Timing Product Releases, Retail Strength Key to Growth
| by Joe Leo, Columnist |
continued... from: previous page
Arriving into the City by the Bay, just shy of 5:00p, approximately 99 people were already in line. Yes, we counted. That made us number 100. That meant 400 more people could line up to get a free T-shirt since the first 500 customers into the Apple Store that night would get a free shirt to commemorate the Leopard release event.
And if that's the only thing that people came here on this night to line up for--a free T-shirt--then that gimmick alone might get someone to buy something after walking into the store and looking around for awhile... established Mac user or not.
In fact person number 101 was Ken Ray, a Mac journalist himself. You may know him from his daily podcast, "Mac OS Ken" available on his website or on iTunes. In an interview with a group of people behind us, he asked one person why he was there that night.
"I'm actually not buying anything... [just here for] the free t-shirts, let's be brutally honest here." (He could have at least bought a ring from the lady on the street. One person who wasn't happy with the people in line was a Chinese woman who had a jewelry stand setup on the sidewalk. Listen to the 10/29 podcast and you can hear her in the background).
The line which was half a block long started snaking around the entire block. Almost everyone passing by trying to get through the commotion was asking what the line was for. They didn't see the immediate connection to Apple. (Couldn't they see the people using their MacBook Pros with logos lit up, iPhones, or iPods, all in the same line with a common goal?).
One personally asked us about it, and their response was, "Oh, Jesus ______."
Another, a skateboarder who stopped by to see what the fuss was all about asked, "What's everyone lining up for? (Apple's new operating system). Oh, is it free? (No). Oh, everyone just wants one."
A woman who got her answer from someone else, keeps on walking and asks her friend, "What's Leopard?"
Probably a Windows user because of her remark, yet another woman passes by and comments, "Why do they name their operating system??"
As Apple Store employees came by with refreshments for the people in line--from Vitamin water to Starbucks Coffee and hot chocolate--one person asked, "Will there be enough copies for everyone?" to which the employee responded, "You'll see at 6:00p."