Why Kindle iPhone App is Genius

You know what sets top marketers apart from us mere mortals? Their uncanny ability to figure out what makes people tick. They constantly come up with strategies that turn prospects to customers and customers to loyal advocates. One of the best marketing strategies out there is to give a lot of value away and make folks want to come back to you for more. That is exactly what Amazon has done with the Kindle.

As I mentioned a few days ago, this is a risky move by Amazon. But the rewards are much greater. By giving away the Kindle app to the community of iPhone and iPod users, Amazon is banking on these guys taking the next step and buying the hardware. Many experts claim that more people read books and documents on their iPhone than we have Kindle owners. But iPhone is not an e-book reader. It’s one of the best gadgets that has ever been made, but it simply does not go easy on the eye if you decide to read a 400 page book on it.

The Kindle application will give iPhone owners a taste of what it means to own the real thing. Paying $359 for a device that you are skeptical about doesn’t make sense. But Kindle for iPhone should do enough to pre-sell the Kindle to the community of iPhone and iPod Touch users. And there is no reason people shouldn’t own both the iPhone and the Kindle. So when you think about it, Amazon does have an ambitious strategy.

Your take: will this strategy work? Could this approach lead to the demise of the Kindle?