What the Auto Industry Can Learn From Apple†

IPhone Stampede Offers Lessons in Total Transformation

Advertising Age, July 15, 2008 — Like hundreds of thousands of people across the country, I stood in line last weekend at the Apple Store in Newport Beach, Calif., to buy the new iPhone 3G for my daughter after three unsuccessful attempts at nearby AT&T stores.

Witnessing this exuberant demand for a new product made me wonder if this feat could be repeated in other categories, such as the auto business. What would an automaker have to do to seduce consumers to stand in line to buy a hot new car? Here are some lessons from the iPhone:

Apple’s Latest Opens a Developers’ Playground

New York Times, July 10, 2008 — When Apple opens its online App Store for iPhone software on Thursday, Steven P. Jobs will be making an attempt to dominate the next generation of computing as it moves toward Internet-connected mobile devices. The store, which will offer more than 500 software applications, including games, educational programs, mobile commerce and business productivity tools, may be a far more important development than the iPhone 3G, which goes on sale at the same time. An abundance of software could make the iPhone’s operating system dominant among an abundance of competing phones.

How Apple Is Blurring the Line Between Marketing and Service†

Pete Blackshaw Explains Why Consumer-Facing Brands Can Benefit From Better Customer Interaction

Advertising Age, June 23, 2008 — "How can I help you, and where would you like to go?"

In this simple greeting, there's a huge question: Are the greeting and the experience that follows marketing or service or both? In the last couple of months, Apple has boosted the number of "concierges" who greet and direct shoppers as soon as they walk in the door of its retail stores. Apple has always had employees at the front, ready to help, but this time it is positioning an eager-to-please offensive line a few steps from the doorway.

Shape of Things to Come†

How Apple's trademark for its iPod protects its brand -- and offers lessons for other companies on how to leverage their intellectual property

Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2008 — On Jan. 8, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple Inc. a trademark for the three-dimensional shape of its iPod media player.

This was more than a recognition of an innovative product design. It also was Apple's capping piece in a multiyear marketing and legal campaign that pushed intellectual-property rights to new competitive advantage for the company.

Customer support phone numbers can be tough to find

Los Angeles Times, April 28, 2008 — Let's play a game: Find the customer support telephone number. There was a time when businesses actually welcomed phone calls from customers. Now, many go to extraordinary lengths to avoid calls, preferring that orders and support issues be handled online.

Recession Can Be a Marketer's Friend†

From Soap Operas to IPods: History Suggests Slumps Spawn Innovation

Advertising Age, March 25, 2008 — The massive bailout of Bear Stearns from the brink of bankruptcy could be the first of many financial rescues needed. Despite double-digit plunges, U.S. housing is still overpriced by historical yardsticks. Retail sales have gone from slow to declining, and the consumer-spending binge that propped up the U.S. economy for years may not return for a long time.

In short, it's a great time to be in marketing.

Imagining Apple's Future

We asked design, innovation, and marketing pros what the folks who gave us the iPod should focus on now

BusinessWeek, January 17, 2008 — Business schools and design consultants have a favorite exercise they like to use when they're trying to prod students and colleagues to come up with new ways of thinking about old problems. It's called What Would Apple Do? The idea is to think of a horrendously complicated problem and imagine what Apple would do to come up with a simple, elegant, engaging solution that's delightful to the eye and easy to use.

Our designers tried to imagine what would happen if Apple took its design process and applied it beyond its usual stomping grounds. What if Steve Jobs took the stage and dramatically unveiled an Apple car? Or Apple iMoney software to manage your finances?

Stories of the Year†

Plus Marketing Follies

Advertising Age, December 17, 2007 — There were plenty of real, market-shifting stories this year, ranging from Rupert Murdoch's Dow Jones play to Facebook to the unstoppable rise of digital.

Apple Retail Stores Revamp for Holidays

Associated Press, November 23, 2007 — Not a cash register is in sight. The electronics on display are all powered up and ready for use. Personal trainers, specialists and newly minted concierges in aqua blue shirts make the Apple Store feel part salon, part Internet cafe — just without the espresso. Over the past year, Apple Inc. has revamped its 201 stores, changing the layout, adding services and increasing its staffing. The "concierge" service that Apple launched last week is only the latest initiative designed to draw more visitors and bolster already record-breaking sales.