[Davie]

This is actually more unusual than it sounds, since most NYC subway ads are for things like night school and treatments for blotchy skin. Apple has been known to buy up half a subway car and plaster their dancing pod-people all over. Apparently Creative has decided to try to reach the urban hipsters riding the underground rails in the big apple. Instead of dancing silhouettes, they've got *colors*!

Seriously, another sign that Creative thinks that they've got a winner with the Micro and can take on Apple head-to-head.

 

[GSTom1]

Yeah, I worte in another thread that I rode the subway this morning and saw the Zen Micro ads in conjunction with J and R Music World. I wonder if thy can afford to to buy up a whole subway station like Apple did at the Spring Street Station to promote its iPod.

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GSTom1 Yeah, I worte in another thread that I rode the subway this morning and saw the Zen Micro ads in conjunction with J and R Music World. I wonder if thy can afford to to buy up a whole subway station like Apple did at the Spring Street Station to promote its iPod.

Maybe they can open a Zen store to compete with the Apple store. I always feel like I'm visiting a cult when I go to that place. Apple's got some clever marketing -- they combine aesthetics, lifestyle, and politics (join the anti-Windows crusade).

But "The Zen Store" has a nice ring to it...

 

[BlindTiger]

interesting observation davie, you think they'll mind if I go by and take some pictures?
I've never been to the apple store and wonder what's the big deal, the NYT even touted it as a singles pickup spot.
guess that's why I've never been "with" the apple crowd. I'm not "in" enough.
same with the guys with the "micros**t" t-shirts.
added: I think the whole ipod/U2 alliance is gonna backfire, people are sick of that commercial and song already. hello, hello

 

[deltawalkerl]

I don't think Apple would be too happy with a Creative Zen store. Apple are the Zen guys.

Perhaps Steve Jobs finally found his Zen master. LOL...

 

[neueziel]

I hope iRiver opens up a iHxx store....this is gonna be crazy competition yes!

 

[fr4c]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlindTiger I've never been to the apple store and wonder what's the big deal, the NYT even touted it as a singles pickup spot.

maybe i should hang out at the apple store more often.

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlindTiger interesting observation davie, you think they'll mind if I go by and take some pictures? I've never been to the apple store and wonder what's the big deal, the NYT even touted it as a singles pickup spot. guess that's why I've never been "with" the apple crowd. I'm not "in" enough. same with the guys with the "micros**t" t-shirts.

They'd probably send a couple of tough guys out to see what you were doing. New York is jittery about terrorism and an attack on the Apple store would be a blow against hipsters everywhere. I'm not being totally facetious. I work for a city planning firm, and field studies that were completely routine a few years ago attract lots of police attention nowadays (nor is this a bad thing). I also remember being in the Virgin Megastore once and having a black-clad security officer tell me to move along because I was sitting on the floor in their book section!

The Apple Store is a temple. Everything is bright and clean. When you enter you face a flight of stairs leading directly up to a theater where you can be educated about all the wonderful Apple technology that will improve your life. Tech gurus line a whole wall, ready to respond to the supplications of unfortunates with a bad hard drive or dead lithium ion battery. Ordinarily you would stick meeting rooms and technical service off in a corner somewhere, but at the Apple store they're front and center. Products are displayed on tables where people can circle round and admire the technical and aesthetic aura. This is all very different from, say, the Gateway Store that closed down awhile ago in Union Square, which had the ambience of an upscale Radio Shack.

Another example of Apple's marketing genius is the packaging of the 4th generation iPod I bought there recently. No nasty plastic blister pack. Instead, the bright white electronic marvel is housed in a stylish folding box of more than faintly Japanese appearance. It's actually an aesthetic experience just opening the thing. If your world is graphics or literature, this is a package design just for you. The typical plastic blister has a techie quality that alienates you from the product before you've even held it in your hands. Then after you hack your way in with a pair of scissors, an unslightly bundle of cables and accessories drops in your lap. Contrast this with the ipod package where each different part is neatly laid out in a little niche to be unwrapped and admired as if it were a gift in itself.

Truly, the Apple people inspire me with a mix of dismay and admiration.

 

[GSTom1]

APPLE OF THEIR EYE

By BRIDGET HARRISON
New York Post

November 17, 2004 -- Coffee shops, bars, chat rooms - so 2003.
SoHo's Apple Store has become the latest singles hotspot.

The techie's paradise on Prince Street is a hive of young, hip New Yorkers who stop by to read their e-mail, load their iPods and check out new digital gizmos - and each other.

Even though the state-of-the-art shop doesn't serve coffee or cocktails, singles say it's a great place to approach strangers because people often spend hours there and there's something in common to talk about.

"People in here glance at each other just like they do in a bar," said Frederick Pina, 25, a writer and Apple Store regular. "It's not a problem to open a conversation because you know everyone has similar interests."

Newcomers to the store say they are instantly struck by the good-looking crowd, thanks to its location in fashionable SoHo - right around the corner from four modeling agencies.

"You notice it's an attractive crowd," said account executive Justin Scott, 27, who recommended two approaches to snagging a date in the store. "You could play dumb or go for being the tech type, whatever your strong point is."

ID agency model and actress Evelina Pereira, 23, said she lasted five minutes in the store yesterday before a guy tried an opening line about the computer on which she was checking her e-mail.

"He said, 'Hey, nice computer,'" she recalled. "I looked around and said, 'Yeah?'"

"I didn't realize he was trying to hit on me until my friend said it always happens in here."

Her model pal said she dropped by the store to pick up an iPod and iBook recently and a guy offered to buy them for her. She declined.

Actress Nina Rutsch, 27, said the way the store is set up is conducive to hooking up.

"When you're checking your e-mail online, you're really near your neighbor, so its an easy place to strike up conversation," said Rutsch, who was signing up for an iPod workshop.

"And if you talk to a guy in the Apple Store, you already know he's going to be modern and up-to-date and sober. It's healthier than picking up someone in a bar."

Her pal Julianna Chang, 30, agreed.

"Saying, 'What are you downloading these days?' sounds so much cooler than the line, 'What are you drinking?' in a bar," she said.