Marketing as a Core Capability at Apple

With the death of Steve Jobs, it is hard not to reflect on Apple today. Public comments from President Obama, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg indicate respect and admiration for the successful innovator. But what has made him and his products so successful?

I believe that the success of Apple under Steve Jobs is largely because of his understanding of the market and customer desires. Marketing, in addition to technological development, is clearly a key competency at Apple. For example:

• They prioritize attractive design features. Remember the first iMac with the candied colors?
• They run catchy commercials that people are likely to watch even with DVR technologies that make TV ads less effective.
• They build incredible excitement around product announcements.

While the technological advancements give the company and products credibility, it is this core marketing capability that contributes to the amount of "mind share" that Apple is able to capture in the market.