October 6th, 2011 will forever be remembered as the day one of the most prolific CEOs of our time cashed in his chips and headed for greener pastures. The man, Steve Jobs, was the beau ideal of second chances, a shining beacon who demonstrated that with perseverance and courage, one could take on the world and “put a dent on the universe”. His ingenuity and innovation bore fruit from keynote speeches to nifty gadgets which mesmerized and mystified an audience that never stopped asking for more.
A day after the unveiling of the latest iPhone 4S, the shocking news of Steve Jobs’ passing swept across the World Wide Web just when media coverage of the new iPhone was expected to continue to grow in the days following its launch. Tributes from tech journalists and headline news from countless others flooded the media with nostalgia of the first Apple computer they owned, Jobs’ influence and his impact on people’s lives.
Steve Jobs’s death was never going to be a timely one, expected or otherwise, not least for Apple Inc. With the launch of the iPhone 4S the day before his passing, the timing of the two big Apple stories were most unique.
Media Monitors measured the media impact of Steve Jobs’ passing over the iPhone 4S, comparing mentions of Steve Jobs and the new iPhone in Malaysian English and Malay print media coverage between October 3rd and 12th, 2011 (Chart 1).
Chart 1: No. of “Steve Jobs” vs. “iPhone 4S” Mentions on Malaysian English and Malay
Print Media from October 3rd to 12th, 2011
Media coverage of Steve Jobs overshadowed that of the iPhone 4S. The higher volume of mentions of Steve Jobs was most likely because coverage of his passing was not limited to tech news but was covered in world and current affairs news. Mentions of Jobs could also have been bolstered by coverage mostly focused on the iPhone 4S which also mentioned Jobs’ passing. The sum impact, however, was that the overwhelming news of Steve Jobs’ passing took the spotlight off the iPhone 4S.
Charts 2 and 3 below show the trend of iPhone 4S mentions in Malaysian print media coverage and social media respectively.
Chart 2: No. of “iPhone 4S” Mentions on Malaysian Print Media from October 3rd to 12th, 2011
Chart 3: Trend of “iPhone 4S” Mentions on Social Media* from October 3rd to 9th, 2011
*Social media analysis is provided by Brandtology (A Media Monitors Company)
Print media coverage is usually delayed by a day hence the mirrored trend does not appear on the same timeline. The peak in iPhone 4S’ buzz (the term for mentions on social media) occurred on October 5th, the day of its release whereas the peak in print coverage occurs the next day - the day Steve Jobs passed away. News breaking online ahead of print media is particularly telling of the losing battle faced by print media against online in terms of timeliness, no doubt as seen on October 6th.
The two charts above showed the same trend of a peak with coverage of the iPhone 4S release, a dip the day after with the bulk of coverage directed at the passing of Steve Jobs and an upward trend on the following day.
On October 10th, Apple released a press statement on the record-breaking pre-order sales in the US, reflecting the general demand for iPhone 4S and sentiment of consumers over the new iPhone. Brandtology conducted a sentiment analysis on the iPhone 4S from mentions on social media between October 3rd and 9th, 2011 in the following are the results (Chart 4):
Chart 4: Sentiment Analysis of “iPhone 4S” Mentions on Social Media from October 3rd to 9th, 2011
*Social media analysis is provided by Brandtology (A Media Monitors Company)
During the seven-day period, there were 1,848 buzzes (mentions) of iPhone 4S and although the bulk of the social media discussion had “neutral” sentiment (shaded in blue), there was a large proportion in the “very positive” buzz category (shaded in light green).
75 netizens expressed their interests in buying the new Apple iPhone and 40 netizens who pre-ordered them expressed that they were anticipating the arrival of their new iPhone 4S:
“Got my iPhone 4 sold.. Guess I'm getting the iPhone4S next week #winning” - StoKes8723
“Glad I preordered my iphone4s in time!! Apple sold out preorders…” - MISSBEHAVIN35
There were seven netizens who indicated that they would buy the iPhone 4S in honour of Steve Jobs.
“In honour of Steve Jobs I decided to pre-order the new iPhone 4S. #ThankYouSteve” - cool_tweeter
While the publicity garnered by the death of Steve Jobs may have lowered the impact of the iPhone 4S, “very positive” sentiment made up a considerable proportion of the total sentiment – and, judging from the overall publicity garnered from both events in print and social media coverage, the iPhone 4S has already cemented a positive media standing in Malaysia, even before pre-order sales for the iPhone 4S began in the country.
As in the case of cool_tweeter, Jobs’ death probably added sentimental value to the iPhone 4S and just like this blogger, many fans would get the iPhone for more than its features but in memory of its creator (see blog post on “Grief Marketing for Posthumous Success”).
For Apple Inc., Steve Jobs was more than just a CEO, more than an inventor/innovator. He was the identity of the company and the spirit that drew the masses. In publicity terms, he was the rock star equivalent of the tech industry (think Kurt Cobain, Freddie Mercury). The question remains - will Steve Jobs keep selling long after he is gone?
Image (Apple on MacBook) courtesy of markhillary on Flickr under CC Attributions Licensing.
Jonathan Ngin
Research Team Leader, SEA
Asia Media Monitors Sdn Bhd
Jonathan Ngin is the Research Team Leader, SEA with the Media Analysis Team based out of the Kuala Lumpur office. He is a tech enthusiast who is addicted to the media and is an advocate of Integrated Marketing Communications.