A recent Forrester survey shows that iPod owners did not appear to identify with the Apple brand.

That seems to bely the much ballyhooed "iPod Halo Effect". What gives?

Whenever I go to an Apple Store, I'm delighted by the hubub and energy of the place. For sure, the iPod aisles are chocked full of people ogling the latest iPod paraphenalia. Without fail, the Macs are also a draw and elicit the same, if not greater technolust.

So when I read the survey, I was more than a bit perplexed.

I always read these studies with a "grain of salt". Having dabbled in statistics and multivariate analysis in my professional life, I know that it can be used as an instrument of propaganda, and oftentimes, the way the questions are posed and formulated can often shade the result.

Besides, other studies have confirmed the effect, and hard numbers from the past few quarters show that Apple has had a solid record of growth in computer sales while PC manufacturers languished - 48 percent year-over-year growth in Mac shipments in Q4 2005 is nothing to sneeze at.

Still, there are a few things that puzzles me whenever I buy a new iPod:

• Absence of literature on OS X or Apple computers
• Absence of marketing video on Video iPods
• Not even a soft-sell on the Apple brand. Apart from the Apple sticker, which by itself, is quite understated

Purist might say, that's how Apple stands out from the crowd - by respecting the consumer experience. The sophisticated among us smirk at blatant attempts of the soft-sell whenever we install a new PC and get solicited for all kinds of bundleware.

But bundling is not necessarily bad or ineffective, isn't it? Just look at Internet Explorer. Tech pundits agree it's not the best browser out there, but bundling it sure helped.

I'm sure Apple is getting a ton of unsolicited advice, but here's my 2 cents regardless:

• preload a quick video tour of OS X on the Video iPods. There is even an existing one on the Apple website. However, Apple may want to consider hiring a "hipper" talent than the marketing talking head that is more "pleasing to the eye".
  
  
• Discounts. When I bought the Mini Duo two weeks ago at the local Apple store, the salesguy pitched a "free" (after rebate) printer and I got one on the spot. A generic discount you can use towards any Apple product should do better still. Just look at Dell's endless promos.
  
  
• "Free" movies. Perhaps one of the Pixar titles. But precondition the free download on sitting through a more extensive tour of the Apple line-up.
  
  
• Apple-produced Video podcast tutorials. Even Mac veterans like myself will find these useful. It can even be a good technology demonstration of how Video podcasts can be used in business to conduct training. A video tutorial on how to install Boot Camp is a good candidate. Apple Support can even link to the tutorials from the website.
  
  
• Preload Apple Commercials in the Video iPod. And not just iPod commercials - even ones for the Mac. Apple may even throw in classic ones like the "Think Different" series.
  
  
• finally, create an Apple Channel in the iTunes Music Store. Post all the new Apple-produced content there - commercials, video podcasts tutorials, keynotes, previews, quick tours, etc.

And unlike traditional bundleware, the "free" content is not only a good technology demonstration, they are also desirable by themselves and preserves the "kewl" image of the iPod without spoiling the consumer experience.

And since the Apple Channel will run on iTunes for Windows and most of the content on it will be "free", you can be sure Windows iPod users will be helping themselves to generous helpings of the content there.

What do you think?