experience matters

Celia Jones | Critical Mass Chicago

The buzz in the Critical Mass offices is reaching a feverish pitch. No it’s not about Duke v. Butler in the NCAA Championship game, the start of the Masters in Augusta, or the first day of MLB’s 2010 season. It’s bigger than that…much bigger (at least in our world: the digital world).

Today each of our offices around the globe is scheduled to receive a very special package: 2 Apple iPads—additions to our “hives,” digital playgrounds where we’re not only allowed, but encouraged, to play with new gadgets in order to learn, be inspired, and to use the new tech breakthroughs to create extraordinary experiences for our clients.

I know, the jury’s still out as to whether the iPad will live up to its hype.  The deck’s stacked against them with the bar set by the current gold standard: the iPhone. In any event, we’ll be putting our own usability, tech and creative experts to work testing out the latest and greatest from the almighty Apple. (Watch for a full report later this week.)

The incessant buzz about the iPad—and pretty much all of Apple’s previous product launches before that—got me thinking: how could a brand be so powerful, so talked about, so admired, (and for competitors) so copied?

Sure their products are the quintessential fusion of function and form: beautiful, simple and easy to use. But beyond that, there’s a reason why Apple is Fortune’s “Most Admired Company” for the third year running. The ethos of the brand takes it far beyond the products themselves. Apple is about freedom, innovation, imagination, “thinking different.” To quote a Wired article on the “Cult of Mac,” Apple is “the archetypal emotional brand. It’s not just intimate with its customers; it is loved.”

Case in point: the recent headlines about unassuming consumers receiving emails from Steve Jobs have been astounding. Contrary to the advice we give most of our clients about embracing social media, Apple is a brand that doesn’t. There is nary a trace of “official” Apple speak on Facebook and Twitter. We hang on every word from Jobs in the most old school of media: the press conference. Leave it to him to top even that. Hallowed messages being delivered from above…via email (albeit from his iPad)!

The typical exchange goes something like this:

Joe Shmoe:  ”Dear Mr. Jobs, will I be able to [insert question about a bug, software or service problem]?”

Steve Jobs: “No.”

Joe Shmoe: “Oh my God, I am never cleaning my in-box again.” (an actual quote from an Apple fan who got a little taste of divine intervention courtesy of Steve Jobs# )

People from all over the world are gaga, certainly with good news (for instance a “Yep” in response to a question about a software update), but they’re also swooning when they get the slap down (a terse, unequivocal “No.” to their requests).

The fact that Jobs is simply communicating at all, gracing them with his presence, is a heaven-sent to most Mac buffs. A strange, even bizarre phenomenon (and certainly not a sound strategy for most of us slogging it out far beneath the Apple ether) but, like them or hate them, there is no denying the power of a brand like Apple and a visionary like Steve Jobs.

If I had my chance to actually speak to Jobs Almighty, I wouldn’t talk about bug fixes, my constant iTunes/multiple device issues, or Entourage email problems, or even the dreaded name choice for the iPad. Sure, they’re all very real annoyances, yet they pale in comparison to the true joy I feel when I use my iPhone or MacBook Pro. For me, it’s undeniable: life is easier, my friendships are stronger, my experiences are richer, because of these devices.

So based on the articles I read, the email guidelines for writing to Steve Jobs with the best chance of a response are: keep it short, sweet, and to the point. Mine would go something like this:

[Subject:] “Are you there, Jobs? It’s me, Celia“

[Body:]

Dear Mr. Jobs,

Believe it or not, I don’t want anything from you. I just wanted to say thanks for expanding our minds, constantly reinventing the game, and always “thinking different.”

You rock.

Celia Jones