Awesome story.
Just goes to show that if you have the will, and the skill, and some creativity, you can make money pretty much doing anything at all!
Purple Shoe from Nike
It’s not really purple in color. But I did mean that it is Purple.
Why?
It’s because of the way it was successful in creating an entirely new industry of “athlete marketing” like never before. Because of how it created a frenzy among consumers. Because of the innovative ways Nike marketed it [for instance, they paid $5,000 in fine for every match that Michael Jordan wore these banned (then) shoes on court].
Not even Apple – to this date – has been able to match the hysteria that these shoes created (have you ever heard anyone getting mugged or killed for an iPod or iPhone?)
And yes, I was a teenager when I read and watched news about people getting mugged and killed for Air Jordan shoes.
Now go make your own Purple shoes.
What Happens When You Care About Your Customers
The iPhone launched at $599 (8GB) and $499 (4GB).
About two months later, Apple deprecates the latter, and slashes $200 off the former.
The early adopters get mad.
Should Apple care? They didn’t have to. But they did (Steve Jobs letter).
Great strategy (in-store credit). Great PR. Gotta love Apple.
Steve Jobs said…
“Steve Jobs said: “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?”
Did you know that you have big things to accomplish in life? And did you know that those big things are getting rather dusty while you pour yourself another cup of coffee, and decide to mull things over rather than do them? We were all born with a gift to give in life, one which informs all of our desires, interests, passions and curiosities. This gift is, in fact, our purpose. And you don’t need permission to decide your own purpose. No boss, teacher, parent, priest or other authority can decide this for you. Just find that unique purpose.”
Beautifully written.
Here’s the entire post: 10 Golden Lessons From Steve Jobs
XM Radio, Sirius announce merger
So is this the start of yet another monopoly?
Why hasn’t anyone else gotten into this? It’s not like there are major infrastructure setup pains involved – just buy a darn satellite and start broadcasting – it’s not like it’s hard to do for someone with a lot of cash and people – something that matches all media companies!
Content is the big challenge of course. So any of the big guys with content, could easily started a satellite radio service. So why hasn’t anyone done it?
When are they going to make it easy for you and me to start our own radio stations? Oh wait, we can do that already :-)….
Ok, now I get it. It is because On-broadcast (push) radio cannot compete with On-demand (pull) radio.
The consumer wins, after all.