If you're over 30, you probably remember the origins of that slogan. It revolutionized the music industry in the way we consumed music and the way it was produced and sold. Nearly 20 years later, we'd have a hard time remembering what it was like to listen to music before then, especially on the go.
If you've guessed that I'm talking about the iPod, you're right. In 2001, Apple described their newest product exactly as in the title of this article. What's often forgotten is that the iPod's main competitor, a long-forgotten little device know as the Nomad Jukebox (the name alone feels like a mouth-full compared to "iPod") was equally as competent as fulfilling its purpose, but was promoted on its technical specs, something that no one, except the nerdiest of computer geeks cared about.
Needless to say that apple won the day and went on to sell over 400 million iPods, not to mention the 2.2 billion (yes Billion with a B) iPhones that effectively supplanted the iPod, while adding many more functions to the devices.
Why there are probably many more reasons why apple outsold its competitors by an unfathomable margin, their ability to sell their wares based on the benefits to their users is unparalleled. They've always refused to play the features game and their products often aren't the most technologically advanced, but Apple's genius is its ability to make you see the benefits that their products have on life instantly, and one of the main reasons they've always had extremely successful marketing campaigns.
The parallel with the architecture world is that too many firms (let's be frank, almost all of them) are still trying to sell themselves based on their features instead of how their work benefits their clients. A core tenet of a solid positioning in the marketplace is your ability to help your prospects see the benefits of hiring you in one sentence or less. It's tricky to achieve but not impossible, and if you put the time and effort to position your firm properly, you will see your cost of sales diminish drastically.
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