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 Aims for the Masses With a Cheaper iPhone

New York Times, June 11, 2008 — Steven P. Jobs, chief executive of Apple, introduced a new cheaper iPhone model on Monday that navigates the Internet more quickly, expanded its distribution overseas and displayed a range of new applications and services in order to establish Apple as a major player in the cellphone industry.

Steve Jobs Offers Rare Apology, Credit for iPhone†

Wall Street Journal, September 7, 2007 — Many people stood in long lines to get Apple Inc.'s iPhone — and paid a lot for it. In the end, Steve Jobs concluded that such loyalty counted for something.

Responding to a flood of emails complaining about a surprise iPhone price cut, Mr. Jobs apologized publicly and said Apple will offer a $100 credit at Apple stores to all iPhone users who paid the original price. "Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these," Mr. Jobs wrote in a letter posted yesterday on Apple's Web site.