Ipad Killer?

Posted June 16: 

Mircosoft made a ton of noise yesterday about their impending announcement that will take place on Monday June 18th in Los Angeles. It only took a few more hours for the story to leak that their announcement will most likely be about the release of a new tablet they’ve been developing. The quote that’s been floating around the internet goes a little like this: “[An] individual with knowledge of the company said that Microsoft would introduce a…tablet at the event…put[ting] the company in direct competition with giant rival Apple.” Along with rumors of a new Mircosoft Office Suite and the tablet carrying Windows 8, we at Two Twelve Direct have come to a conclusion.

Our conclusion is not about what Mircosoft is going to say at their big conference on Monday, rather, about how they are saying it now. Give Mircosoft credit for their Apple-like attempt at creating a story around the release of this new product. It’s no secret to those in the marketing world that everything Apple does around a new release is planned down to the very last detail, even the ”accidental” leaving of a iphone prototype in a coffee shop (the first time!).

An iPad Killer! Killer, what a buzz word! And most likely thought up by someone in marketing at Mircosoft and then leaked to a blogger. But that’s ok! That’s what they are supposed to do! It means Mircosoft is on the right track. They know they need to create interest in their new product by creating a story around its awesome power to defeat, nay, slay the evil Apple iPad. As we have mentioned in previous posts, the success of this product will ultimately depend on design, an area where Apple has consistently out-witted them. Functionality/technology is not main factor in the American consumers purchase decision any longer. referring to this new undescribed product as an iPad Killer was an amazing idea because just using the word “iPad” evokes feelings of great design. This leads us to believe that the only way this new product could “kill” the real iPad is by having a way cooler, simpler, design and user interface.

Either way, Mircosoft figured out that it was going to need a lot more than the product specs to create genuine interest in a new tablet and took their main competitor head on. We aren’t sure anyone can “kill” the iPad, but we definitely want to see how this story plays out, and we bet you do to.