Marketing

Former Apple ad man thinks the iPhone's naming convention needs to change

By Allyson Kazmucha, Monday, Apr 8, 2013 a 2:01 pm

Since 2008 Apple has introduced a new iPhone design one year and then followed it up with an S-variant the next. iPhone 3G was followed by iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 was followed by iPhone 4S. It's gotten to the point where many people are already assuming the next iPhone will be the iPhone 5S. Almost a month ago Rene wrote an article examining whether this iPhone 5S assumption could become a problem for Apple, and pointed out some ways Apple might already be moving to solve that problem. Now Apple's former ad guru, Ken Segall -- who was responsible for naming the iMac -- has shared some of his own thoughts on the matter:

59% of iPhone and iPad app developers don't break even on costs

By Simon Sage, Wednesday, May 2, 2012 a 7:31 pm

A recent survey by a marketing firm called App-Promo shows that 59% of developers don't manage to make enough money from app sales to break even on costs, and 80% don't generate enough revenue to support a standalone business. 68% earned $5000 or less from their top app, while 12% earned $50,000 or more. Those top earners have around $30,000 set aside for a marketing budget. 64.5% of the apps created by those surveyed were paid, while 39.5% relied on advertising and 32.9% were freemium or lite versions of full apps.

RIM may have been behind Apple store Wake Up flashmob

By Simon Sage, Monday, Apr 30, 2012 a 10:49 am

Some additional investigation into the "Wake Up" flashmob that happened at Australia Apple stores last week reveal it may actually be BlackBerry and Research In Motion behind the stunt.

iAd starts dishing an extra 10% in developer payouts

By Simon Sage, Monday, Apr 2, 2012 a 3:01 pm

Back in February, Apple promised that they would be increasing developer revenue share from iAds from 60% to 70%, and today that change has gone into effect.

Nokia ad campaign takes aim at iPhone reception, screen, and build quality

By Simon Sage, Monday, Apr 2, 2012 a 11:17 am

Nokia has kicked off an ad campaign called Smartphone Beta Test, which features mock video clips roughly describing the development process of the iPhone, and suggest that end consumers are just a part of some big public beta test.

New iPad owners in Australia scorned by false 4G LTE advertising offered refund

By Simon Sage, Wednesday, Mar 28, 2012 a 11:20 am

Apple has quickly responded to the accusations that they're misrepresenting the new iPad in Australia as 4G-capable by offering misled buyers a refund on their device. That's not much of an offer, considering they're all within their 30-day return window, but a sensible answer to those that are unhappy that they can't get LTE access on their new iPads.

Apple doesn't do any favours for celebrities

By Simon Sage, Wednesday, Mar 14, 2012 a 1:28 pm

While some handset manufacturers strive for celebrity endorsements with pre-release devices to build up hype, comments from Shaquille O'Neal, Channing Frye, and other high-profile personalities indicate even they're stuck on the same side of the impenetrable Apple PR wall as the rest of us.

Why "the new iPad" is a terrible name

By Simon Sage, Thursday, Mar 8, 2012 a 3:14 pm

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During Apple's new iPad event yesterday, I (among others) were waiting for the other shoe to drop: what are they going to name the new iPad? From the get-go, it was being only being referred to as "the new iPad".

Top free iPhone app devs paying $1.81 per user in marketing

By Simon Sage, Tuesday, Jan 31, 2012 a 8:00 am

Fiksu, a mobile marketing firm, released some interesting data on how much money top iPhone app developers are spending on promoting their creations. After looking at the top 200 free iPhone App Store for December, the average cost to get someone to run an app more than three times is $1.81.

Rumor: Apple has high-level employees scouting out CES competition

By Andrew Wray, Thursday, Jan 12, 2012 a 3:14 pm

Apple has apparently sent a few high-level employees to CES to scout out the competition and see how other companies present future products.

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) famously avoids the biggest event on the tech industry calendar, and given the traffic on Paradise Road this morning you can’t exactly blame them. But that doesn’t mean Apple isn’t scouting the competition in person at CES 2012.