Categories: Articles

iPod Therefore I Am

I’m just as happy as the next person with my iPod Nano. I’m part of the clan. I’m living the Lovemark.
I’ve also been using this very clever parody – now known as the MS iPod Parody. It’s a highly viral (and funny) video clip of what would happen if Microsoft redesigned the iPod packaging. The clip was originally available at YouTube but is now accessible only through Google Video.
The iPod Observer posted to their Blog on Tuesday: Microsoft Confirms It Originated iPod Box Parody Video.
In the Blog posting there’s this quote:
“Microsoft spokesman Tom Pilla on Tuesday confirmed with iPod Observer that his company initiated the creation of the iPod packaging parody video that was first reported last month. ‘It was an internal-only video clip commissioned by our packaging [team] to humorously highlight the challenges we have faced RE: packaging and to educate marketers here about the pitfalls of packaging/branding,’ he said via e-mail.”
Secrets are hard to keep. I believe one of the theses in The Cluetrain Manifesto is “no secrets – no lies.” It’s getting harder to keep things for “internal use only.”
Joseph Jaffe agrees. Check out his Blog posting on the Microsoft iPod here: Spot the Difference.
I agree with Jaffe – who cares who made it? It works. People are talking about Microsoft, Apple, the iPod, viral videos, YouTube, iPod Observer and much more. We’re hitting an intersection of online marketing services where everything is coagulating into one big program of branding, Blogs, viral marketing, word of mouth marketing, online PR and much more.
What will marketers call this service? Web 2.0 is clearly not going to cut it.
Check out the video that started this all here: Microsoft iPod Parody.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.