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Google was the biggest search engine long before it ever advertised itself. Amazon was the biggest online retailer long before it ever advertised itself. Both o

by tybris 16y ago

Google was the biggest search engine long before it ever advertised itself. Amazon was the biggest online retailer long before it ever advertised itself. Both of them still only do so very sparingly.

TillE 16y ago
> Amazon was the biggest online retailer long before it ever advertised itself Was it? I really can't remember how I first heard of Amazon, but I do remember some TV ads fairly early in its existence.
- michael_dorfman 16y ago
  Amazon actually advertised fairly aggressively in the New York Times (among other places, I imagine) in the mid-90s, which was critical to their becoming the dominant online bookseller.
evansolomon 16y ago
Coke is the biggest soft drink. Apple is the biggest consumer electronics company. Both advertise like it's the freaking antidote. No need to paint every company with the same brush. Different tasks, different tools. The "we don't do marketing" thing is both unnecessarily extremist and usually a lie. See Square for a very recent example.
- rbanffy 16y ago
  I think Apple has to spend lots on marketing because its main competitors (Microsoft and every PC maker on PCs and every other phone maker - Nokia excepted because of its recent suicide - in the smartphone space), taken together, outspend them by a huge margin (quite possible by orders of magnitude) So, marketing is also something you need when your competitors spend more on that than in product development. Because if they spent in developing better products, you'd have to relocate your marketing resources into building some real value. Also, Apple is expanding its business with its two app stores and pay for content revenue streams, so, we should expect large marketing expenditures to increase market awareness. Oh. And before I forget, deciding whether you'll make a great product or a crappy-but-adequate one (or even one so crappy people are embarrassed to admit they bought it) is also part - and an important one - of your marketing strategy.
macco 16y ago
Marketing is not Advertising. Google has a hell of a marketing team. The whole Customer Development movement is in essence only about marketing. Knowing your customer, developing the right product, choosing the right price and communicating this to the customer.

by tybris 16y ago

Google was the biggest search engine long before it ever advertised itself. Amazon was the biggest online retailer long before it ever advertised itself. Both of them still only do so very sparingly.

TillE 16y ago

> Amazon was the biggest online retailer long before it ever advertised itself Was it? I really can't remember how I first heard of Amazon, but I do remember some TV ads fairly early in its existence.

michael_dorfman 16y ago
Amazon actually advertised fairly aggressively in the New York Times (among other places, I imagine) in the mid-90s, which was critical to their becoming the dominant online bookseller.

evansolomon 16y ago

Coke is the biggest soft drink. Apple is the biggest consumer electronics company. Both advertise like it's the freaking antidote. No need to paint every company with the same brush. Different tasks, different tools. The "we don't do marketing" thing is both unnecessarily extremist and usually a lie. See Square for a very recent example.

rbanffy 16y ago
I think Apple has to spend lots on marketing because its main competitors (Microsoft and every PC maker on PCs and every other phone maker - Nokia excepted because of its recent suicide - in the smartphone space), taken together, outspend them by a huge margin (quite possible by orders of magnitude) So, marketing is also something you need when your competitors spend more on that than in product development. Because if they spent in developing better products, you'd have to relocate your marketing resources into building some real value. Also, Apple is expanding its business with its two app stores and pay for content revenue streams, so, we should expect large marketing expenditures to increase market awareness. Oh. And before I forget, deciding whether you'll make a great product or a crappy-but-adequate one (or even one so crappy people are embarrassed to admit they bought it) is also part - and an important one - of your marketing strategy.

macco 16y ago

Marketing is not Advertising. Google has a hell of a marketing team. The whole Customer Development movement is in essence only about marketing. Knowing your customer, developing the right product, choosing the right price and communicating this to the customer.