What the iPad Taught Us
By David Brier, DBD International Ltd.

Apple just brought in $150 million in revenue in one weekend with its newest offering, the iPad. This led me to ask, “Why can one person in any activity come out a winner, and another, in the same category or activity, come out with a compromised failure? What do the other players, such as IBM, Warner Brothers, and Microsoft, have in common, that we can all learn from?”

Part of Apple’s success, it seems, simply has to do with knowing what’s possible—not what’s already happening.

What is Real?
Now this has nothing to do with what is “real.” Reality is defied every day by brilliant marketers, branding professionals, CEOs, and regular individuals. I am talking about the what-if-you-knew-what-would-occur-if-you-just-knew-the-rules-to-what-works aspect of things.

Who knew: 

• An individual could jump like Michael Jordan until it happened?

• A failing ice cream business could be saved from bankruptcy by changing its name (and keeping everything else exactly the same)?

• That we would all need more than 640K for our computers?

• That self-made online videos would become the next channel of communication amongst the masses?

• That permission was preferred (and necessary) by people who chose to be marketed to?

• That $150 million worth of product could be sold on launch day of a new technology product?

Challenging Conventional Wisdom
Apple is famous for its forward-thinking approach and attention to detail. Details that others tend to overlook. Being short-sighted in branding, as well as in life, is as avoidable a shortcoming as poor manners at a formal dining engagement. How widespread is this epidemic? Look at these “famous last words.”

• “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” —Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

• “I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.” —The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

• “But what... is it good for?” —Commenting on the microchip, an engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968

• “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” —Ken Olson, president, chairman, and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

• “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” —Western Union internal memo, 1876

• “The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?” —David Sarnoff’s associates, in response to his urging for investment in the radio during the 1920s

• “The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C,’ the idea must be feasible.” —A Yale University management professor, in response to Fred Smith’s paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.).

• “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” —H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927

• “A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make.” —Response to Debbi Fields’ idea of starting Mrs. Fields’ Cookies

• “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” —Decca Recording Company, rejecting the Beatles, 1962

• “If I had thought about it, I wouldn’t have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can’t do this.” —Spencer Silver, on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3M “Post-It” Notepads

• “So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said, ‘No.’ So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, ‘Hey, we don’t need you. You haven’t got through college yet.” —Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs, on attempts to get Atari and HP interested in his and Steve Wozniak’s personal computer

• “You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of your muscles? It can’t be done. It’s just a fact of life. You just have to accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight training.” —Response to Arthur Jones, who solved the “unsolvable” problem by inventing Nautilus

• “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” —Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899

• “640K ought to be enough for anybody.” —Bill Gates, 1981

Curiosity Killed Complacency (Not the Cat)
Now, if the people responsible for the above achievements, breakthroughs, or initiatives didn’t suspect that something was possible, they wouldn’t have looked for the results, and life would have simply carried on.

In other words, breakthroughs occur because someone is looking. Someone suspects something is possible. Someone has a hunch. And unless you’re looking, you’ll miss it.

That’s the magic behind nearly every great creation or innovation. It’s the foundation of every great artist. Every great musician. Every great writer. And it equally applies to every great marketer, visionary, dreamer, inventor, and business person.

Getting it Right: Priceless
It comes down to this. If you suspect something is a possibility, explore it. If you hear of something that is supposed to be a certain way (and it makes sense, or if it challenges you, you can still look—it won’t hurt to look), simply observe.

Check It Out for Yourself
Customers who bought this item also bought...
In branding, I have found this insatiable curiosity quality to be vital. That’s one of the reasons some clients don’t get the branding results they desire, because they approach it half-heartedly or with skepticism, and that is a handicap. It’s not the total answer but it is a key factor. Like running marketing by committee. These committees inevitably come up with the blandest vanilla known to man.

Or this: Ever try to convince someone who had a completely fixed idea on what could be? Total disaster. They don’t budge. Neither does anything around them. Things are status quo.

Then take the same idea and present it to someone who is open to what’s possible. No fixed idea to try to influence or persuade. Out of nowhere, magic happens.

Open Channels
Simply look at the most celebrated brands and you’ll see someone at the top who was willing to look, suspected what could be, and then continued to look some more.

Happy branding.

David Brier, Chief Gravity Defier DBD International Ltd. As president of DBD International, David Brier is a branding expert and author on brand leadership. Clients include Seagate Technologies, Sunbelt Software, 24-7 Telcom, 4ward Planning, Legacy Chocolates, Stout Systems, and Chibardun Telephone. You can learn more about brand leadership and join his firm's mailing list by visiting RisingAboveTheNoise.com.