Why manufacturers must master the art of brand marketing if they want to be heard

More than anything, it is Jobs’ marketing acumen that enabled him to turn Apple from a stuttering computer manufacturer on the verge of bankruptcy, into one of the world’s most iconic technology companies.

No better example can be found than in his 1997 speech to Apple employees (which can be viewed in full below). It was the speech where Jobs introduced Apple’s new ‘Think Different’ campaign, shortly after he returned to the company for his second tenure as CEO.

At the start of the speech, Jobs explains:

“To me, marketing is about values. This is a very complicated world; it’s a very 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 on what we want them to know about us.”

It is very easy to make noise through marketing. You can blitz every social media feed, dominate every magazine and commandeer every billboard. You could use a megaphone to scream your entire product line on continual repeat from every rooftop in town, but eventually people will filter it out, or you’ll be drowned out by other people who shout even louder than you.

Unless that is, you can give them a compelling reason to listen.

If you want to make yourself heard, first you need to ensure you have created something that delivers real value to enough of the right people. That is the job of your creativity, ingenuity and ability to produce work that genuinely matters.

The challenge then lies in the hands of your ability to answer a question that Jobs always excelled at – ‘why should anyone care?’.  This is what your brand identity is for – the means for your message to cut through the clutter in an exceptionally noisy world.

It’s your ability to combine the two that dictates whether or not you will build a truly inspiring brand.