These days it’s cool for companies to want to emulate Apple. But it’s harder than it looks.
Case in point: This month’s Fast Company features Amazon’s Jeff Bezos pursuing his “inner Apple” as the cover story. Many articles and case studies have been written in an attempt to illuminate the secrets behind Apple’s continuing success. Pundits pontificate about Apple’s “secret sauce.” CEOs tell the troops to “get creative – innovate like Apple.”
So what’s behind this quest to imitate Apple? Mass media’s 25-year love affair with Apple? Apple’s stock performance? Its brand cachet? Ubiquitous iPods, iPhones and white ear buds? C-level execs wanting global celebrity status like that of Steve Jobs or former Apple exec Guy Kawasaki? Today’s fad of PowerPoint bashing? The pursuit of cool?
I’m amazed at how often the “Apple wannabe phenomenon” crops up in the media, client engagements, cocktail conversations, and so on. I’m equally amazed at how unrealistic people are about what it takes to behave like Apple.
It’s Not Easy to Be Cool
From what I’ve seen, most business leaders’ desire to emulate Apple is wishful thinking. Their dreams cannot be realized because they are not supported by:
- a clear strategic intent linked to a disciplined, specific and actionable plan
- a favorable corporate culture
- a willingness to invest in change management to get from today’s pedestrian reality (whatever that might be) to Apple-like coolness
- holistic product planning that proceeds from the identified customers’ desired experience goals as a non-negotiable starting point
- or any real understanding of what’s required to embrace design as a strategic pillar of the essential corporate/brand strategy.
I call this the “CEO free lunch syndrome” – meaning they want it, but don’t have any intention of paying for it. Just like the mythical free lunch, execs who pursue this course are unlikely to make any real progress on their quest to emulate what’s best about Apple.
Embracing your “inner Apple.” It’s not just a question of hiring some brilliant interaction designers, award-winning agencies, industrial designers or design strategists. Dressing in black turtlenecks and jeans; or dropping PowerPoint in favor of Apple Keynote and a slavish adherence to the principles of “presentation zen.”
It’s Gotta Be Baked In – Part of Corporate DNA
My perspectives on Apple are based on a long history of working together in a variety of roles: employee, partner, customer, service provider, and former shareholder.
So what does this perspective tell me?
It’s Hard to Imitate Apple
Apple’s competitive positioning and brand associations are based on tough-to-emulate qualities that take years to put into practice. Things like:
- employee indoctrination, on-boarding, corporate values – a corporate mantra – and cult-like objects to inspire devotion and reinforce commitment
- management-backed values and recognition systems that support and reinforce behavior on the part of every employee to be consistent with corporate brand principles
- hiring and retention practices that attract and keep the right people on board (or within reach of Apple’s influence ecosystem)
- a culture that actively discourages mediocrity, celebrates heroic actions, and rewards risk taking without unduly punishing fast failures (as long as the mistakes lead to fast learning)
It’s Expensive to Imitate Apple
Even if you ignore Apple’s investment in highly designed and world-class ads, collateral, web presence – or “product as hero” photos that romance the brand (I’ve heard they spend upwards of $100K on the iconic photographs that will appear everywhere.) – Apple is committed to a highly disciplined approach that’s almost impossible to imitate. For example:
- an obsessive attention to detail, quality workmanship, and design principles focused on just the essentials (see story below)
- “tough love” criticism to prevent mediocrity, or good-enough-but-not-great ideas and products from creeping into the product or brand portfolio
- ruthless willingness to prune the product portfolio to just the right set of products and offers (no more SKU creep)
- willingness to delay product ship dates (or increase last-minute development costs) to ensure that new products adhere to design standards and Apple brand principles – no compromise
- a web presence and design philosophy that are so consistent you’d recognize them as coming from Apple even if the name and logos were removed
- willingness to vest decision making authority in a small number of design czars (or even a design dictator like Steve Jobs), rather than compromise the clarity of the design vision by trying to reach consensus across a broad constituency
- willingness and ability to develop design personas, supporting use cases and experience/interaction designs that will ensure customer delight – tactics that deliver on the strategy
Here are a few stories to illustrate my points.
Some Stories
The Cult of Apple – Internal evangelism
When I worked there, indoctrination into the cult of Apple began on Day One, with an all-day orientation that celebrated the myths and legends of the then-young company. (Even back then I wondered if I were getting brainwashed…) Throughout my 5 years as an employee, we were showered with tchotchkes, war stories, presentations, internal publications and artifacts that reinforced brand values and design principles.
Besides the official corporate values, there were “words to live by” and corporate mantras. Things like:
The journey is the reward.
And:
Apple will change the way people work, learn, live and play.
We reinforced these beliefs and values in everything we did, celebrated, talked about – or evangelized to partners and other stakeholders.
It’s the only employee badge I’ve never thrown away.
External Evangelism
Guy Kawasaki became famous after publishing the ideas he pioneered while leading Apple’s externally facing “Evangelism” team – a practice that Microsoft later borrowed? stole? “embraced and extended?” from Apple. Apple actively promulgated its beliefs and values, and required adherence from any partner whose offering would complete the value proposition to be delivered to the end-customer. (When I was there, this was a condition of participation in joint campaigns and promotions.)
More recently, I’ve heard stories from friends and family members who worked for AT&T during the launch and roll-out of Apple’s iPhone on the AT&T network. To say there was culture clash between the two companies would be an understatement (based on the war stories I’ve heard via the local grapevine).
A major source of friction was Apple’s relentless insistence on owning the consumer’s online experience: people activating their first iPhone, or transferring their mobile number from another carrier. Apple didn’t want this step – a critical first impression — to be just another same-old/same-old AT&T activation experience. The problem for AT&T was that Apple’s desired online experience didn’t mesh nicely with the legacy back-end systems that got consumers up and running on AT&T’s subscriber network. Even so, despite enormous technical and scalability challenges, Apple prevailed.
The Design Czar
Most people have heard or read stories about Steve Jobs’ direct and hands-on involvement in customer-facing design decisions. But I’ve heard a story that’s really telling: his obsessive attention to design detail even for things that are “under the hood,” less likely to be visible to the casual observer or product reviewer.
I heard this story from a design principal for a Bay Area firm, who was in the room with Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ivey when this event occurred.
Apple was nearing design completion for one of its high-end Mac powerhouses – the expandable silver tower computers that are purchased by Hollywood studios, animators, design professionals, game developers, and Apple enthusiasts who aren’t budget constrained.
According to my source, Steve opened up the cover, looked at the board layouts and the design of the expansion chassis, and announced they weren’t good enough. He insisted that what was under the cover had to be just as beautiful (and functionally elegant) as what appeared on the outside of the product. Ease of use and design elegance – as applied to ease of maintenance by the Mac owner – had to match Apple’s vaunted UI standards for software usability. The design execs were sent back to their teams, and told to get it right. Apple delayed the product launch until the design principles and quality standards were achieved.
There’s a similar story about a last-minute design decision to replace the glass on the first iPhone to ensure it would be best-in-class, optical quality.
A related story – learning from design archetypes:
When I was working for Apple in the early days, one of Apple’s buildings on Mariani Drive proudly featured a black BMW motorcycle and a Bosendorfer piano in its main lobby. Why? They were held up as the design exemplars — illustrating the perfect balance between form and function. We all knew what they represented.
My Apple Credentials
Starting in 1983:
- partnering with Apple to develop and promote software solutions for Apple II, III, Lisa and Mac 128K (VisiCorp – 2+ years)
- playing a key role on the early Macintosh business marketing team in Cupertino (Apple employee – 5 years)
- partnering with Apple to further the franchise for creative/media professionals(Aldus/Adobe – 4 years)
- writing an early (co-branded) white paper on the Internet that Apple published and distributed around the world (1996, Informing Arts)
- being a loyal Apple customer since 1990 or so, and a Mac user since 1984.
I can’t claim to have current insights into Apple’s operating philosophies, but based on their observable behavior, I doubt they have materially changed.
My final point: if you want to emulate Apple, look below the surface and think carefully about whether you’re willing and able to commit to the required transformation. Let alone, fund it.
