With the untimely passing of Steve Jobs last week, the world lost one of its master marketers.
Apple's events to announce a new product—and there is no doubt about it, these were events—always attracted a lot of buzz. Every Apple store I have been at is an experience. The store is crowded with consumers, interacting with a staff that is eager to help them.
Yet, it wasn't all that long ago that Jobs was considered a failure. He clashed with another marketing expert, then-Apple chief executive John Sculley (who in a previous position came up with the very effective "Pepsi Challenge" campaign), which to Jobs being forced out of the company he founded.
Jobs took the lessons from his failure at Apple and ran with them. He founded NeXT Computer, and separately, purchased the entity that is now known as Pixar.
Pixar came to prominence after the release of Toy Story and eventually it would be purchased by Disney, with Jobs becoming Disney's largest shareholder (Disclosure: My family owns stock in Disney).
NeXT was purchased by Apple in 1996 and its WebObjects product became the base for the Apple Store and the iTunes Store.
Jobs became the interim CEO at Apple and in 1998 the company introduced the product that started it all, the iMac. Its colorful rear and all-in-one CPU and screen attracted consumers and since then, the company has not looked back.
Our marketing lesson from Steve Jobs: perseverance in the face of adversity, especially when you have a strong belief in the product you are selling.
Another thing: Steve Jobs was successful in making his name into a brand. His was synonymous with Apple. How loan officers are synonymous with mortgages in their community? There are a precious few.
Your name may not be well known to consumers, but it should be well known among your referral partners. They should be telling their customers "I am sending you to Bob," rather than "I am sending you to XYZ Mortgage."
