Okay, the iPhone has eclipsed Paris Hilton as the media’s hysterical focus of attention. It’s the new subject of furious debate that amounts to nothing more than a tempest in a teapot. Will the iPhone sell? Does it connect slowly to the Internet? Is it too expensive? Is it truly a technical marvel? Is Jobs just a huckster with slick designs?

The discussion dominates the national dialogs, techie columnists are spewing forth with their self-important critiques, news shows are holding viewer polls and…Steve Jobs could care less. Not a whit. Zero. He isn’t listening to a word. He’s off at his bowling league or whatever the hell he does when he isn’t making billions selling stuff everyone else wishes they thought of.

It’s not that he doesn’t care about the iPhone’s success. This is one driven capitalist. It’s just that he knows that the iPhone has a secret weapon that assures its fantastic success. A weapon he did not create but one he manipulates masterfully.

It is called Christmas.

Nothing, absolutely nothing can stop millions from putting iPhones under the tree on December 25^th. Steve Jobs owns a big share of Apple but his dirty little secret is that he owns a bigger share of Christmas.

Slow connecting to the Internet? He’ll fix that but even if he didn’t, do I want a damn tie for the holidays or an iPhone? I have absolutely no need for the new Jobs toy, I may not even use it. I may stick with my ugly old cell phone and ancient Blackberry Pearl, but don’t give me the damn tie. I want an iPhone. Just because it’s cool and fun and sexy and none of your business, I want it. And I want to give it for Christmas. Dozens of them. And the gods of tech reviews can’t stop me.

Steve’s true genius isn’t commercializing the graphical user interface, or music downloads, or putting every form of digital information in your palm. It is instead in owning Christmas.

There is a big, noisy, powerful lesson here for everyone in business. Don’t just focus on the product or service, think about THE day people have to buy something en-masse and make it YOUR day. Then you can go bowling while everyone else is working.

Ask Hallmark. Steve did.

Now tell me what you are going to do differently to make your day.

Mark Stevens
CEO

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007 at 12:21 pm and is filed under Advertising, Branding, Business, Marketing, Marvelous Marketing, Unconventional Thinking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.