For Steve Jobs, consumers weren't just consumers, they were people. People with dreams, hopes, and ambitions, and he got Apple to create products to help them achieve their dreams and goals.
"To me, marketing is about values. It's a very complicated and noisy world. And we're not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us. No company is. So we have to be really clear about what we want them to know about us." - Steve Jobs.
It's the people, the organisations, who do the hard work to clarify and simplify who'll be the ones able to rise above the noise, get their messages heard, and make a difference in the world.
Simplicity is the key, and the way to achieve this is by being relentless in abandoning the superfluous and identifying the absolute core of your message.
Simplicity isn't easy - it's hard, very hard. If it was easy, then everyone would do it, but few actually do.
Success for all companies relies on them being able to have a simple offering, to stay focussed on that offering and not deviating from what it is that makes them great in the first place.
The same is true not just for what the company does but how they do it. Apple uses a one-sentence description for every product they introduce:
With shortened attention spans and lots of competition for mind-share, people want things simplified. People loathe complicated instructions. They quickly abandon websites with confusing navigation. They click off YouTube videos that are too long and too boring.
Simplicity is an ideal that very few companies achieve, but those that do separate themselves from the pack.
If there was ever a universal rule for marketing, it would be this - the easier it is to understand, the better. Simplicity allows for better decision making - or at least that is how consumers perceive it.
No surprise then, that according to research: 75% of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand that they feel is simple
Consumers make snap judgments. They think in a blink. The clearer the message, the easier it is for the consumer to make a decision. If the consumer doesn't quickly understand what you're selling and why they should care, you've lost them for good. That's why the most effective advertising messages are short and simple. Short enough to remember and simple enough for everyone to understand:
• A diamond is forever
• Snap, Crackle, Pop
• Finger lickin' good
In an ever-more complex world, consumers receive thousands of advertising messages - anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000 each day. From television and print advertising to social media and blogs, consumers are bombarded with information about products and services almost every minute of the day.
Developing effective marketing messages helps companies cut through the chatter and get consumer attention quickly. While long explanations of your product might give potential customers plenty of information, a simple message cuts through the clutter and creates a memorable image in the customers' minds.
"Simple can be harder than complex - you have to work hard to get your thinking clean and make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains." - Steve Jobs
