Apple iPhone marketing buzz the loudest!

Apple Inc.'s campaign to build excitement about its iPhone may be the most successful marketing effort ever, surpassing the drive to promote Ford Motor Co.'s 1964 Mustang and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95.

The combination mobile phone and music player has generated more pre-sale media coverage than
any other product, says Al Ries, chairman of Ries & Ries, an Atlanta marketing strategy firm.

Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at JupiterResearch in New York, estimates Apple will spend
about $100 million on the introduction, roughly half what Microsoft spent for Windows 95.

“Apple is one of those rare brands that can create mystique around a product,'' says Matt Williams, a partner at Richmond, Virginia-based advertising firm Martin Agency. “They created a buzz that has taken on a life of its own.'' Apple released details little by little, teasing consumers to keep interest high, and followed with its first television spot with the simple tagline “hello'' during the Academy Awards.

That meant much of the hype came from word of mouth, which Apple has mastered since its 1984 introduction of the Macintosh computer. And it made the campaign less expensive.