A good friend of mine just posted an interesting idea — apple should give 30-day, free macbook pro trials. This got me thinking a bit, first because the idea of the delight response curve is quite an interesting one, and second because, I wonder what other strategies could be employed to achieve a similar goal (namely, allowing consumers to experience the Zone of Delight).
The Delight Response Curve
I think Apple understands this curve worlds better than anyone else in the consumer electronics industry today. Corey alludes to this in discussing OS X, but we see it in every product they bring to market.
Looking down from 30,000 feet, iPhones, android phones, blackberrys, or windows mobile phones all accomplish the same high level things. They allow you to communicate, browse the internet on the go, listen to music, and most importantly, are extendable by third parties. As you get closer to the ground, say at 1,000 feet, you begin to see some of the distinctions — each of them perform some things better than others (Android or BBerry are better for email, iPhone is better at playing music, windows phones are better at…?) But when you get to 0 feet, and you get a taste of how truly simple Apple makes everything feel in every interaction — well, thats how you move from “merely satisfied” to the “zone of delight.”
Retail Stores
The challenge with being in the “Zone of Delight” is that for consumers to ‘get it’, they really need to spend some time with the product. It’s not something that can be perceived in a side-by-side comparison chart (try as they may).
Apple’s solution to this problem has been the creation of Apple Retail Stores. Head into an apple store, and you get to fully experience their products — no commissioned sales people pressuring you into a purchase, no silly limitations on what you can do on the machines, no continuous repeat demo videos or constrained demo applications.
This strategy appears to be working — the first store opened on May 19th of 2001, and in 2009 the ~250 stores had combined sales of $6.7 billion, earning roughly $4000 per square foot and 15% of revenue (compare this to Tiffany’s $2666/sf, or Best Buy’s $930/sf).
Halo (& Friend?) Effect
In 2005, I was a (ack!) Microsoft guy. I had built my first company on Microsoft technologies (I was naively woo’d by the .NET marketing), and I was oh so proud of my fancy Windows Media Center computer. I was so infatuated with it that I overlooked the many, many, many sacrifices I was forced to make when using these products. While they were great when they worked, they rarely worked. A driver would act up on my TV Tuner. Some DRM snafu would happen, and my music would all stop playing. Some videos would play, while others would require a new codec. Installation of this codec would render the original videos unplayable.
Sometime early in that year, my brother had bought his first MP3 player. It was a creative something or other, and the experience was miserable. After some return snafu’s, he decided he would give the iPod photo a shot, and showed it to me as soon as he got it. I toyed with it for about 5 minutes before I got in my car and drove to the closest store that would sell me one. Within 6 months or so, we both had MacBook Pros, and I have not purchased a Microsoft product since.
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So, all that said — what about Corey’s plan to offer 30-day free trials? On the one hand, I don’t argue that a large number of the people who participate would find their way into the delightful zone. On the other hand, Apple has a very, very pristine brand — one that they have worked extremely hard to build. In fact, the most recent estimate I can find says the Apple brand alone is worth over $15 billion.
What images come to mind when you hear “30 day free trial”?
I don’t know about you, but I’m still finding those AOL disks around my house — and they aren’t exactly conjuring up fond memories. So while the tactic itself would likely be effective, the unintended consequences would be costly, and in my opinion outweigh the other gains.
What can be done?
Instead of a 30 day free trial, Apple should focus on identifying strategies similar to the Apple store concept (this might be as simple as opening more stores, and faster). Or perhaps extending into other consumer electronics markets, with the goal of forming a large base from which the halo can extend. The iPod worked well on me, and I know more than a few people that have had a similar experience after buying their iPhone.
What consumer electronics devices are currently residing in the “Zone of Pain”? This might show us where they are headed next. As a former Comcast DVR subscriber, I can see why the Apple TV was created — maybe this device will finally get a worthy upgrade? Car electronics are often in this zone — but the required partnerships don’t pair well with Apple’s cult of secrecy.
All that said — this assumes that the end game is to sell more traditional desktop & laptop computers. With the impending tablet release, some of us are wondering if they are just hoping to redefine the category altogether.
January 26, 2010, 9:09pm Comments
