Cisco’s Judo Move (and Apple’s Ouchy)

(Sorry for the no-text feed — I originally posted this from my phone and it did not work.  I’m way late on this story, but it’s a case worth looking at so here it is.)
There is a martial arts move where you use your opponent’s momentum to your advantage. This is exactly what Cisco did with the launch of its iPhone.

Here’s my backward engineering of the launch:

• A couple weeks ago some detailed information on the iPhone started to show up in the blogosphere. Everyone assumed Apple was generating buzz for its Dec 18 launch of the long awaited iPhone.
• Kevin Rose, Digg founder, seemed to have the inside scoop and after a few beers he shared everything he knew (and more) on his videocast which quickly hit YouTube…  and Techmeme… and the buzz escalated.
• Some MSM started to pick up on the story. In fact, around Dec. 4 a client asked me for an example of blogs influencing MSM. I told them about the iPhone buzz and predicted it would hit major media in the coming weeks (if not days). They commented on Apple’s mastery in digital media influence.
• The majority of bloggers assumed Apple was fueling this buzz, but it was hard to confirm since Apple does not blog and did not issue any statements to counter the iPhones rumors.
• This past weekend Gizomodo posted a weird post that said the iPhone would be announced on Monday, but it was not what we all thought it was. That’s all they would say.
• Monday, Dec. 18, the iPhone is announced… by Cisco!

It appears as if Cisco exploited Apple’s “iMomentum” and fan base to make sure techfluencers would be exposed to their new iPhone. More specifically, it appears as if they:

• Locked up the iPhone name long ago before Apple could do it.
• Seeded on-line influencers with info on the iPhone knowing full well Apple watchers would spread it widely and generate some excitement prior to the launch.
• Executed flawlessly and surprised a lot of people who now are aware of the iPhone and its benefits.

It was a brilliant, albeit risky, strategy. Apple could have shut down the whole thing, and I am sure they told anyone who called they were not launching a phone on Monday. But bloggers don’t usually call to confirm. As Scoble pointed out if Apple blogged they could have posted some facts and slowed down the buzz. He also predicts that Apple’s competitors will take advantage of their “no blogging” policy in the future.

I think he’s right.  There is a risk associated with not blogging — it makes it hard to manage issues that break on-line.  At a minimum, corporations should have a blog ready to go should it need one to respond to controversy on-line.  In some case, e-mails and phone calls just won’t hack it.  Let me know what you think.

19 December 2006 | Cases, Product launch | Comments