I’ve been discussing brand loyalty with Ryan today. When I started shooting Prizefight, I knew that once in a while I’d get pissed off emails from people because I chose a product they didn’t like. Two prime examples of this were the iPod vs. Toshiba Gigabeat S and the Nintendo DS vs. Sony PSP battles. Nintendo, Apple and Sony are probably the three brands I would think of when the word “fanboy” is mentioned, and ooooooh boy did I ever hear from those Apple/Nintendo fans when I picked the other product. No, the irony is not lost on me that those are two of my favorite companies.
I’ve had my moments of super fangirliness. However, I do think I’ve become a little more well-rounded since working at CNET, but mainly because I’m just exposed to so many different products. Or maybe I’ve just become jaded… anyway, I digress. I’ve never really been exposed to such irrational and borderline irate brand loyalty since I started shooting this show! I’ve had people write point-for-point counter arguments on the entire segment, just to (in their minds) convince me that I’ve made a mistake. It’s amazing!
Like I said before, I find it especially funny because half the time I pick against the product I actually own. Not sure why it keeps happening that way (at least they can’t say I’m playing favorites!) but it drives me INSANE when they say it’s because I don’t know what I’m talking about. Puh-leaze. The small consolation is that I know, had I chosen the other way, I’d get the same emails from different people yelling at me for not chosing the product they love!
I do like that maybe some people will actually see that there’s another gadget out there that they might like better than the one they’re conditioned to like. Maybe I’m opening some eyes, who knows? More likely I’ll just continue to stir up the hornet’s nest. I’m ok with that.
Sorry, this has turned into a mini-rant. I don’t use this blog often to complain about my “feelings” on things (this is no LiveJournal) but I hope you don’t mind. Got any good brand loyalty stories? Ever feel like you buy things just because it said “Apple” or “Sony” on it? We’re all guilty!
About
I am the co-host of Revision3's tech-centric show, - Aaaaand it's back. Life resumes as normal, carry on. ;) 3 hrs ago
- More updates...
Blogroll
- Andrew Mager
- Ariel Waldman
- Arlo Jamrog
- Bros Before Blogs
- C.K. Sample III
- Casey McKinnon
- Dan Stapleton
- Dizzy Miss Lizzy
- Dvorak Uncensored
- Eddie Codel
- Engadget
- Eric Lin
- ExtraLife
- Felicia Day
- GigaOM
- Inhabitat
- James Kim Technology Foundation
- Jason Calacanis
- Jason Howell
- Jeremy Toeman
- Jim Louderback
- Joshua Topolsky
- Joystiq
- Kids for Greater Good
- Lan Bui
- Laughing Squid
- Molly Wood
- Neha Tiwari
- Niall Kennedy
- Nick Rhodes
- Nicole Lee
- Osaka Steve
- Peter Rojas
- Rifftrax Blog
- Rodrigo Hashimoto
- Ryan Block
- Sticks and Stones
- Tantek
- The Sword and Laser Book Club
- The Unofficial Apple Weblog
- Tom Merritt
- Witfits
- WoW Insider
Podroll
Archives
Friendfeed
- Ohhh Google Reader redesign just hit. Very stark! Kind of wish I could use themes there too. (via Twitter)
- While I largely agree with Pogue's review of the Blackberry Storm, the one line that got me was "A BlackBerry without a keyboard is like an iPod without a scroll wheel." Oh, you mean like an iPod Touch? (via FriendFeed)
- Fiber to the Home — For $10,000 (via Google Reader)
- H&M to Launch Homewares Collection in 2009 (via Google Reader)
- In a shocking turnaround, FriendFeed is down. And then hell froze over. http://skitch.com/earlysound/7uy3/friendfeed (via Twitter)
- Aaaaand it's back. Life resumes as normal, carry on. ;) (via Twitter)
- We've all had days like this, I'm sure: http://buzzfeed.com/scott/dumb-dog/ (via Twitter)
- Flickr Upgrades its Mobile Interface (via Google Reader)
- Has anyone else seen this weird Facebook spam? (via FriendFeed)
- Qore will be free this month! So if you haven't seen it, nows your chance :) http://bit.ly/2Evc (via Twitter)
Categories
- apple (55)
- apps (23)
- babble (154)
- cats (4)
- ces (8)
- food (5)
- funny (77)
- internet (94)
- mahalodaily (11)
- music (17)
- news (54)
- out and about (50)
- podcast (47)
- qore (4)
- san francisco (20)
- sci-fi (8)
- swordandlaser (2)
- sxsw (6)
- toys (41)
- uncategorized (2)
- video (77)
- video games (44)
- work (77)
18 Responses for "Loyalty"
There’s nothing you can do to make everyone happy. And those that complain will never stop nor understand the delima you’re faced with each time until they become a public figure themselves. Just part of the circle of life!
I think the trick is just to know how to filter good feedback you can actually use to improve the show versus the unintelligent boos and hisses.
Like you said on the Cowon A2 vs. Archos 604 prize fight, is YOUR personal oppinion, and every one if allowed to have their own. Even the Nintendo Fanboys….so just be glad that it is your oppinion and NOT theres who gets to be on CNET TV!!
wow! I have the same name as the first guy who comment on this. this is a different george by the way.
It is really disappointing when someone is ridiculing the brand that you are loyal on. I, myself, is a sony fan. i like sony brand and i prefer sony than most other products. However, like you v, i am well rounded. I don’t get mad because someone has a different opinion than me. i just mind my own business and try to appreciate other products.
Sony Rocks! He He. The ONLY brand I am loyal to is Sony - which is somewhat ironic as all the stuff I have bought from them in the last year or so has broke and required fixing - including my VAIO FS.
It has broken four times inside nine months so I’m going to replace it - with a Sony VAIO SZ.
Some people never learn and others are like.no.other!
Coincidence? I don’t think so!
wow, quite an interesting post to read with my bagel and coffee (god, how NY-er am i). the way i see it is no matter what product we choose, there’ll always a demographic we’ll manage to unwittingly piss off. its just a matter of keeping a open perspective on things…puts yourself ahead of the fanboys/girls who are one-sided. i was shocked when you chose the toshiba gigathingy, but you proabably looked at countless gadgets anyway…i just saw about 3 before buying my first ipod mini many years back, and i’m a big apple fan…just not a fanboy. when it comes to a product, i buy based on specialty. like if i get a camera, i buy one from a brand that specializes in them…like Canon, not Proctor-Silex. I’d say my only fan-ism came years ago when Sony released the now-defunct Clie TJ37 PDA. it had alot of hype that palm never had and other hype. after the pda was discontinued i felt abandoned but i knew it was my fault for bieng fanboy-ish. if any fan-ism resides in me, it’s with Apple…but i can control it :-)…trust me
I’m totally guilty of brand loyalty purchases…and then afterwards I look at what i’ve done and sulk for weeks wishing I hadn’t been fooled by the marketing department. I don’t think i’d have the balls to call someone out for choosing a different product than the one I own though. That seems a little, uh, INSANE!
See, this is what happens when you push people out of their comfort zone…
We all get wrapped up (without really knowing it) in the idea that our world, and the things we have come to value in it are well informed reasoned decisions, and that logically we have made the correct choice. We forget that there are other people, with different wants and needs also sharing this blue and green sphere, and that maybe, just maybe, the idea of Tekken is more appealing to some than the idea of MarioKart.
And let’s face it-this is the little stuff in a lot of ways. Thankfully! Can you imagine what people would do if they were fanboyish about politics, health, dating advice, or *gasp* religion? I can’t imagine the atrocities that would be carried out in the name of some of these things….
Course, I heard there’s a few books on that
Stay the course V!
You go Girl…..lol.
-grin
p.s. you know we know you know what your talking about. but they dont know we know you know and you know what we know all bout what u talkin bout,
well that didnt make sense but watever
I used to purchase all Sony products just because it was Sony. I guess I do it because I thought it meant build quality and design quality was above the rest. Maybe it isn’t that way for Sony anymore… I am still guilty of that thought by purchasing Apple products.
It is based on personal preference and experience. If I owned a product that I swear by and it has never let me down I’d be willing to recommend that to a friend. The reason for the product working great is maybe by the stroke of a higher power’s grace that I got the one unit off the assembly line that was perfect, the friend might have gotten one that was less perfect and would never recommend it. It’s life… But the prize fight video off Cnet is great… I wish there was a way just to filter out certain videos on Cnet though. Like ones for Buzz Report or Prizefight, and have it on my que.
Keep up the good work. I really can;t believe people actually tell you that you don’t know what you are talking about. If anyone listen to BOL or any of your other vid-casts they should realize that you’re rather informed.
Manical - you can! In CNET TV (www.cnettv.com) you can make playlists with certain shows. You just need to register.
Dear Dweeby,
Guilty as charged, I visit the Apple website on a daily basis …
I think people write so that they can interact with you, don’t take it the bad way. You’re probably the most adorable geek they have ever seen and you’re actually interested in the same things that they are.
They dream about playing Nintendo, PSP or that Warcraft thingy that you do with you. Don’t take it personally, but if you can’t help it, try to enjoy it ? You’re doing a great job!!!!
Well, I’ve been known to be fanboyish at times too, and I was shocked when you picked the company you don’t get fangirlish over on the podcasts, but it just means you weren’t being biased. And you give lots of explanation as to why you pick what you pick so overall I think you’re doing an awesome job and I look forward to more prizefights.
Although I am wondering what will happen if a product ever wins the first 2 rounds of the prizefight, will it just end there or will you make sure that never happens?
I had serious buyers remorse when I chose a Dell 2407 LCD over the 23″cinema display. Believe me, I had several arguments with myself regarding the pros and cons of each before I went against my brand loyalty.
I tend to like Apple products more than others for various reasons, but I’m the first one to admit that there are other good products out there. In fact, because of your first Prizefight, I considered purchasing a Gigabeat S. (I stuck with iPod, for a number of reasons, but not because I’m blind to the idea that other companies make good products, too.) Anyone who tells you that you don’t know what you’re talking about hasn’t been listening to BOL or MP3 Insider for very long. You clearly know your stuff, you have excellent product insight, and just by virtue of the fact that you’re “into” tech as much as you are is good enough qualification to have a valid opinion.
Just hit ‘Delete’ on those emails. It’s not worth the aggravation.
Keep up the great work!
Don’t know if you say that in USA.
But in those situations I just say that you can´t please greeks and trojans…
I just bought a Gigabeat partially because of what you wrote for that one column. It’s a good deal when your school has a deal with CTrax that charges you just $5 a month for unlimited subscription downloads…. Okay, and the Not-An-iPod factor. It’s turned out pretty well so far. You WERE right about not liking the side buttons. That was actually one of the reasons I bought it, since I wanted dedicated volume buttons so I can use the thing when it’s in my pocket, instead of accidentally hitting the center button on my iPod and seeking instead of changing the volume. That annoyed the hell out of me. However the side buttons actually turned out to be— well, maybe I’m just not acclimated to the whole side buttons thing. I still haven’t tried it. Case hasn’t arrived it, so I’m not sticking that thing in my pocket.
And come on! You did the Gigabeat vs Creative Zen thing, not vs iPod, and the only two categories you rated the Gigabeat higher in was the Sexiness category (which was no contest) and “Sound and Science”. What exactly is there to complain about there?
Oh, just realized that you said “Shot a segment”. There’s a video version of prizefight? Where is it?
I also like how they put that you were the podcast diva… hahaha, is that because you have so many male fans?
Yes, David, I have an almost weekly show called “Prizefight” that I shoot for CNET TV (www.cnettv.com). If you go there and do a search for Prizefight, you’ll find all of them!
Leave a reply