Thursday, July 22, 2010

Apple Camp

So my 10-year-old daughter is at Apple Camp today for the movie-making class. Am I a little jealous? Well, yes. It really seems like fun, and I kinda want the t-shirt they give the kids.

But underneath the blatant way to get people to come back to the store and be surrounded by everything new and shinny Apple, it is a great way make sure that kids and parents know how to use and get the most form their Macs, and in the long run, build loyalty to Apple products because they can do all of this with an Apple computer right out of the box.

I know Apple has been under fire on the interwebs for being expensive and being "closed" (just do a quick Google of "iphone + flash" and you will get bombarded). But as far as a computer or tech company, the advertising, gorilla marketing, and ability to build brand loyalty has been amazing.

Looking past the physical products and at the marketing plans shows a very diverse process to develop loyal customers.

Aside from the marketing, my daughter is really enjoying the class, and it has been fun for me to watch her learn about story boards, shooting footage, and now editing to create a final product. She spent a lot of time with her little sister shooting the video clips, and she is making her own music video of Justin Beiber's song "Baby" with her little sister and her bitty baby doll. (I'm still working on getting her to listen to music that isn't played on Disney Channel, which is tough when the radio and her friends constantly have it going, but we are making strides. She likes some of Dessa's new songs.)

This has been great for her, and she has been really excited. After it's all done, we'll load it up to share with you.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Video Tour of Bluffs at Nine Mile Creek

I put together a video tour of one of the properties my company manages, the Bluffs at Nine Mile Creek in Eden Prairie, MN. I recorded the video using a Flip camera, and then edited it in iMovie. Not perfect, but it is a beta to show management that video can be a helpful marketing tool for us.

Let me know what you think (besides I took shaky video...)