{"id":53152,"date":"2007-01-15T09:58:26","date_gmt":"2007-01-15T14:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=248"},"modified":"2007-01-15T09:58:26","modified_gmt":"2007-01-15T14:58:26","slug":"its-the-product-stupid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/its-the-product-stupid\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s the Product, Stupid"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of my favorite marketing gurus, David Ogilvy<\/a>, once wrote, \u201cGreat marketing only makes a bad product fail faster.\u201d How true.<\/p>\n

\"it's<\/p>\n

I have argued for years that, \u201cIt\u2019s the product, Stupid.\u201d The secret to success in any business is to deliver a great, compelling product. No amount of marketing savvy, salesmanship, or operational excellence can overcome a weak product. This is especially true when it comes to publishing.<\/p>\n

The purpose of marketing is to get a book launched\u2014to prime the pump. But if people don\u2019t want to read it and\u2014more importantly\u2014if they won\u2019t recommend it to their friends, you\u2019re hosed. You can\u2019t spend enough money or be creative enough to overcome a lack of word-of-mouth marketing.In light of this, it was fascinating to watch Apple\u2019s introduction of the iPhone last week. Like millions of other Mac fans, I read all the articles and even worked my way through Apple\u2019s slick, interactive Web site<\/a>. I thought to myself, Very cool. I definitely want one of these.<\/em> But I also thought, I can wait until the second generation. Let them work the bugs out first.<\/em><\/p>\n

But then I watched Steve Job\u2019s keynote presentation from MacWorld. (You can download this<\/a> for free from iTunes. If you are involved in any aspect of product development, this is a must-watch video.) Almost immediately, I fell under his spell. You really have to watch Steve demo this product to fully appreciate it. It\u2019s mind-blowing.<\/p>\n

I think there are at least three things that any<\/em> company can learn from Steve\u2019s keynote:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Create products that you would <\/strong>personally <\/strong>use.<\/strong> When you\u2019re watching Steve, you get the sense that he loves<\/em> the product. He is so familiar with it, because he has been using it. He thinks it is \u201cway cool,\u201d and he\u2019s not afraid to say so. He sprinkles words like \u201cawesome,\u201d \u201cincredible,\u201d and even \u201cmagical\u201d throughout his speech. He exhibits the wonder of a five-year-old on Christmas morning. You really believe him. He\u2019s not trying to sell you something. He\u2019s simply sharing the experience.\n

    What about the products you create? If you\u2019re in the publishing business, how about the books you publish? Do you even read the stuff you publish? Would you recommend your books enthusiastically to a friend? Do you really love these products or are you only trying to meet some arbitrary SKU quota or generate revenue?<\/p>\n

    What if we stopped publishing stuff that didn\u2019t capture our <\/em>imagination? My guess is that our SKU counts would drop dramatically. And, well they should. The world doesn\u2019t need more books. It needs better books.<\/em><\/li>\n

  2. Create products that solve problems in unexpected ways.<\/strong> It was interesting to watch some of the biggest cell phone manufacturers get hammered in the press the week before the iPhone was announced. They essentially said, \u201cWe\u2019ve saturated the market. There\u2019s nothing compelling left to build. Investors need to get used to the idea of slower revenue growth and tighter margins. From this point forward, competition is going to be brutal.\u201d\n

    Then Steve announced a new phone that essentially re-invented the category. Not surprisingly, Apple\u2019s stock soared. Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung\u2019s took a dive.<\/p>\n

    Apple wasn\u2019t content to create a phone that just had additional features.<\/em> They completely re-thought the solution\u2014from the ground up. They put themselves in the user\u2019s place and refused to be constrained by the past. They didn\u2019t start with the technology. They started with the dream and then went in search of technology. This is a completely different way of doing business.<\/p>\n

    As product developers, I think we too often think \u201cinside the box.\u201d We let the past constrain us. We don\u2019t get in the consumers shoes and ask, \u201cWhat would make this really cool?\u201d \u201cWhat would take this to a whole new level?\u201d \u201cWhat would we create if the limits of current technology weren\u2019t an issue?\u201d We have to get \u201coutside the box\u201d and learn to dream again.<\/li>\n

  3. Create products that exceed our customers\u2019 expectations.<\/strong> As I watched Steve\u2019s presentation, I couldn\u2019t help but notice the crowd. They were on the edge of their seats. It was like they were watching a master magician. As Steve demonstrated each new feature, the crowd erupted in spontaneous applause. To my surprise, I found myself laughing with glee. I felt like a kid again. Most of all, I wanted one of those phones!\n

    <\/em>Part of the charm is that everything is executed with such amazing simplicity and elegance. Every icon on the phone is understated but beautiful. Every feature is easy-to-use, but not complex. Everything seems not only as good as Apple could make it, but as good as Apple could imagine it.<\/p>\n

    What about our products? How often have we rushed something to press with a sigh and a collective, \u201cWell, I guess that will have to do. It\u2019s not great but it\u2019s good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

    We don\u2019t start with a lofty vision. We have become content with mediocrity. We aim low and execute even lower!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It\u2019s time to get the passion back. We have to raise the standard. We have to shoot for the moon. We need to push one another and our authors to deliver great manuscripts.<\/em> That\u2019s where it starts. We have to create head-turning packaging. We must publish books that we are delighted\u2014yes, delighted!\u2014to read ourselves and proud to pass on to others.<\/p>\n

    If we would do that, think how much easier everything else becomes. Apple spent a fortune on product development. But they haven\u2019t yet spent much on marketing. Nevertheless, they got more press coverage than the entire Consumer Electronics Show that was going on simultaneously in Las Vegas. They have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that \u201cIt\u2019s the product, Stupid.\u201d Let's take a lesson from their play book.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \nI have argued for years that, \u201cIt\u2019s the product, Stupid.\u201d The secret to success in any business is to deliver a great, compelling product. No amount of marketing savvy, salesmanship, or operational excellence can overcome a weak product.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[264],"tags":[788,1156,173,1703,166,1704,887,976,964],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s the Product, Stupid | Full Focus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/its-the-product-stupid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It\u2019s the Product, Stupid | Full Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I have argued for years that, \u201cIt\u2019s the product, Stupid.\u201d The secret to success in any business is to deliver a great, compelling product. 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