No E-Mail, No Customers

You may recall that Apple’s only publicity about its new stores comes from e-mail to registered Apple users in the region, one week before the store opens. Prior to that, Apple’s PR team steadfastly refuses to say anything about specific stores, or to even acknowledge they exist (even though the backlit-logo is burning brightly!). No radio, no TV, no newspapers, no magazines, no Web page, no blogs… etc. So what happens if the e-mail doesn’t get sent? Ask the crew down at the new Beverly Center store, where the Nov. 19th grand opening crowd was tiny (they didn’t even hand out all 1,000 commemorative T-shirts!), and the Black Friday shoppers could be counted on just a few fingers. Apparently the e-mails generate the buzz, that leads to word-of-mouth, which leads to shoppers.