Brands, celebs and tech — perfect partners?
Today’s major tech launches abound with brand tie-ins and celebrity speakers, such as Kim Kardashian West, who spoke recently at Re/code’s Code/Mobile conference. A good fit between technology brand and partner can lead to a boost for both parties, but the strategy is not without its pitfalls…
A tech launch is big news nowadays, sparking a flood of headlines, speculation and social media chatter before, during and after the day itself. Apple’s events are perhaps the most high profile, but the likes of Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Samsung, Amazon and others can all pull in the crowds too (virtually speaking at least — actually getting in the room for these occasions tends to be rather difficult). There are exceptions — Google’s new Nexus 6 was announced via a blog post — but most new gadgets and major software releases now come with a launch event attached.
In 2014 we’ve seen major on-stage reveals for a whole slew of products, from the Apple Watch to Android Lollipop, and these events tend to all feature similar details: executives in casual attire passing the baton from demo to demo, shiny promotional videos made in a world where smartphone connections are always rock solid, sly digs at the efforts of the competition, and so on. Another staple of the tech launch event often comes at the end of the occasion: the brand or celebrity tie-in, designed to add some pizzazz to proceedings or to take advantage of what is a unique advertising opportunity.
As you’ve probably heard by now, Apple most recently went for U2 to lend its September event some rock star credibility, though the link up wasn’t an unqualified success. Last year, Lenovo and Ashton Kutcher joined forces, and the actor regularly appears at product launches and events, as well as raising the profile of Lenovo’s operations across the world. Intel, meanwhile, has previously enlisted the help of musician Will.i.am in designing, launching and promoting products; and most recently it turned to The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons to front its upcoming Christmas advertising campaign. Intel wants to use him to help “revitalise the brand”, chief marketing officer Steve Fund told the New York Times.
Alongside the celebrity faces, brand tie-ins also play a significant role at many tech launches. Consider Nike, a high-profile partner for Apple (Apple CEO Tim Cook also sits on the Nike board) and usually featured prominently in demos and presentations whenever Apple has a new product to show off. Get your name in front of millions of eyes during an Apple demo, and that can lead to a boost in profile: the brand or celebrity becomes part of the conversation, leading to a huge spike in social media mentions and news coverage. The Apple Watch isn’t on sale until 2015 but thanks to the launch event we’ve already seen apps from American Airlines, Nike, Starwood Hotels and BMW demoed on stage — these are the apps and brands being mentioned whenever the wearable happens to be discussed (which is a lot of the time).
From most angles, these kind of partnerships and tie-ins are win-win for all involved, but there are potential pitfalls to weigh up as well. Get the mix right and both the technology company and the partnering brand expand their audience; get the mix wrong and you risk alienating followers on both sides of the fence. That’s why Apple, Google, Microsoft and the others will often partner with firms or individuals who share a common philosophy and set of values — signing up a hip video blogger to promote your unspectacular new gadget will certainly open it up to a new audience, but if the combination is too jarring and said blogger’s fans are too young to afford your product anyway, it’s a waste of time. Choosing a tech company to partner with is not unlike finding the right television station to advertise on.
Many new products — particularly from the likes of Google and Microsoft — first see the light of day at developer conferences rather than dedicated press events, which changes the emphasis somewhat. Nevertheless, brand partnerships are still an important part of proceedings when the room is full of coders rather than journalists: as Google launched its Fit health platform at the I/O conference in June, one of the presentation slides was filled with a list of partnering companies. Adidas, Nike, Motorola, Intel and HTC were some of the names benefitting from the exposure on technology sites all across the web, and for the companies involved the worry is that if they don’t appear in these slots then one of their competitors will.
Re/code’s recent Code/Mobile conference had as one of its guest stars Kim Kardashian West — while she didn’t have much to say about the finer points of developing applications for mobile devices, she does have a huge following on the popular social networks, and uses mobile apps to make a living through them (not just as a diversion when there’s time to kill waiting for the bus). Again, it was a tie-up that made a lot of sense: it earned a lot more exposure for Re/code’s technology conference and gave Kardashian West a boost in terms of being taken seriously as an entrepreneur. As someone with a professional interest in Twitter and Instagram, and with several mobile apps to her name, she did have genuine insights to share, something that’s not always guaranteed when a celebrity is involved with an event. Apple and U2 took some flak for appearing to force a free album on iTunes users, but the rock band’s appearance did at least make sense: it’s a partnership that stretches back several years and Apple traditionally has a strong interest in music.
There’s always the danger that brand managers or high-profile individuals are going to associate themselves with a dud, but these types of partnerships have enough potential to offset the risk — you can expect to see the brand tie-in play a big part in the technology launches and conferences of the future. The next time that Apple, Google or any of the other big names have something new to show off, pay close attention to the brands that are involved: they may tell you something more about the host companies.
This piece was written by David Nield and originally published on brandperfect.org.
