There was a day when advertising was all you needed to push a product. You could buy a bunch of space on TV, the radio, and in magazines, and everybody would be talking about you in no time.
But not anymore.
Today, if you look at the brands that are doing really well — the ones that are really crushing it — you’ll see that many of them don’t stop at remarkable advertising. They make a remarkable product.
The product isn’t just good. It’s sexy.
Several brands make great examples, but there’s one company more than any other that’s at the top of everyone’s mind. It’s the company with the sexy logo, the sexy ads, the sexy products, and the sexy packaging:
Apple.
Sure, they have great ads, but there’s more to it. What goes through your head when you look at a new iPhone 4.0 or an iMac?
If you’re like most people: pure, unadulterated lust. You have to have it.
So how do they do it? Is there some special secret?
Well… what better way to find out than by going straight to the source?
Use Only the Best Materials
In a recent interview, Jonathan Ive, Apple’s Senior VP of Design had this to say:
“A big part of the experience of a physical object has to do with the materials…understanding, that preoccupation with the materials and processes, is [very] essential to the way we work.”
He goes on to explain the precise machinery required to design and create the new iPhone 4.0, and the importance of the relationship between form and mastery of material.
Obviously, there are some philosophical leanings in this discussion, but let’s push that aside for a minute and examine what we can learn about our own industry from Ive’s quote.
If you read between the lines, you’ll see that when Ive speaks of materials, he speaks of them in a way that defines the intended user experience. He’s in love with his materials.
