Lessons from the Apple Brand on How To Be The Best
Why do Apple users love the brand so much? Why are Apple users willing to wait overnight in the freezing cold just to be one of the first few to own the latest Apple gadget? Why are Apple users willing to pay a premium to buy an Apple computer or Laptop? How did Apple convert so many of its users into evangelists who constantly spread the Apple brand and message to all corners of the world? Is it their beautiful designs? Is it the functional simplicity of their cutting-edge products? Their email newsletters and email marketing campaigns? Is it the Mac guy or the PC guy?
The conventional belief is that Apple products get so much love from users due to the fact that they’re sleek, well-built, and beautiful. But while certainly Apple has built a brand based on beautiful, user-friendly products, there are other great products competing in Apple’s marketplace that don’t generate the fervent devotion exhibited by Apple fanatics.
The truth is that Apple users become evangelists for the brand not simply because Apple creates products that are sleek and cutting-edge, but because the Apple brand has a unifying purpose and message. The Apple brand has always been a symbol of innovation and doing things differently than the rest of the marketplace.And even though owning an Apple product that millions of other people have doesn’t make an Apple user unique, it doesn’t change the fact that every Apple user feels that in some little way, Apple’s innovation-driven vision rubs off onto themselves in some little way. In the same way, being an innovator with a clear vision in your career and life will attract others that share your vision, and allow you the opportunity to strive for the highest pinnacles of human achievement.
Channeling Apple’s Innovative Spirit
While other companies were still developing PDAs and improving phone keypads, Apple was developing a smart phone with a touch screen. While other companies were fighting over the smart phone and laptop market, Apple created a whole new market with the introduction of the iPad.
While it may not be obvious at first, there are lessons that we can learn from Apple’s devotion to their brand mission that can apply directly to the pursuit of career excellence and the achievement of lofty goals. While fighting to be the best within an existing set of rules will certainly get you far in life – there are plenty of very successful companies in the phone and laptop market that haven’t revolutionized the industry –to actually be the best, you have to create your own rules – you have to see a vision and work feverishly to make it a reality, just like Steve Jobs and his team at Apple did with the iPhone and the iPad. In that same way, a devotion to creating your own reality and redefining the rules can open up opportunities unavailable to those who compete within the rules defined by someone else.
Being More Than Sleek, Well-Built, and Beautiful
There are literally billions of people who go through their career and life aiming to be sleek, well-built, and beautiful, thinking that it’s the key to success. They want the prettiest resume, the prettiest pedigree, a spotless reputation, they want to be loved by everyone, and of course, they want the perfect appearance. And just like the consumer electronics market, being sleek and beautiful – while it certainly helpsand may even be necessary in many cases – is not the key to being the best. In your career as well as life, reaching the top means looking beyond the need to be well put together and sleek, it means finding your own vision of how things should be and making it your mission everyday to take one step closer to making it a reality.
What does this mean from a practical perspective? This means that your resume and pedigree won’t always be as pretty as you want it, but it will reflect your life goals. If your dream is to build the next Facebook, Google, or Apple, following your parent’s desire for you to finish your degree at MIT or Harvard won’t get you there. It means that sometimes your reputation will suffer temporarily and people will dislike you when you stand up for the values you know are right. It means that that you won’t derive your identity from your physical appearance, your family background, or your alma matter. Rather, your mission and purpose in life will be set forth by your ability and desire to take action, create new markets, to test new ideas, and to stand apart from the rest. Striving to be sleek, well-built, and beautiful will certainly allow you to achieve moderate success. But channeling the same uncompromising vision and purpose that led Steve Job’s and Apple to the top of the tech world is what will give you the chance to be the best.
About the Author
This guest post is from Endre Rex-Kiss, a small business marketing advocate. He is a professional copywriter and occasional guest blogger in all things social media and marketing, with a keen interest in stock trading. He currently represents Jangomail, a popular email service provider. Follow his occasional rants on Twitter.
