“Creative leaders ask empowering questions and their answers can guide the brand for years,” Carmine Gallo writes for Forbes. “Steve Jobs asked better questions and his vision continues to inspire Apple today.”
“When Apple opened its first store in 2001, many experts thought it was a crazy idea. Skeptics misjudged its success because they were crunching numbers instead of considering experiences. The critics were correct that — compared to its peers — Apple would have to generate a lot more money per square foot to pay for its expensive space in shopping malls. What they didn’t realize is that Jobs and his team didn’t set out to sell computers,” Gallo writes. “Most computer makers asked, ‘How do we move metal and sell boxes?’ Jobs asked, ‘How do we enrich lives?'”
“The vision—enriching lives—has served as the Apple store’s true north for 15 years. It’s still at the heart of the company’s vision as it embarks on the most significant redesign since the stores first opened,” Gallo writes. “When [Apple’s Senior Vice President of Retail Angela] Ahrendts first introduced the concept behind the redesigned stores, she said the position of the Creative Pro was inspired by Jobs’ philosophy that Apple is ‘technology married with the liberal arts.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Nearly 16 years and counting! (The first Apple Retail Stores opens on May 19, 2001.)
I give [Apple] two years before they’re turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake. – David Goldstein, Channel Marketing Corp. President, commenting on Apple’s plan to open retail locations, May 21, 2001
SEE ALSO:
Here’s CBS this Morning’s interview with Apple’s Angela Ahrendts – April 25, 2017
Apple is overhauling its stores, and wants them to be the new Starbucks, says Angela Ahrendts – April 25, 2017
Apple’s retail chief Angela Ahrendts on turning stores into town squares – October 18, 2016