February 6th, 2010
Just this week we have seen a demonstration of how to succeed by being second, from the king of being second. The man who made himself a billionaire by never being first.
It might surprise you that I'm talking about Steve Jobs, the CEO and living god of Apple. But you could learn so much by emulating his marketing brilliance.
And it is marketing we are talking here, not inventive genius. Apple is more like the couture houses of Paris than the sweaty labs of Silicone Valley. It's all about style and show and fashion. And it works - it has kept working for 30 years.
Back in the early '80s a rash of small, cheap "personal" computers emerged based on chips from Motorola and Intel. Apple was one of these. Their breakthrough came when they borrowed the graphical user interface (that's what GUI means), and the mouse, from the Xerox labs and brought out the Macintosh.
From the beginning Jobs used the world's greatest designers, starting with Hartmut Esslinger for the Macintosh line. It was launched on the Super Bowl with a two million dollar commercial made by Ridley Scott.
Called "1984" - that was the year - it showed the stuffy old-world conventions being smashed by an aggressive young sportswoman. It spoke to the hearts of the Gen-Xes who have been loyal Apple fans ever since.
When Jobs was axed in 1985 after a boardroom stoush, the company declined and then went into nose-dive. After 12 years they begged him to return. They needed his marketing magic - and got it.
H e brought with him the new generation's design genius, Englishman Jonathan Ive. They set to work and soon came up with the bulbous, coloured, translucent iMacs that looked like they came from another planet. Suddenly Apples were sexy again.
There were already plenty of personal MP3 players around but it took Ive's design and Jobs' marketing to create the iPod. Married to iTunes it became a music industry phenomenon.
Hundreds of companies around the world were making excellent mobile phones, but a little clever engineering and a lot of brilliant marketing created the iPhone, not just a tool but a toy.
Last week Jobs unveiled the iPad in San Francisco and the world's media and trendsetters reacted like the Spice Girls at a Galliano fashion launch.
No word about the note pad launched by Bill Gates in 2002 or the Amazon Kindle from 2007. And those two aren't exactly shrinking violets in the marketing sphere, either.
Jobs has never given us anything we didn't have before. His brilliance is his understanding of design, attention to quality, and - most importantly - very clever marketing. Like a magician, when he reveals the new product, you think you've experienced something totally new.
How often I come across clients who feel defensive because their competitors are already selling a product like theirs. Only cheaper or bigger or they've been in the market much longer.
My response is, forget about the competition. From now on your product is the first, the best, and without equal. Scrap your tired old "me too" advertising, we're going to re-invent you.
After this past week I can add a new morality tale to my repertoire: Look at Steve Jobs - he launches the iPad in the teeth of competition from established Microsoft and Amazon brands, it lacks even a USB port or camera. But it is beautiful, fun, and it's Apple. They are already queueing for it.
Now, take a close look at your own product, how it looks and how it's marketed. It might be No 2 or even No 10, but it can still be made a winner.
ray@ebeatty.com
