Apple and Brand Evangelists

All kidding aside, the new iPad is a step into a new direction for Apple and a game changer for us -- a device that bridges phone and laptop, supporting the mobility of its customers.

By the way, if you watch the video linked here, take notes on the expectation and excitement Jobs builds into his presentation, in addition to the impressive numbers.

During the talk, Jobs highlights two key things, and it does so with beautiful and uncluttered clarity:

• the company is highly profitable
• the company redefines itself around mobility

Pay attention to the language he uses

Magical, revolutionary. iPods have changed the way we discover, purchase and enjoy music, at the tune of 250MM; phenomenal retail store buying experience right in the neighborhood with our customers, 50MM who visited 284 locations; app store an incredible phenomenon with 3b applications downloaded since its inception.

The company was started 34 years ago and it ended its first quarter in the fiscal year of 2010 with $15.6b in revenue -- Apple is an over $50b company. Apple is the #1 mobile device company is the set up for the new product announcement. Jobs then proceeds to show a series on firsts for Apple.

Did Apple ever make mistakes?

Their entire experience with the Power PC chip (before going to Intel) was a failure. After telling their customers for years that PPC chips are inherently better than x86 architecture chips, they flip-flopped.  

They told their customers this was because Intel had caught up -- and that they were unable to get an acceptable PPC G5 chip into a laptop. This made every single Mac obsolete, though PPC was supported through Leopard. 

In fact, Apple wanted to outsource R&D -- and get cheaper chips. But their move essentially killed the entire architecture, since Apple was the biggest customer.

They've not made any substantial changes to the UI since the change to Intel.

Message control

One thing that comes across in this presentation is the total commitment the company has to its products -- and its profitability, why not? Does it control every aspect of the brand, including its messages? You bet. Completely.

Yet, the company has plenty of customer evangelists. Apple knows how to create a product it believes in and build the platform for a conversation about its performance.

Part of that conversation has been a fairly large ad budget, estimated at 13% of its SG&A budget in 2008. Part of the buzz is the massive fan support the company gets with product launches.

The image on the side is a bit Apple to oranges, if you'll indulge me the pun, as we're comparing two very different demographics and messages. It's indicative of the buzz Jobs announcements builds online.

What makes this product company so effective while, as you might note, it's as committed as other companies?

The products are extremely simple to use -- and truly designed with user experience in mind.

My experience

I didn't wait in line when the iPhone came out, I was a big Nokia fan and had a flip phone at the time. Although their European models have traditionally been better than those for the US market.

A Nokia phone, loaded with day to day contacts. I also had a PDA, an old PalmOne Tungsten, where I kept my thousands of contacts. For over a year, I carried a company BlackBerry as well, which you may argue holds both. I disliked the BlackBerry interface and usability.

When my home PC hard drive blew up, the third PC hard drive to do so in the span of three years, including at work, the time came to replace my old (and failing) devices. I didn't think twice. The Apple store was my only destination.

Why?

The iPhone -- I still own the first generation -- combined both PDA and phone data, which I then could back up on my laptop and desktop. A whole system working together, connected to support my needs as a user. Did I have any difficulty learning the software and system? I did not. It's all very intuitive

The store staff is helpful, knowledgeable, and patient. They seem to like being there, it makes a big difference when you have that kind of attitude. No chasing a blue shirt around the isle who could be as passionate about a model as they would of another -- as long as they're in stock.

Launch from the customer's seat

Jobs doesn't launch into a lengthy discussion of Apple's new product's features. He starts the conversation with a list of tasks this third category device Apple envisioned would need to do better than a laptop and better than a phone for customers -- for you:

• browsing the Web
• sending and receiving email
• photo sharing
• watching video
• enjoying music
• playing games
• reading eBooks

Those are all things people who consume media want at their fingertips. Although, we could argue that many of those people are also creators of media. Many have noted the absence of a camera, the iPhone's is one of the best I've used on a phone, for example.

The camera may or may not come. What we know at the moment is that Apple bet on a winning horse. They'll no doubt be shipping out the device in good quantities. They are simple to use, provide a great Web experience, and highly portable.

Do you still wonder why Apple has such passionate evangelists in the online community?

Does your company create the same level of enthusiasm when it announces its new products and results among employees and the industry as a whole? If not, rethink differently.

© 2006-2010 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Mike - Jobs ships his product out, no question. The company is not perfect, yet its priorities seem to be in the right order, indeed.

@Akash - it's easy to envision how you'd use the iPad, that's what's uncanny about the roll out and the demo.

@Carolyn Ann - hmmm, it's the one Jobs used in his presentation.

@Eric - yes.

@Rich - and the iPhone still flies off the shelves despite the reluctance of many to sign with AT&T. I was a happy Cingular customer, for the record. Innovation is also about putting a stake in the ground.

[Rich Becker]

Valeria,

While I've been enjoying some of the jokes too, I have to admit that I see Apple has developed what might be a better personal presentation and media consumption tool.

While I might be in the minority, I cannot see the need for a camera when my phone already has one; and I often carry one too. As for the lack of USB, I think Apple is merely thinking that the future is WiFi, not cords. Based on uptick in WiFi at home, I suspect they are right. In the meantime, it seems they still connect and sync like the phone.

You're post is right on. While it is anyone's guess whether the iPad will become another hit (or miss), I suspect we won't really know until the launch. Not many people had faith in the iPhone either.

And, even if it doesn't win, there is no denying that Apple is helping set a better future in motion. Other companies certainly seem to follow them.

All my best,
Rich

[Eric]

Great post. This really hits home for me because I think a lot of businesses view customer evangelism as an external strategy instead of an internal strategy. You don't recruit customer evangelists, you make a product or brand that creates them.