge database to see which particular elements contribute to success on the site. In this case success is equal to the number a views a video receives. Excluding the obvious fact of making a catchy video taking the time to make sure the video is listed in the proper category with the proper tags is essential. The timing of when you upload is secondary to making sure the video can be easily found. So assuming that a video can be easily found, what makes some so popular??

Originally uploaded on July 15th 2012, the single Gangnam style by South Korean rapper Psy has received over 350 million views on You Tube.

This video, although ridiculous contains key elements that easily explain its popularity. First it's catchy as HELL. Although I may be ashamed to admit it, the song contains a fast paced digital beat that is addictive enough to erase the obvious complication of the language and culture barrier. The long-term timing of its release also assisted in boosting the view count as this type of music is becoming increasingly popular both abroad and in the United States. Now if we add to that the ridiculous "horse riding" dance performance that the rapper seems to have perfected, we have a recipe for a You Tube sensation.