Orange You Glad I Didn’t Say Apple

Even if you hate Apple, you have to admit Apple has made its reputation from being cool.  People perceive the Apple brand as a cool brand allowing all of their products owners to feel cool.  They have built a reputation that is admired by all its competitors as well as business in other sectors.  I personally don’t like Apple just because I find they are overpriced for the limited features their products contain.  I prefer to use Ubuntu Linux but more often than not I use Microsoft Windows just because they have more applications.  But as a business owner and a person who loves to examine businesses of all types, I love Apple.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created Apple Computers to create a personal computer that the average person can use.  Steve Jobs wanted to create an experience not just another mundane product.  The original idea was to break away from the norm.  They wanted to take on Big Blue (IBM) so that people had a choice.  Wozniak eventually left the company to focus on more personal things and Jobs was forced out because its directors at that time wanted to take Apple in another direction.  That direction was to create products that looked exactly like the competition only more expensive and are unable to use all the applications that were compatible with Microsoft’s Windows.  This lack of focus and Microsoft’s ability to work with pretty much every other personal computer manufacturer helped it become the number one technology company.

Apple finally regained its brain and brought back Jobs.  Jobs first worked on design.  The computers on the outside were supposed to be beautiful and look like no other manufacturer.  Apple came out with the iPod which transformed the company and brought it to the next level.  The iPod then brought about the iPhone which has now changed how Apple does business.  The iPod brought about the iTunes music store so that people could consume music easily and legally.  It then transformed to sell movies and applications for the iPhone.  Apple came up with the Apple Store which was a physical store which like their products were meant to be designed beautifully and be an easy way to buy Apple products.

How did Apple do this?  They came back from the abyss to be, as of the time of this article, the number one technology company in terms of market capitalization.  First they are all communists, and I mean that in the nicest way possible.  The best part of communism is that it is supposed to remove bureaucracy to make government run smoother.  Apple has embraced this to the highest extent: Jobs runs the show.  Every decision product was initially designed by Jobs.  That does not mean that Jobs came up with the idea for the product or even came up with the defining feature that makes that product a hit.  What Jobs did was first decide if they should even create a product.  According to Jobs, he says that he is very proud of all the products that he turned down.  The next thing about Jobs is make sure that a product was simple to use.  Jobs wants to make sure that every product that Apple creates is beautiful.  Finally Jobs wants to make sure that Apple has created products that are both secure and have some features that cannot really be found on other similar products.

While the concept that Jobs is this powerful, and has had his hand in so many products to such a huge degree may be false, the concept of communism is not lost on Apple.  Apple does have a few executives that direct Apple in everything.  I am sure new ideas are not discouraged from the non-inner circle Apple employees but when they finally make it to the inner-circle the ideas are probably dissected to the nth degree.  If they are not dissected they are probably either thrown out completely or the general framework is used without most of the ideas that the original creator probably spent countless hours on.

So how do you recreate an Apple, no matter what industry you are in?  Follow these few simple steps:

1. Don’t listen to the mob.  The general public is very fickle.  Focus on long term goals not short term gains.  Have one or a few people who govern with an iron fist.  Obviously you want a competent person but really this person should only be focused on long term goals and the business’s core values.  Let everyone else in the organization create new ideas but this person should kill any projects that do not fit this model.
2. Keep it simple stupid.  If you look at technology, kids are able to pick up new things easily, at least according to the stereotype.  Instead of focusing on your real target audience, focus on your non-target audience.  So in the case of technology companies, they should focus on old people or at least people who say they are bad with technology.  If you can do it, then you will have a hit.
3. Judge a book by its cover.  Spend some time to make sure your product looks cool.  Using an artist can help but don’t forget to cross promote.  Find the people that are trend setters and make sure they are seen using your products.  Apple products can be seen in all sorts of television shows and movies.  It makes people who relate to certain characters or aspire to these characters, want Apple products.  Microsoft is now taking this page from Apple’s playbook and placing their products in the same areas where you once saw Apple products.
4. Don’t compromise.  Just because your product looks cool doesn’t mean it should not have cool features.  At the time of this article, the iPhone 4 is having a problem with its antenna.  It is designed to wrap around the iPhone but when the iPhone is held a certain way, the phone is unable to make a phone call.  While this is very un-Apple like, you should learn from Apple’s mistake.  Instead of Apple scraping the concept they should have just held off on the idea until the next release which brings me to final step.
5. Keep them wanting more.  If you noticed, Apple has released new features every year with the new iPhone.  So when you look at the current version of the iPhone, you may say “Why can’t I do this?”  Apple may have thought of that feature before they came out with that current iPhone or maybe not, but no matter they just add it later on making you want to buy the new product.

Now obviously I am not sure if all these ideas will work.  It is not like I am Steve Jobs.  But this is what I do know, I plan to follow as many of these rules as possible.  I may add some rules later on as I learn about new techniques.  There is just one thing I will not do, make a black turtleneck my signature style.  I mean my God, Steve Jobs has got to be hot all the time.  I also don’t think a hoodie will be my style just because that is what all the other CEO’s my age wear which is very un-Apple thing to do which is conformity.  Maybe I will make the track suit my signature style.  That way when I get hot, I can just rip off my pants and wear shorts.  I am not so sure about this either.  Maybe I will just wait until next time I talk about this topic so it is something for you to look forward to.