Apple has become synonymous with product innovation. We have a number of clients in the life sciences, in healthcare, and even in public health who say they aspire to be like Apple. What they really mean is they want to make very hip, cutting-edge, trend-setting products. They want customers with cult-like devotion. And they want to score major "cool points" -- lots of 'em. All while making a ton of money.

Which is a problem. Why? It reminds me of a large, national, nonprofit we work with that said they want to be world class. The question was, are they willing to pay the price of being world class? Like letting go of mediocre employees, investing in top training programs, rewarding high performance, etc. 

Similarly, companies that want to establish a value discipline of innovation need to be willing to pay the price. In the development phase alone, Apple makes a huge investment. For example:

• A small team of extremely well-paid, top-notch designers with a maniacal focus on perfection.
• Who create 10 perfect mock-ups for each potential new product feature, from which three mock-ups will be selected for further exploration, to result in the feature in as perfect a form as possible.
• Which means Apple knows in advance that they will get rid of 90% (9 of 10 mock-ups) of what they create.
• And happily makes that investment.
• Fueled by leadership that is relentlessly committed to winning by innovating.

Which results in game-changing, industry-inventing, highly profitable products with incredible demand.

And Apple's style of innovation invite a fundamental re-positioning of form and function. As Alain Briellat put it in his excellent analysis:

"Apple doesn’t sell functional products; they sell fashionable pieces of functional art."

So... two simple questions for you, dear reader:

1) What do you sell?

2) Are you willing to invest what it takes to be a top innovator in your space?

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P.S. Check out these classics: Peter Drucker on The Discipline of Innovation, and Treacy & Wiersema on Value Disciplines.

I just had a fascinating conversation with a colleague who runs a Peace Institute at a southern California university. He posed this marketing challenge to us: Fix the stigma of peace. He feels their success is hampered by the stereotype that "peace people" are card-carrying liberals who naively think everyone should play nice, and who don't get the necessity of war to keep the world safe.

So, do we:  a) try to change how people think about peace? Do we:  b) reframe peace and call it something else that's less "loaded?"  Or do we:  c) accept people where they're at, and find a common ground regardless of political idealogy?  (hint: not a or b).

I call this "wrong reason marketing." Get people to do the behavior based on their own reasons (or even no substantive reason), without requiring them to know what you know or believe what you believe, aka the "right" reasons.  Be forewarned: The stronger you believe in something, the harder - and perhaps the more important- it is to do this. Remember though, small wins lead to bigger wins. More to follow...

A very sweet ad for P&G's Dawn dishwashing detergent won the top spot in the Ace Metrix list of best TV spots for the second quarter of 2010. The ad shows how Dawn Ultra can clean and save birds and other wildlife soaked with goopy oil.

Note that the ad debuted two weeks before the BP oil rig explosion, and was rated first prior to the spill as well... wow.

I'm glad to see a "cause-related" ad win (here's the story in AdWeek). This one is interesting because it is not a traditional cause marketing approach that would link P&G or Dawn with selected non-profit organizations. It is an ad centered on the product. I see the primary message as this: Because our product can save poor animals, you should buy it. Secondary message #1: By the way, if we're good enough to clean oil-soaked birds, imagine what we can do for your greasy dishes. Secondary message #2: And feel good, because we will donate a dollar of your purchase to help these animals. Nice job P&G and the Kaplan Thaler agency!

In my Business Improvement Group today, I was reminded today about the power of one degree - the huge difference that a tiny difference can make. At 211 degrees water is hot. At 212 degrees water boils. Which makes steam. And steam can power a locomotive. Check it out on the video based on Sam Parker's book by the same name.

An Olympic victory comes down to milliseconds. A photo finish horse race where literally a nose can be the difference between winning and placing -- and 60% vs. 20% of the pot. As Vince Lombardi said: "Inches makes the champion."

The extra degree of effort really matters, in business and in life.