Maximizing Scarcity: 5 Ways to Take Advantage of Demand for Your Gadgets

Scarcity. It’s a marketer’s dream. It can push demand for products, especially gadgets, to new heights. Seth Godin recently took the time to analyze the release of the iPhone 3G over the weekend, calling out Apple for their failure to maximize the hype and demand for their smartphone. He also lists five principles that makers and marketers would do well to be aware of.

Use the internet to form a queue. “Instead of taxing customers by wasting their time, reward the early shoppers by taking orders online. A month before sale date, for example, tell them it’s coming. If you sell out before ship date, that’s great, because next time people will be even quicker to order when they hear about what you’ve got.”

We recently heard that for the N96, Nokia will be holding an online auction; the winner will get the new flagship mobile “way sooner” than anyone else, while the proceeds will go to a charity. Marketing and philanthropy at its finest, in our opinion.

Give early adopters a reward. “In the case of Apple, I would have made the first 100,000 phones a different color. Then, instead of the buyer being a hero for ten seconds, he gets to be a hero for a year.”

Video game publishers make many of their offerings, especially the highly-hyped ones, available for pre-order. These copies usually come with special treats, like Fallout 3. It’s reasonable to think that gadget makers can apply the same thing to their latest and hottest products.

Treat customers differently. “Apple, for example, knows how to contact every single existing customer. Why not offer VIP status to big spenders? Or to those that make a lot of calls? Let them cut the line. It’s not fair? What’s fair mean? I can’t think of anything more fair than treating the people who treat you well, better.”

Big-time online retailers like US Auto Parts and Amazon make an effort to connect with the big spenders, to provide more value for the relatively large sum they’ve committed. Some telcos also give long-time subscribers, especially those who’ve paid for expensive plans, free phones every renewal period. There are just some examples marketers should stay on top of.

When things happen in real time, you’re way more likely to screw up. “One of the giant advantages of the Net is that you can fix things before the whole world notices. Try to do your rollout in small sections, so you can fix mistakes before you hurt the very people you’re trying to embrace.”

In short, be aware of Murphy’s law. Embrace the reality, and make contingencies. No matter what, something’s bound to go wrong; a prepared person has double or even triple redundancies. In short, act with the worst scenario in mind.

Give your early adopters a forum to celebrate. “A place to brag or demonstrate or show off or share insights and ideas. Amplify the heroes, which is far better than amplifying the pain of standing in line.”

Somewhat related to number 2; you can’t expect every first-time adopter to maintain a blog and share their happiness. Build a forum to express, and they shall come.

On a side note, we’re pretty sure a lot of people felt betrayed when Apple suddenly slashed the price of the first iPhone a couple of months after its much-heralded release. Their irritation was understandable, because instead of being on the cutting-edge, the early adopters became people who spent unnecessarily on what eventually became a cheaper product.