Filed under: iPod Family
Just say iDon't to iPods
SanDisk has launched iDont.com, a viral marketing campaign to get people to stop using iPods and start using SanDisk's MP3 players. The site features images of sheep and robots sportin' iPod earbuds to show that you are a mindless fool for buying an iPod (the first rule of marketing: insult your target audience). The site doesn't really make any compelling arguments as to why you should give up your iPod, but why shouldn't we trust SanDisk? They're completely impartial, right?
[via Engadget]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
blackout said 2:39PM on 5-22-2006
no market share = people get desperate...
idiots, just give up.
they have to be 4 years behind what apples selling.
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Silver said 2:42PM on 5-22-2006
I think you mean "SanDisk."
And the sheep comment would apply if everyone were to buy a crappy product with no rational reason (um, like Microsoft Windows?). But the iPod is simply the superior product. What part of buying what's best equates to groupthink?
Yes, some MP3 players have an additional feature or two, have some extra battery life, or cost a few bucks less, but overall the iPod is currently the best thing going. Period.
The SanDisk brand is hardly cool enough to appeal to the rebel niche anyway. Nice try though. What's that smell? I think it's desperation...
I can't wait until Microsoft attacks the rebel angle with Urge. "Buy music from Microsoft. Be a rebel. We're the hip underdogs." It would be funny if it weren't sad.
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Woody Sabran said 2:42PM on 5-22-2006
I think these ads are awful... the whole concept is so cheap. Bad ads and bad products!
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Peter Kirn said 3:04PM on 5-22-2006
Now, wait a second . . . try marketing by depicting people who don't buy your product as lemmings? Where have we, cough, heard that before?
Anyway, I don't think people DO seriously consider iPod's competitors, this discussion being evidence of that. The SanDisk players, for instance, have removable storage so you can easily expand their capacity, which is pretty cool, and recording capabilities sorely lacking on the iPod. That's not saying you can't go get an iPod, but I don't think the iPod is just the superior product.
Of course, lame and poorly conceived viral marketing is unlikely to help. :)
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philip said 3:09PM on 5-22-2006
Wait. So, I'm supposed to stop conforming to all the millions upon millions of people that bought an iPod after I did and switch to a product from SanDisk that looks remarkablely similar to the iPod in its form factor. Um..right, not to mention ditch all the "data" I have purchased on iTunes that would not play on my new SanDisk Sansa ipodripoff200. Hey, it has pretty blue circle/light thingy.
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Aaron T. said 3:13PM on 5-22-2006
How many people here bought iPods because everyone else was? Not me. I bought it because of the hisgest ratings of any music player out there, great battery life, and close integration with the spectacular iTunes. Simple to operate, simple to synchronize with my computer, and a great music store. Why would we want anything else?
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Ultim8Fury said 3:19PM on 5-22-2006
Until other peoples players integrate with my car as well as my iPod does, there is no competition.
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Rick said 3:20PM on 5-22-2006
Horrible marketing campaign that will go NO WHERE fast.
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Pablo said 3:23PM on 5-22-2006
You know what, I like it. I'm a long time Mac & iPod user, and fan for that matter, but we have to agree at some point that competition is always good for the customer. In my opinion this is all fair game (remember the Apple/Intel commercial? dull little boxes?... hahahaa; and the current switch ads poking fun at Windows users? Come on, let's not be hypocritical).
I don't feel particularly offended by this either. I just happen to like the same digital audio player as 70% of the people, and for good reasons. Big deal.
As for Sandisk, I think they have a decent product and they better go for some aggressive advertising if they want to make a dent in iPod's market domination. Actually, they're borrowing a page from Apple's book, unlike those pathetic losers at Creative.
So chill out guys, take it with a grain of salt.
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dvddesign said 3:25PM on 5-22-2006
I agree with you Philip?
Why am I the sheep because I bought in early to technology that worked better than the competition?
Yes, my grandmother fits into that category, buying herself a shuffle after I bought the parent's shuffle's for xmas; but they didn't know what they had until they had it. That's what I would see as a defining factor.
You bought the ipod knowing to expect something different, but were blown away by what you actually get.
Believe me, I struggled hard to build a case against the ipod when it came out because it reeked (back in '02) of the "metoo" factor, but I bought one anyway because after I used it, none of the other ones worked as well, IMO.
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funnt said 3:25PM on 5-22-2006
I bought Samsung players because I didn't need to use retarded iTunes to transfer music to and from my player.
iPods are not superior, they have a different set of features than other players that some people like. Frankly iPods do not work well with how I work at all.
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Jeff said 3:26PM on 5-22-2006
Oh, sweet IRONY! Anyone notice in the review of their product (http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2006/03/sandisk-sansa-e200-series-review.php) that the only video codec supported by the device is Quicktime? Niiiice.
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ChrisM70 said 3:29PM on 5-22-2006
I have always believed the best marketing strategies always involve insulting your customer base.
A+ for you, SanDisk!
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bt said 3:32PM on 5-22-2006
This campaign seems weak to me. It's either going to get laughs from the people with iPods, or just be counted as a "Yeah, me too!" among the people who already hate the iPods. Either way, it's not selling any more players.
It seems to me that a lot of players are coming out with the sole promise of "It's not an iPod," and little reason to buy it. I have yet to find a player that is as simple to use as an iPod. And I have actually looked at others and tried using them.
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BJ said 3:34PM on 5-22-2006
I have said many, many times that I didn't buy my iPod because it was an iPod... I bought it because I love iTunes, and that was the only mp3 player that works with it.
I'll say it: I don't *love* my iPod. It has a terrible battery life and why the heck can't I just have an integrated radio tuner?
A friend of mine has one of the top-of-the-line SanDisk players (http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Catalog(1166)-SanDisk_Sansa_e200_Series_MP3_Players.aspx) and it's really very cool. Audio, Video, Pictures, FM tuner, built-in mic, and it's expandable.
I don't, for one second, think the iPod is a "superior" product. I just had little choice in the matter.
The comment made by Silver "...the sheep comment would apply if everyone were to buy a crappy product with no rational reason (um, like Microsoft Windows?)," is pretty damn funny.
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Eli Hodapp said 3:34PM on 5-22-2006
I have a SanDisk Sansa 1GB mp3 player that I use when I go to the gym. It's tiny so I don't notice it, it was cheap so I don't care if I break it. It has a built in FM tuner so I can listen to the gym TV station FM channels they broadcast... and the best feature: It works forever on a single AAA battery instead of requiring a proprietary charger.
Also, to load songs on to it, you plug it in to your Mac or PC, it gets recognized as a flash drive, and you just drag MP3's on to it. No software required.
I also have a 60GB iPod that has my whole MP3 collection mirrored on it. While I appreciate SanDisk's attempt at attempting to knock the iPod from its throne, I doubt it will ever happen, despite the iPods inferior feature set. (At least any time soon.)
"iPod" has become the word people use for any kind of portable digital musical player, similar to how people used "Xerox" instead of "photo copy" back in the day. I don't think even the best viral marketing campaign could change this. The iPod's roots have grown far too deep in to the entire planet's pop culture.
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narco said 3:35PM on 5-22-2006
I'm sure the entire world will forget about this story tomorrow.
Seriously, SanDisk is such a cool company. They're so hip and cutting edge -- look at all the graffiti graphics on their site. So cool and edgy. Pathetic.
Fishes,
narco.
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Eatabagel said 4:02PM on 5-22-2006
#3 said: "I think these ads are awful... the whole concept is so cheap. Bad ads and bad products!"
I think you meant:
I think these ads are awful... the whole concept is so sheep. Baaa ads and baaa products!"
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wastern said 4:08PM on 5-22-2006
anyone find it funny that the "alternative" to the iPod that they offer looks like a rip off of a 1 or 2 G iPod. Maybe their design team should practice some "free thinking" and resist "conformity"
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jaron Whittingham said 4:11PM on 5-22-2006
I like how they say that if you don't like pitchforkmedia then "BAAAAAHHH".
Excuse me, but people that follow PFM are just as stupid as people who buy iPods for the cool factor.
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