Jobs Well Done

Steve Jobs announced details last week about the iPhone 3G to be released July 11th. There are more functions, more integrated abilities and it will start in the U.S. at about $200.

Jobs and the company he co-founded with Steve Wozniak have done remarkable work since his return in 1997 after a 12 year absence.

The magic of this company is their CEO. That is not to diminish work from thousands of developers, designers, and staff that keep Apple in business. But he is the rock star geeky gear head in jeans on stage with a laptop balancing on his finger.

While some think it’s all about price, this guy gets it. Other than bathroom tissue and nail clippers, there aren’t too many things we buy without attaching some emotion to it.

At one time, Macs were common to graphic designers, audio editors and the film industry. I remember years ago a producer was in my office begging for a G4 for his studio. This was not a kid throwing a tantrum because he didn’t have the shiniest toy – it was because the Mac platform was simply superior for that application.

Last year, Fortune Magazine named Steve Jobs the most powerful businessman in the world. That is high praise. Jobs and his team have been very aggressive with their marketing – most notably their television campaigns. And with over 70% share of the portable mp3 player market and increasing home and business shares of their other products, the campaigns are working.

Apple will never have the market dominance of PC, that’s not the point.

BJ Bueno in The Power of Cult Branding says we need to build brands people love, not brands people won’t hate. Good advice for Apple, good advice for all of us.

Test that theory by touching someone’s iPod and watch the reaction.

km