Marketing Apple: Secrets of the World's Best Marketing Machine

iPocalypse: The Aftermath!

So much has been written already about the devastating blow to Apple's PR machine following the huge nightmare of the iPhone 3G launch.  One reader pointed out Seth Godin's great perspective on this and I've had many people contact me to discuss what marketers can learn from it.  I've decided to do a free, live webinar next week to talk about Apple's marketing, the 5 secrets they have used to become the world's best marketing machine and their recent missteps. 

 

To join this session, simply click here at 11 am EDT next Tuesday, July 22nd.  Through the magic of Dimdim Web Meeting you will be able to see, hear and chat with me and others right in your web browser - no install required.  I'll walk through some Keynote slides I've prepared related to my eBook and then we can have a frank and open discussion about Apple's marketing prowess.  I hope this new medium will afford us a chance to discuss - together - some of the issues that impact all of us and how we can learn from it.  See you (literally) there!

P.S. If any Apple marketers want to join, please let me know and we'll be sure to give you a chance to respond - LIVE!

 

Apple's Successor

So I've been asked about 50 times since Steve took the stage at the Developer's Conference - is Steve Jobs sick?  This has become a big deal - if he's not well, who will carry the flame at Apple?  I think Steve is fine, BTW, and I asked this question before on my April fools blog post, and now Fortune Magazine has done a pretty good review of the possible insiders in line for such a post.  From a marketing standpoint, Apple knows it has impossible shoes to fill and silence on that front is the best response. 

I want to give credit to Steve for personally saving Apple in 1997 (by firing most of the Apple Board, focusing on better marketing, demanding people's best efforts, and creating better products) Recognize though that those efforts (and others) have now built Apple into an incredibly healthy company that can weather a transition to a new CEO.   The now 11 year-old culture that Steve built is ready to thrive with or without him.  That said, I think the next CEO should share the same first name as Jobs and Wozniak and so I throw my hat in the ring.

UPDATE: June 26th.  Investor's Business Daily had another take on the above story today.  I agree with them that a team is needed to replace Steve.  It's rare to find someone who is visionary, a true leader and can execute.

Apple and loving customers

This is a great post today from Inside CRM discussing how Apple has built an ongoing relationship with its customers. One thing easy to overlook, and a key but relatively hidden fact of Apple's ongoing and dramatic resurgence, is how well they relate to their customers and vice versa.

Case in point. For years Apple has been trying to sell Macs alongside PCs at Best Buys and CompUSAs (RIP) These efforts have largely failed because they were indirectly reaching their customers. The salesperson had to learn about selling both Macs and PCs and were often motivated by spiffs to move non-Apple products. Consequently, the sales rep could not demonstrate the same level of enthusiasm for Apple's products as Apple could.

It wasn't until Apple really focused on its online properties that direct sales to consumers took off. After learning how to present a clear, consistent message they opened their own stores and essentially copied this museum-like experience into a hands-on retail presence. Hiring their own sales ambassadors and controlling the entire shopping experience has really paid off, and Apple Stores are now a model that other consumer goods manufacturers are just beginning to copy. Add their mastery of word of mouth and traditional marketing, a keen focus on surprising and delighting customers, and you have Apple-style success.

The bottom line: Apple doesn't just reach its customers. Apple embraces them. And their loving customers hug right back.

Apple earnings secret

Okay, so a lot of people have been asking me for more Apple "secrets." Seems like the 5 in my free ebook (there are actually a lot more hidden in the 8 pages) isn't enough for some readers. So I'm going to dedicate the entire month of May to Apple secrets of all kinds. Stay tuned.

Since today is Apple's earnings day (to be announced after the market closes) I thought I'd share a secret from way back before Steve returned to see if it is still valid. The secret is this: if Apple had underperformed it would announce its earnings on a Friday (to let the market cool down over the weekend.) If it had overperformed, it would announce on a Thursday (to allow the market to run up the stock price.) So what does announcing on a Wednesday tell us?

As with all my "secrets" these are merely observations from working and living at Apple for nearly a decade. I have no insider knowledge of Apple's forthcoming earnings. I haven't purchased Apple shares in over 8 years. As always, consult your broker before jumping.

UPDATE 4:45 PM: So Apple announced earnings that EXCEEDED the Street's expectations today. Looks like this secret is still a good one...

Product placement, iTunes and American Idol

Did you see American Idol last night? I was watching with my sons and I couldn't believe the 5 minute "commercial" for iTunes, iPods and iPhones that Apple pulled off about 10 minutes into the show.

If you saw it, please post your comments here. Is this borderline pandering? Or is this just super-good marketing that is making me (and other marketers) jealous of how far Apple can go to spread its gospel.

Another Apple uPod

I spoke before about Apple's tendency to under promise and over deliver, or "uPod" regarding its business outlook.  Well I had just had an experience with an overlooked, but amazingly powerful feature that, to the best of my knowledge, Apple has never hyped or even marketed at all.

That feature is the "Migration Assistant."  Here was my dilemma.  I was having lots of issues with my personal MacBook Pro and it was slowing down my productivity big time.   So my company ordered me a new one last week and it was delivered this Monday.  But I've been so busy I could not find the time to switch over, so I stuck with my unreliable MacBook simply because it had all my stuff in it.

During one of my frequent reboots I remembered the Migration Assistant.  (I've never used it before because I'm one of those old-school techies who likes to build his hard drive one install at a time)  Basically, all I had to do was reboot my old Mac into Firewire disk mode (try that MacBook Air!) and connect a Firewire cable to my new Mac.  A few clicks (and a few hours) later, and my new MacBook was a carbon copy of my old one.

I was amazed!  Every file, document, email, iPhoto, iTune, even the arrangement of icons on my dock and my desktop was preserved.  It is the most amazing feeling to pick up a brand new computer and hit the ground running with everything where it should be in just a few hours.  Such a feat usually takes about a week.

Clearly this isn't the coolest feature around, but perhaps the most practical when trying to get people to buy a new Mac.  I think Apple should invest in a PC vs Mac commercial where Justin speaks to this feature since there are lots of people like me who stick with their old computers for fear of the hard work of migrating.  Have you ever used the Migration Assistant?

2/8/08 Update: AppleInsider describes the challenge for MacBook Air and Migration Assistant, as does MacNN.

The desire to fit in

One of the points I make in my eBook (coming soon!) is that good marketers can find a way make a customer feel they become a member of a special group after purchasing the product.  Apple's white headphones do this very well. 

I thought this photo and commercial video really drive home the point. (notice how the skateboarder, as cool as he is, is an outsider - the posters don't dance for him.)

 

What's this all about?

I recently decided to share with the world some of my experiences as a Marketing executive who's life was forever changed by working at Apple between 1991 and 2000. You see, during this time Apple was a wild rollercoaster - on top of the world with successful Mac SE/30s and IIcxs and then later at the end of its rope after Windows 95 became good enough to almost kill the company. And then Steve Jobs returned and saved the company - eventually through better products but at first through better marketing.

So keep coming back to this site as I dish nearly 10 years of inside Apple secrets and general thoughts about how anyone and any company can learn from the way Apple markets products. And by my account, you'll learn quite a bit about - arguably - the best marketing company the world has ever known.

Steve