12th February 2010
Can the Nexus One cure our addiction to Apple’s iPhone?
When the new decade began, the PR gurus at Google were probably hoping 2010 would be the year of the Nexus One. While the search giant's new phone has been hailed by some as the greatest communication innovation since Marconi decided there had to be more to life than writing letters, it still hasn’t been quite the success story Google was hoping for.
There are inevitable comparisons to be made with Apple’s iPhone. But the most interesting question is not whether the Nexus One is superior to the iPhone, but whether Google can cause a shift in the market in the face of strong Apple brand loyalty. This is precisely the type of question that keeps marketing directors up at night: how can we compete with the dominant brand in the market?
Challenging this sort of market dominance was never going to be easy. The iPhone is simply one of the great product success stories of the 21st century. From the moment it was released, thousands queued from Tokyo to New York just to be able to pre-order the gadget that looked more like a mini TV than a phone.
To give us a better understanding of the challenges facing Google, we conducted our own market research, asking simply, ‘why would you buy Google over any other product in the category?’ In total, 40 per cent of respondents said they wouldn’t buy Nexus full-stop, simply because it wasn’t an Apple product.
The results demonstrate the emotional connection that Apple has made with its customers. There is no question Apple has moved from a position as an assimilative brand to an absorptive brand. We have accepted Apple into our lifestyles.
To read the article online go here:
http://www.realbusiness.co.uk/news/business-technology/5761688/google-vs-apple.thtml
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