Interesting article by William Gallagher for AppleInsider describing the seemingly unfocused approach to marketing and advertising that Apple is taking for the Apple Vision Pro:

[…] you get best results by either choosing what was called a rifle-shot approach, or a spray-and-pray one. Apple has chosen neither for the Apple Vision Pro.

Apple can’t do spray-and-pray because Apple Vision Pro is so expensive that it’s got a self-limited audience. Before that audience even considers whether there is a value to them in buying the headset, that audience has to be one that can afford $3,499 or more.

But Apple also can’t do rifle shot, or at least not very well, because there is no one defined audience for Apple Vision Pro.

The article continues on to describe the approach that Apple has taken since introducing the device at WWDC 2023 and concludes that this unfocused approach is unusual for a highly effective marketing machine.

My opinion is that Apple doesn’t need to be perfect at this point in time. They know they have an amazing product in their hands, opinion that has been mirrored by many different third parties, some of which while being less enthusiastic are still very positive on it.

I don’t doubt that Apple could make a more focused argument of what the killer app is for the Apple Vision Pro. But they don’t seem to need to, as they sold out of approximately 180k units very quickly.

And I’d go even further and say that it’s all planned. The article reminds us of when Apple launched the Apple Watch they tried to aim it as a luxury fashion statement and that approach flopped terribly until they found their groove as a fitness device.

This is Apple learning from that mistake, let the early adopters help them figure out where the biggest strengths are, and launch a more focused campaign when they have a more accessible second generation Apple Vision device.