iPod mini Burnout

I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of hearing about the iPod mini. Mind you, I love the thing and I don’t even have one. I think that the mini was the perfect next step in the evolution of the iPod line of products. How brilliant of Jobs and Co to introduce colors! Just like they did for the glorious iMacs of the mid-90’s. Now my plain ol’ white iPod looks bland in comparison. I guess white was last year’s beige. But with all the hooplah, “Hot Gadget of the Year”, “Must-Have of the Summer”, “Savior of the Earbudless Ears”, I am afraid that the mini is getting overexposed.

Don’t believe me? Google, “Free iPod Mini” and you will find thousands of listings. Fly 3 Round Trip Flights on Song Airlines and get a Free iPod mini. Sign up on Sonic Youth’s website and win a Free iPod mini. Get an oil change at Hank’s Automotive and win a Free iPod mini. Really the only worthwhile contest for an iPod mini has been the Triple Crown Giveaway on iPodlounge. But the fine people at iPodlounge, for obvious reasons deserve to give one away. (Kudos BTW to Dennis and the gang for a great, well organized, promotion.)

As a professional in advertising and marketing, I realize the appeal of giving away something like a mini. After all, they are in high demand, they have a perceived value higher than their $249 price tag, they are regarded as the hot thing, and they are appealing to all audiences. I admit, that I have brought up the Mini as a compelling offer option for a promotion in concept presentations.

The beauty of the mini is you don’t have to sell the category. People now know what an iPod is. People now know what a digital portable music device is. For god’s sake, my father, who is the furthest thing away from cutting-edge, knows about iPods.

I don’t think there has ever been a product more marketable for promotions than this. The portable DVD player is coming close but with competition and such a wide marketplace, there is not one single model that differentiates itself from the pack. 10 years ago, the Palm Pilot was a hot item. But PDA’s did not appeal to a wide enough audience. They were mostly used for tradeshow giveaways, and business promotions. With a mini, anybody with ears could perceivably use one. So can you blame a company for using it’s mass appeal to get customers?

I don’t know.

But what troubles me is I’ve seen this before. When Volkswagen started rolling their new Beetle off the assembly line, it was the hot new thing. It was different. It was colorful. It was hard to get. And it had a brilliant advertising campaign around it. Soon, all over town you saw Beetles zipping through town with company logos plastered all over them. Then you saw promotions where you could win a Beetle. But after a few months the Beetle was overexposed. The PT Cruiser and the Mini Cooper were not far behind in the rise and fall of “Hot” status. Of course for those who got one of those cars don’t care about overexposure. They have a car. No matter what people think about them, they can still drive their car around town.

I will not fool myself into thinking the iPod mini is like a car. But the quick overexposure as the “Hot Thing” could burn out the Mini’s staying power in the marketplace. Of course if you have one, you still have a great portable music player. So why do you want one? For the music? Or the cache of owning the hot thing of the moment?