Apple is in a hell of a fight -- some say for its very life -- against Google. Google's market share in smart phones is growing by leaps and bounds. And unlike Apple's iPhones, many manufacturers can make Android phones. Google's new version of Android, 2.2, will...

If you want to win consumer fans in technology, the first rule is to do no harm to yourself: If you're Apple, your problem with the iPhone leak would have gone away long ago if you would have let. You reacted defensively, and went on the offense, all at once,...

...is here: "Google actually relies on our users to help with our marketing. We have a very high percentage of our users who often tell others about our search engine." Sergey Brin, Google founder, in November 2000. He said this almost 10 years ago, in Google's early...

As a former Chicago Tribune tech columnist, I've been on the receiving end of thousands of pitches and press releases. Ninety-nine percent of them are not good. Ninety percent of them are really terrible. Why do media relations people blast impersonal, ineffective,...

I can count the technology companies who are excellent at marketing to consumers on one hand: Apple is the best marketer of any company in any business. I'm going to chalk the negative last few months -- Gizmodo, Ellen, etc. --  up to poor reactions to events outside...

We're very lucky in our business, because more than in any other industry, we have a built-in consumer following. Like sports. Some companies enjoy die-hard fans: Apple, RIM, yes, even Microsoft. Other companies simply have fair-weathered, uncommitted fans: Samsung....

Technology is like sports: there are fans who follow the developments in our industry as though it were a sports league that included their favorite local team. Are you leveraging your fans, be they fair-weather or die hards? More on this tomorrow.

You know your target market. You know their gender, age, and probably their income. You know where they shop and how often. You know what they watch, listen to, and where they get their news. But do you know what they think about your style of products?! Do you know...

What unconventional and underutilized platforms are available to you to touch, teach, educate and energize consumers? Three Supporting Bullets: Your packaging Your product manual The radio (Yes, the radio. People still really listen!) There are many more...What are...