Apple's Retail Site Makeover

Presumably this retail site makeover is new (MacUser claims it is). I visited the retail site two days ago and didn't see anything like what's there today.

The site has more energy, more motion and more community pull. The layout and marketing messaging is thick in two areas: Apple Store employees are ready to help, and the retail stores are places to belong, to find community.

This marketing tagline is self explanatory: "Gather. Learn. Create." The hidden connotations in the tagline and text: Be somebody. Don't be a couch potato. Says the narrator of the Apple Store guided tour video: "Your Apple store plays a vibrant role in the community as a gathering place."

Apple Store employees are pictured wearing those colored T-shirts so recently introduced. Orange (isn't it Tangerine?) is for concierge. Turquoise is for Apple specialist. Dark Blue (Midnight, perhaps?) is for Apple genius (also personal trainer).

For a company that's supposedly so cool, there's something really nerdy about those colored T-shirts. I immediately think of nerds taking class notes with four-color Bic pens—or they did when I was in high school. Maybe today the nerds type notes on laptops in different colors or (gasp) varying fonts.

Anyway, the marketing is outstanding.

Posted by Joe Wilcox on May 14, 2008 1:12 PM