2 builders who never spoke to each other

Cut the message down to a billboard

One returning founder replaced a nine page newspaper advertisement with two words on billboards across a country, kept the product itself out of the campaign entirely because the story was doing the selling, and ran the same message for five years rather than refreshing it. Consistency is what makes a line stick; the slogan outlived the campaign. Marketing written from your own point of view rather than the reader's is what forces you into gimmicks and expensive reach in the first place, so fix the message before buying the traffic.

The method

1. 01

   Compress the message until it fits on a billboard in two words.

2. 02

   Keep the product itself out of the advertising when the story is doing the selling.

3. 03

   Run one message for years instead of refreshing it; consistency is what makes it stick.

4. 04

   Self-referential marketing forces you into gimmicks and expensive ad spend just to get any traffic in the door, so fix the message before buying reach.

What it returned

• 1997

  Jobs replaced the nine-page newspaper ad with a two-word slogan on billboards across America on his return in 1997

• No computers and no technical language appeared in the campaign

• The campaign ran five years, is credited with reversing Apple's fortunes, and the slogan still appears on some machines

Sources

• Start your marketing with other people in mindJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Start your marketing with other people in mind · undated
• How Steve Jobs clarified Apple's messageHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · undated