Winning Online

With the furor over Apple’s launch of its new Iphone 3G last week, the hunger for information for those who currently hold an earlier Iphone - like myself - was ravenous (maybe a little dramatic).  The 3G version boasted, in short, a faster connection (where available), a cheaper price, a full-scale proprietary application - “apps” - store, and several key but smaller upgrades over its predecessors.  As someone who owns a predecessor, i was especially interested in what i would get out of the deal. 

So where did i go: online.

And online provided me most of everything i would need to know…As i read through early reviews, transcripts and analysis of Apple conference calls, and the words of those bloggers who got their hands on the 2.0 update - as it is called - and traded notes through the blogosphere.  I even found myself coming to grips with a decision when a link was provided for the rogue update in one of the blogs (of course with the caveat that for some it had crashed some iphone systems): to download now or just wait a couple of days until the official rollout (I waited).   As i scoured the search engines and read through the most prominent articles, entries, and forums - the search algorithms telling me what all of the internet’s users deemed the most important - I amassed a comforting 360-degree view of what was to come.  And i mostly came away - without even trying the updates, that would come in a few days - content with my older-version Iphone and assured that the newer updates i would enjoy would more than whet my app(le)etite. 

And when D-Day, Download Day, came, i was all set.  After trying to do it at work - unfortunately Iphones can only keep their content and be updated  on the native computer (found this out online too) - i went home and successfully updated my Iphone to 2.0.  It was a heavenly moment whereby Microsoft Exchange E-mail was officially added to the e-mail listings (along with a host of user-friendly e-mail updates), and a new icon - linking to the applications - was added to the home screen. 

After a day of downloading free games and Iphone-specific applications for FaceBook and MySpace - i have not made the plunge to any paid apps - i wanted to know what everyone else, outside of the early rogue downloaders, felt about the new updates — and the newer Iphone for that matter.

So where did i go: online.

There were plenty of recaps, early returns, and reviews from professionals, bloggers, and Iphone owners.

The power of the online sphere - the internet - is right at everyone’s finger tips.  Brands, campaigns, projects, etc. are defined in moments; they can be buoyed or taken down just as quickly. 

Not every company is Apple, with a built-in loyalty base that can give it its own legs 24/7, but do you have a communications plan online that befits your goals?  Do you monitor the chatter in the blogosphere about your company?  Are you even taking the basic steps, through things like Google Alerts?

These are the kinds of questions we ask and build plans around at Winning Strategies.