I'm not a marketing guy, so I have no idea what I'm talking about here, but shouldn't a call to action include an <i>action</i>? Something like (again, not a marketing guy): get yours today! If the iPhone 5 banner is considered a call to action by marketing people, the term doesn't seem that useful.
Complete bullshit. If Apple had put a shady HTML form it would have been the same. People in the east cost put their alarm clock at 3am, I don't think the design of the page made them change their decision
Wouldn't they have sold out no matter what? I mean all they have to do is produce less devices than they have orders. It's not as if you can buy one today, or can you?<p>So wait one day, get 10 million orders or whatever, call Foxconn and order 9.9 million devices. Bingo, another headline for Apple.
Great post and detailed analysis Josh.<p>Thomas - While the design/layout/marketing elements may not have had an effect on the loyal zealots setting their alarm clocks early, it certain did help convince those who were on the fence about the upgrade 9not saying it's right - I'm an Android/Linux user myself and will never buy into the heard mentality - but it keep making Apple money.<p>The key lesson here is what elements works well and how you can reapply them to other industries and products.
"Visually the link is below, but the entire section and image is a link."<p>The only thing that will accomplish is inadvertent clicks. Are you going to sell something as expensive as an iPhone <i>because</i> of an inadvertent click?<p>I get quite annoyed if I click somewhere to gain focus or something and is taken to another page because of it. I can't imagine it doing any good and cherry picking it as good design seems quite convoluted.
Amazing how a couple of words in a headline can affect the discussion on the article. Read it as "Good analysis of Apple's iPhone 5 website marketing." Yes, they would have still sold out on day one if they'd had a page with just a "Buy Now" button, an "Under Construction" gif, and a "Netscape Now!" badge, but these marketing pages will be up for a year or so.