Online Discussion Not as Great as Game Consoles and Other Product Launches.
San Mateo, CA (PRWEB) August 17, 2007 -- Biz360® Inc., the leading provider of media and market intelligence solutions, today released its analysis of the Apple iPhone launch, which shows a strong increase in consumer buzz for July, following the frenzy of the pre-launch hype. Apple launched the device on June 29, 2007. The iPhone posted the increase in online discussion despite a 27 percent decline in mainstream media coverage for July (broadcast, print and online news stories).
While the iPhone generated strong buzz for a new product launch, it fell far short of the record for product launches tracked by Biz360. The Nintendo Wii, which launched in November 2006, generated more than twice the online discussion for the month following its launch than did the iPhone. The Nintendo Wii's holiday buzz was a prelude to sales that would follow as it beat out the other newly launched game consoles in January 2007 and overtook the market leader in monthly sales, the Sony Playstation 2, in April 2007.
One dominant issue in blog discussion and mainstream media coverage of the iPhone during the week of the launch was an activation problem through Apple's mobile service provider, AT&T. The issue was among the most popular online discussion topics and accounted for 8.3 percent of all blog posts mentioning the iPhone for the week of June 25, 2007, however, the problem only affected a small percent of iPhones sold. The activation issue decreased to 8.0 percent of iPhone blog posts and then 2.7 percent in the subsequent weeks.
"Marketers already know there's a correlation between online discussion of their products and sales," said Tony Priore, chief marketing officer at Biz360, Inc. "But, when there's a product delivery or service issue, the number of customers affected rarely equals the amount of product discussion on the issue," he added. "Understanding the severity of the problem and the customers' expectations can help marketers contextualize the issue and assess its real impact. This context can help marketers develop a measured reaction that preserves brand value and sales and is on target with customer expectations."
About Biz360:
Biz360 delivers media and market intelligence solutions to Global 2000 business decision makers, providing them with a 360-degree view of their marketplace. The company gathers and analyzes the vast amount of traditional and social media about an organization, its brands, its competitors and its products to deliver real-time insights that help our clients shape market perception, respond to competitive threats, evaluate trends and issues and improve the return on their marketing investments.
Our clients include industry-leading global companies, including AAA, Aetna, AstraZeneca, PacifiCare Health Systems, Sun Microsystems and Xerox. Biz360 can be reached at 866.424.9360 or http://www.biz360.com.
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