Blog 5: Apple's Past

In chapter three, Jon Steel discusses the factors that influence research that isn’t useful for advertising. He concludes the chapter by stating that although research is important, it is not always necessary or the answer to a company’s problem. OWL Purdue in the “Basic Research” reading simply summarizes the types of research that can be conducted and key points on how to properly research.

            Under the section “Pop” Research, Steel briefly describes the way that marketers spend more time and money chasing after trends or people that they do not necessarily understand or necessarily even exist. I believe this was the case for Apple in 1996. Although this particular market failure is not well known, it is important to understand why it failed. In 1996, Apple entered the videogame console market with the release of the Apple Bandai Pippin. The console was meant to function as a network computer and a CD-based gaming console. The crippling factor in this situation is the fact that Apple/Bandai did not understand their target consume base, like Steel mentioned. Although they researched the product and assumed they could have the upper hand in a saturated market by advertising the console as a network computer, Apple did not take into account a major consumer factor. The Internet was not widely used yet and therefore the population was illiterate to such feature in the Pippin. Hence neither Bandai nor Apple understood that marketing the Pippin as computer/videogame console would not appeal to the American population. Another important factor that made the Pippin a failure was its price tag. Bandai/Apple released the Pippin with an astonishing starting price of $599. During this time period, marketing a product with this price tag to the American population would be difficult and as proved with the Pippin, the product would most likely fail. Apple and Bandai made the mistake of not balancing innovation and marketing. Although they spent money creating a product to chase consumers they thought they understood, they did not take the proper time or money to actually understand their consumer. Although Apple created a product ahead of its time, they did not understand the consumer of the time.

 

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Bandai Pippin Museum & Archive." Bandai Pippin Museum & Archive. Pearl City Networks, n.d.Web. 21 Sept. 2012.