Articles

Whenever something new, exciting and revolutionary is introduced to the general public, it's nearly a given that other corporations, companies and interests want to hitch their branding wagon to that train. One such item is the iPod Nano. The Apple iPod transformed the way the whole world thinks about where it takes it music. The iPod was such a popular item, that it reached and is used by every possible segment of the population. So, it didn't take a marketing genius to figure out that all those iPod listeners represent a huge target audience. Many marketers soon moved to be seen and heard with the Apple iPod Nano.

Lots of companies soon tried to associate themselves with the Apple iPod. For example, there were many charities who worked together with the iPod. It was a great way for a charity to appear current by working together with the Apple iPod Nano line as well as reaching a younger, more technologically savvy demographic that it otherwise would not have reached.

However, even though charities recognized the power of the iPod, it was the music industry itself that has taken the greatest advantage of the reach and visibility of the iPod. We all know that the music industry doesn't really like people downloading and listening to music for free on an Apple iPod Nano. Yet, some music executives realized that the iPod is the music player of choice for many people. So, if you aren't working with the iPod, you are working against certain segments of your target audience.

Some bands decided to directly associate themselves with the iPod Nano; U2 being the biggest and most recognizable band to do so. A special U2 version of the iPod was released, and selected songs from an upcoming album were only available to be heard via the iPod. Of course, there was the obligatory super-cool ad campaign featuring the band, the songs and the Apple iPod Nano. Two very important goals were reached because of this. One, of course, was to work together with the Apple iPod Nano to get the music and songs released and introduced to the public. The second goal was that U2 did not appear to be anti-download and embraced the iPod and everything it can do.

Back in the day, there were many bands who did not embrace the idea of downloading musc for free. This had a negative backlash against the image of the band. But, with the advent of the Apple iPod Nano, it is now imperative that if the whole world is going to be listening to this little device, then they might as well be listening to you.