7) Know your
competitor.
competitor.
The first rule of storytelling is that drama requires conflict. And the first
rule of propaganda is that you need to have a bad guy. For Apple the original
bad guy was IBM. Then the boogeyman became Microsoft. More recently, Jobs made
Google and its Android operating system the villain. In each case, Jobs’
message was the same: The bad guy wants to take over the world and destroy it,
and we are the noble underdog that can keep this from happening. (Check out
this great clip of Jobs painting IBM as an evil empire that “wants it all,”
that will create “an IBM-dominated and controlled future” while Apple is “the
only hope” and “the only force that can ensure … freedom.”)
A lot of marketers shy
away from this kind of rhetoric. They’re afraid it will rebound and hurt them.
They act, very often, like needy children who want very much to be loved by
everyone. To be sure, it’s definitely risky to create an enemy, especially if
you choose an enemy that’s big and powerful. But Jobs believed that to sell
product you had to first lead a movement. If you’re going to have a revolution,
you need to have something or someone to rebel against.
away from this kind of rhetoric. They’re afraid it will rebound and hurt them.
They act, very often, like needy children who want very much to be loved by
everyone. To be sure, it’s definitely risky to create an enemy, especially if
you choose an enemy that’s big and powerful. But Jobs believed that to sell
product you had to first lead a movement. If you’re going to have a revolution,
you need to have something or someone to rebel against.
8) Turn customers into
evangelists.
Possibly the biggest thing Jobs did was turn customers into passionate
advocates for the Apple brand. Those people who line up outside Apple stores
every time there’s a new iPhone? Even when it’s just an incremental improvement
on the last iPhone? They’re not there for the phone. They’ve come to show their
support for the team, the way sports fans show up hours before a game wearing
the team colors. Apple fans don’t think of themselves as customers. They feel
as if they’re part of a movement, a mission, something larger than themselves.
evangelists.
Possibly the biggest thing Jobs did was turn customers into passionate
advocates for the Apple brand. Those people who line up outside Apple stores
every time there’s a new iPhone? Even when it’s just an incremental improvement
on the last iPhone? They’re not there for the phone. They’ve come to show their
support for the team, the way sports fans show up hours before a game wearing
the team colors. Apple fans don’t think of themselves as customers. They feel
as if they’re part of a movement, a mission, something larger than themselves.
