The Microsoft/Apple comparisons are inevitable - Kin is to iPhone as Zune is to iPod. What killed the Microsoft Kin? Maybe it was pricing, maybe it was a poor product, or maybe the market is just saturated. But their marketing didn't help.
Kin was rolled out with an ad campaign featuring "Rosa," a Kin user of course, going around the country meeting the people in her online social network. The ads ranged from dull to downright creepy.
They didn't say "run out and get this right now." They didn't say "You want this. You need this." They said, "Here's Rosa, and maybe you should be a little worried about her." Even worse, they don't show any remarkable features that you can't get any where else, or even anything you might particularly want to use the Kin for unless you feel like traipsing around the country meeting everyone who's ever poked you on Facebook.
Compare to the iPhone ads.
If that doesn't make you want an iPhone, you're dead inside. The product is beautiful, simple to use, and does everything you want or need and then some, all in one sleek gadget, all presented to you as if you were the user. You can practically feel it in your hands.
Jamie Riddell, the Co-Founder and CEO of Digital Tomorrow Today, says that Microsoft's next entry in the market, the Windows 7 Phone, will be an iPhone killer. He bases that prediction solely on the phone's features. Let's see what they do with the marketing. And I hope Rosa got home okay.
