We have a new Apple product to obsess over—the Vision Pro headset.

Let’s break down what worked about this product’s announcement into two categories:

1. What companies can steal for their own launch playbooks

2. What only Apple can get away with because they’re Apple

What companies can steal

Sub-category creation

Apple didn’t introduce the Vision Pro as “VR.” Why? Because people already associate VR with other companies, products, and potential. VR is not widely used and many already view the category as limited.

So instead, they created a new sub-category called “Spatial Computing.”

This lets them:

• expand into a new market (that they can still own)

• maintain familiarity under the primary “computing” category (that many would argue they also own)

• force competitors onto their turf

Price anchoring

The Vision Pro is $3,499! Not cheap.

To justify the price, Apple used price anchoring. This technique forces people to refer back to another price point when making a purchase decision.

Apple framed the Vision Pro as the equivalent of owning a ultrahigh-definition TV, surround-sound system, and high-end camera into one piece of hardware. When you put things into that perspective, $3,499 doesn’t sound as expensive as it originally did.

Consolidation

Budgets are tight and finance is looking to cut corners where they can. If you can replace multiple tools in a tech stack, you’ll have a higher chance of justifying a higher price point. Apple did this by claiming that the Vision Pro could replace three 4k desktop monitors, your iPhone, and Mac, and other expensive tech.

People love sh*tting on “all-in-one” messaging… but most of those people are users. Buyers, on the other hand, are typically responsible for their department’s budget and are more actively looking for ways to consolidate (especially in this economy).

What only Apple can get away with

Changing the conversation from AI

Everyone is talking about AI and figuring out ways to implement it into their software. Apple, however, was able to change the conversation (for who knows how long) to AR/VR.

Great move by Apple. But 99% of you shouldn’t try this yourself. Only Apple has the history, money, and product to be able to sway public opinion this way.

Lots of feature-based messaging

The Vision Pro can do a lot—I won’t list everything here. Apple spent a ton of time focusing on the potential of their new product without touching on the problems that it solves.

And I think that’s ok. Their target market for the Vision Pro are early tech adopters, content creators, and developers. This audience needs to know what’s possible with this device, and will purchase it regardless of the lack of problems that it solves. Over time, Apple will get more specific here.

But this isn’t something that other companies should hold off on. Address your target audience’s problems and explain how you solve them front-and-center in your messaging.

New Podcast: Owned Audience as a Competitive Moat

Anthony Kennada is the Co-Founder & CEO at AudiencePlus, software that helps companies build, engage, and monetize an owned audience.

In this episode, you'll learn how some of the most successful companies today own their audiences vs. rent them on social media platforms or paid ads. As well as:

• the community-to-media flywheel

• how Anthony helped create the multi-billion dollar Customer Success category at Gainsight

• the first steps you can take to begin building a media arm (even if you're on a budget)

Advice from the Community

2,000+ messages are exchanged every month by your favorite Product Marketers in the Healthy Competition community. Here are some recent threads that got the community talking.

Not a member? Easy peasy. Just join here.

New Open Roles in Product Marketing & Competitive Intel

• Product Marketing Manager @ Opsera

  • Job application not posted yet. Reach out directly to Allyssa (profile linked above).

• Sr. Product Marketing Manager @ Heap

  • Salary range: $155k - $190k

• Director of Product Marketing @ Demandbase

  • Salary range: $145k - $240k

• Product Marketing Manager @ Unbounce

• Sr. Product Marketing Manager @ Seismic

• Product Marketing Manager, Aria Operations @ VMware

• Product Marketing Manager, Tanzu Application Service @ VMware

• VP of Global Market Intelligence @ Boomi

Quick Tips / Examples

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