Marketing advice from Steve Jobs

5 contrarian Steve Jobs quotes all marketers can learn from

“Why join the navy when you can be a pirate?"

Just one of many great quotes from Steve Jobs and one that sets the scene for my post.

For me Steve Jobs is/was/always will be a marketing genius. His untimely death has got me thinking about what I have learned from his approach to marketing.

The growth of Apple and popularity of its brand has to make Steve Jobs one of the best, if not totally counter-intuitive, marketers that ever lived. After all, from a marketing perspective Apple goes against a lot of conventional marketing wisdom. So here's what I think we can

1) Be original, unconventional and unfashionable, even: Though the prolific buy-cycle of Apple products by its raving fans seem to reflect the worst element of the waste of the Western consumer, it also serves to illustrate the degree to which Apple consumers identify themselves with, and aspire to, a set of values and attributes that comprise the Apple brand. The word here is passion. They enjoy a passionate and evangelical following around all things Apple. A passion for new products that are aspirational and speak to them. Can this be applied to marketing - of course it can. Engage your audience in a way that really speaks to them, the way Apple does. Where's your intersection with your consumer? What are the shared values? The key here is orientating marketing towards people, not obsessing over features, functions, tactics, techniques or competitors.

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower” - Steve Jobs

2) Re-invent, have products (or services) worth shouting about: "Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets". Apple is famed for not researching product opportunities and instead looking at what they, their talented internal team, would want themselves in the future, not today. Designing products that a research group would never dream up. How would a user group have invented the iPod navigation wheel, let alone an iPad.

I feel most businesses that I meet are not anything like close enough to their consumer, so I'd suggest that some research is important for us mortals, however let's keep the message clear for marketers: Don't be afraid to get on try stuff, make it great, ship it and see what happens.

“It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them” - Steve Jobs

3) People are your brand: What causes people to stand in line to queue for your product? If only they did with yours, right? Apple even reflects the image of a consumer to build rapport. Professional, yet youthful and down-to-earth - remember Apple guy vs. Microsoft Man? The staff reflect this image too. From the store to the creators that dream the products and the marketing team that communicate the brand and design the launches, it's all Apple, their people focussing on their product for their consumer.

“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better” - Steve Jobs

4) The details matter: Steve Jobs is famed for focussing on the detail, from font kerning to shades of colours, everything has to be perfect, and that's just in their brand communications. As counterintuitive as it may appear to man-manage people to this extent, the Apple brand communications experience is the sum total of every email, web page or broadcast promotion that touches you. It's glaringly consistent, polished and premium. If I had a £1 for everyone who wants their website to look like Apple's. Of course you do. Think how a commitment to your own brand execution would separate you from the competition.

“We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them” - Steve Jobs

5) The mega launch: This has become an art-form for Apple. The hype for the next launch starts straight after one has just happened. Google "iPad 3" for yourself. There's a cult-like following made up of Apple lovers, Apple commentators and even Apple haters that can't help but be interested as rumoured launches rattle around the internet. Even more, those contributors and sharers fuel it. Apple do zero social media in any direct sense, they instead (we can only assume) orchestrate the media frenzy (leaving prototypes in coffee shops!?). By the time the launch approaches it's a frenzy with global coverage.

"Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles” - Steve Jobs

And, on a more poignant note, remember that it's about your career and life too:

“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent… People with passion can change the world" - Steve Jobs

Thanks, Steve. I'm sure we'll be learning from you for years to come.