on marketing (a lesson learned from Apple)

The following excerpt from recent book of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson may offer us a good lesson on marketing.

[Mike] Markkula wrote his principles in a one-page paper titled "The Apple Marketing Philosophy" that stressed three points. The first was emphathy, an intimate connection with the feelings of the customer: "We will truly understand their needs better than any other company." The second was focus: "In order to do a good job of those things that we decide to do, we must eliminate all of the unimportant opportunities." The third and equally important principle, awkwardly named, was impute. It emphasized that people form an opinion about a company or product based on the signals that it conveys. "People DO judge a book by its cover," he wrote. "We may have the best product, the highest quality, the most useful software etc.; if we present them in a slipshod manner, they will be perceived as slipshod; if we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities." (page 78)

If you learn or follow how Apple sell their product, then the above marketing philosophy adequately explain everything. One thing for sure, Steve Jobs was not the one who 'invent' or 'create' that marketing approach. It's Mike Markkula. He is a first big Apple investor and chairman. And in Isaacson's book, he's describe as a father figure to Steve Jobs.

Perhaps the philosophy will be beneficial for marketing student or expert to learn further. For me, it is just a feeling of me being a victim of a good marketing strategy. But, I do not regret it!