That's the reason, the most anticipated releases of all-time; iPhone5 is making half the globe sleepless and Ra.one is making the other half daydream.
So, what the secret? Are they as revolutionary as sliced bread ?!
Well, I'll reserve my judgement on that, but what I can tell you is that both of them are products of the most well-planned, clever, psychographic marketing campaigns ever, with a bit of law of economics applied in as well. Apple with its supply control (whether it be of its products or press releases) and Shah Rukh Khan with its demand generation tactics.
You'd have to agree that the hoopla around iPhone5 is its most sought-after feature. Just look at the success of the "lost in the bar" gimmick that Apple has managed to recreate. And its secretive feature set and release date giving the needed fodder for the gossipmongers that it doesn't even need to spend any more dollars on press events. Agreed its a smartphone that works and even wows occasionally, but the hype quotient is what drives its global domination.
Actually, thanks to Apple's marketing genius, not just their products, certain alphabets and numbers are enjoying an alter-ego. For example, you can put an "i" in front of anything these days and it will instantly sell. My son's school is called iBambini and their books are iBooks. Needless to say, both are a great success. And his best friend remembers her numbers as "2 for ipad, 4 for iphone".
On the other side of the equation is Shah Rukh Khan (SRK as they call him). They say Hollywood used to be about hype, until SRK started producing movies. Now imagine Ra.one (the most expensive project of SRK productions) that too conceptualized by his children. Now, now, A man got to do that much for his kids! So SRK starts marketing the movie even before its shot, nine months ago to be precise. Much like talking about baby names before you are pregnant. (Works for some though.)
Every media known to mankind got to play its role in marketing the Ra.one phenomenon. The Ra.one music release became a TV show. Its website featured a graphic novel to commerate the origins of Ra.one. Its exclusive Youtube channel has SRK with roger rabbit effects. Its song got sung by a Hollywood singer. And its promotions endorsed by Hollywood celebrities. And of course, as a tribute to the Ra.one fanmanship, you get the opportunity of availing Ra.one action figures, video games, Mac Happy Meals, Facebook pages, you name it.
They say it will be hard to remember Ravan with 10 heads..since the one with black and blue suit will be invading your memory (or should I say RAM) soon. I agree. After all, how long can mythology survive the onslaught of marketing dollars! And they say if you're praying to God these days, it should be "God, pls. dont let me die before Oct 26th (the official release date of Ra.one)."
You can see that Apple and Shah Rukh Khan are not leaving a lot to luck. But God, if their upcoming products do end up living up to all the hype, I do wish them some. Because if they draw their hype graphs on the standard trajectory, they would realize that the next generation of iphone can only be marketed as a communication device that would eliminate the need for communication whereas the next Ra.one avataar has to go beyond the final frontier, where no man has ever gone before.
And for the rest of us mortals, just a humble request, "Can we rise above the predictability of our psychographism?"
Note: Written by a Blackberry user and an Aamir Khan fan. ;-)