By Erick Every year. Every damn year.
It’s been 18 years since Steve Jobs revealed the first ever iPhone to the world. He did it in an event that’s studied in marketing MBA text books.
In many ways, the only thing that has changed is from in-person / live, this presentation became virtual, and then hybrid.
And in some ways, this now-yearly event is a huge contributor to the iPhone becoming the most successful consumer product of all time.
Most of us stopped asking why Apple does this every year (we still ask why Google and Samsung try).
But it’s good to ask why. And here are a few thoughts about why:
- It’s more than a product showcase, it’s now a part of culture. And a good source of memes.
- It’s the best way to show the new products in their best form / to look their best, and to show people using them and being happy. Where relatability meets hype.
- The presentation is followed by hands on where leading tech bloggers hold the products and show their audience.
- The presentation includes messages from the CEO, like their emphasis on sustainability.
- They end up with the best (or most watched) presentation in ‘techtember’, which is a way of one-upping copycat events from Samsung and Google and others.
All of the above points to some genius marketing, for 18 years and more.