A Marketing Manual From Apple

A very interesting article in USA Today today:  Apple Buffs Marketing Savvy to a High Shine. It's must read material for anyone looking to accelerate their growth.  Here are the highlights:

"Apple's arsenal of attention-getting tools holds lessons for any company: design cool, innovative products. Have a streamlined product line. Invest in memorable ads. Work your customer base to make customers feel special and create word-of-mouth agents. Most important: keep the world and media surprised, to generate gobs of attention."

The article highlights seven lessons:

1. Make innovative products.

1. Keep it simple.

1. Create truly memorable ads.

1. Find an enemy.

1. Work the taste-makers.

1. Offer surprises.

1. Put on a show.