I've read the reviews. And I clearly don't need one. But I'm getting one.

Experts say that many purchases have an emotional and rational aspect. We know that our emotions dominate our rational thoughts. But when selling anything, we need to give consumers the rational reasons as well - not because this will persuade them - but it allows them to post-rationalise their purchase.

Which leads to this "my wooden floors did cost a bit more, but re-sale value of the apartment is now better and they are easier to keep".

Nothing wrong with that. But I'm going on record to say that I have no rational reason to buy the iPad. I can post-rationalise my iPod, my MacBook and my iPhone. They all serve real needs (in my mind anyway). And I don't think the iPad can do anything new or much better than my other Apple stuff.

The other thing we know is consumers often need permission to buy or own something. For example, in the 1990's lots of men liked Porsche cars but didn't like the image Porsche drivers had.

Anyway, at the digital festival yesterday, digital guru Russell Davies said he was going to get himself an iPad.

And that's all I needed to hear - I've pre-registered for mine.

Wired's 20 favourite iPhone Apps

Wired's 20 favourite iPhone Apps here (staff picks). Dropbox sounds good if you haven't heard of it.

Online video ad

Online video ad from Apple. Nicely done.

Found via Darren at digital agency Brando.

Free coffee if you have an iPhone

I like this.

7-Eleven in Sweden, have developed an app that let iPhone owners get a free coffee and biscotti in their stores. You just plug in your number, get a voucher code and show it to the guy behind the counter. No purchase necessary. It was only valid for one coffee in the month of April. But if you're in Sweden this month - you can get a free ice cream. More here.

Loney Duck produced the app - which also has a store locator.

Found via chroma.

TED Talks...in your pocket

A friend recently told me she had no interest in an iPhone. She just doesn't want one.

But I think she'll come around.

Perhaps when we think about internet on our phones, we still think functional - checking our gmail, searching Google for a phone number or finding other byte-size bits of information. But this really is changing.

The other weekend, as I walked to the local pub to watch the rugby, I listened to Bill Gates talk about ways to stop malaria. I was listening to him on the TED Talks application I downloaded. The app was free. The talk by Bill Gates was free. It was actually a video of Mr Gates talking, but as the iPhone was in my pocket, technically I was listening to it, not watching. But the video quality was great. (I live in the city centre, with 3G coverage.) Bill himself was pretty impressive.

And I couldn't help but think how interesting this is all going to get. Sure, TED is not for everybody. But the internet is perfect for niche interests or hobbies of every kind.

If you use the internet on your computer, you'd like the iPhone. Disclaimer, disclaimer....I sell iPhones. Or more accurately, I advertise them for O2. But my point is less about the iPhone, but rather my ramblings of optimism and enthusiasm for all the new phones on the way that let us have the real internet with us all the time.

If you're still not convinced, have a read of an earlier post 'Free books. And lots of them'.

Create a GPS iphone app for aircoach?

I'm a big fan of aircoach. As I said before, it is definitely a brand I'd miss if it disappeared.

They come regularly. The drivers are polite. The bus is always clean and comfortable. And is decent value. More expensive than CIE bus but a lot cheaper than a taxi. It has my businesss for the foreseeable future anyway.

But while I always use aircoach on my way home from a trip - I don't always get it to the airport. I'm generally in a hurry to catch a flight. The aircoach may arrive on time. But I can't take the risk. So I often get a taxi out.

But if aircoach had a GPS app for my iphone, this would eliminate the risk.

If I could see, on my iphone, that my aircoach is already in Donnybrook, I could calculate how long it would take me to walk to, say, the Leeson St stop and be on the bus.

My dad's response would be to "just leave 30 mins earlier and you'll be fine". He would be right of course. But that's not the point. The reality is I never leave earlier. And am always rushing to the airport. And I'm guessing I'm not the only one. And the important part is - if there were an app, aircoach would have more of my business.

Anybody know how to create one?

P.S. I did see a link for 'live position' on aircoach's site but couldn't access it on my mac or iphone.

Free books. And lots of them.

I tend not to write about the iphone here, because I market it as part of my job. (But I talk about it all the time to friends and colleagues. I'm convinced it has made me a better person. Yes, I'm saying I'm actually a better person because of my iphone.)

Anyway, while traveling over the holidays, I've been listening to audio books on my iphone. I've downloaded - and paid for - books from itunes. Some good. Some not so.

But I've also started to read books on my iphone. A few weeks ago, I downloaded a wonderful (and free) book reader iphone app called Stanza, thanks to a recommendation here from Russell Davies. If you have an iphone, and like to read, take a moment to download Stanza. There are loads of free books to read.

I'm reading the very enjoyable Free Culture, by Lawrence Lessig. You can also find classics like The Art of War, Darwin's On the Origin of Species, The Prince, Dubliners by James Joyce, War and Peace and lots more. You can also buy books. I haven't yet, but read here that nine of the NY Times top ten 2008 bestsellers are available on Stanza too.

Enjoy.

But can great advertising be a substitute for a great product?

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: eco advertising)

I wondered recently if it is possible to build a brand using advertising alone. I'm not sure. One reader suggested that it is possible, but it takes time and is expensive.

But can great advertising be a substitute for a great product? Can average products be successful if their communications are world class? In the long term? I don't actually know. What about this powerful ad for Nike? Not suggesting they are average at all but are Nike runners better than Asics or New Balance? If they are all the same, (and if design is the same) does it come down to better communications or distribution to drive brand affinity?

What about bottled water?

David Taylor blogs at length accusing marketers of focusing too much on the 'sizzle' and not the 'sausage'. He wrote a book last year titled "Never mind the sizzle. Where's the sausage? Branding based on substance. Not spin."

Hamel and Prahalad cite Porsche's dramatic US sales decline in the early 1990s as an example of this. Porsche were living off their famous brand name but were not investing in their cars. Their sales bombed from over 30,000 cars in 1986 to under 4,000 in 1993.

John Grant predicted the demise of image advertising in his 2003 book - 'After Image'. He pointed to examples of brands whose premium advertising no longer worked. For example, Inbev positioned their Stella Artois as 'Reassuringly Expensive', using very visual european cinematic advertising. The reality was it was brewed in northern England and was known widely as 'wife beater'. See 'Where did it all go wrong with the beer they call wife beater?'

In his book, Meatball Sundae, Seth Godin makes the point that 'big ideas' worked when advertising was in charge. But he believes advertising is no longer in charge.

I found this presentation (via Helge Tenno) on an interesting blog called fckie.com. This is really good and worth flicking through more than once. Some nice examples here of where the product is the marketing.

Tom makes an interesting point that remarkable products use advertising as a window display, while unremarkable products use advertising as a smokescreen. Take Apple for example. Their iphone ads are demonstrations - done very stylishly.

Back to Nike for a moment. Clearly their Nikeplus is a perfect example of where the marketing is the product - and is in the product. I've used it and it really is good stuff.

And true to Tom's point, their 'I'm addicted' tv ad for Nike Plus, while truly stunning, is quite transparent and simple.

2007 Hatch Awards - Opening Video

For anybody that puts their ads into focus groups....