Usable Insight – Apple’s Secret Formula
After reading about the backing off of iPhone4S selling in China after the crowds turned angry, I realized what Apple’s secret is and something you can and should use to evaluate the market potential of your product or service.
Simply put, a new Apple product triggers in its customers:
- Excitement – this is the “Wow! Can you believe this!!” experience of an adrenaline rush
- Delight – this is the “Unbelievably cool!” experience of a dopamine burst
- Enjoyment – this is the “I just love this!” experience of endorphin flow
- Satisfaction – this is the “Look at the ease vs. frustration of doing so many things; I feel like the master of my universe” experience of elevated serotonin
- Bonded – this is the “Crazy or not, I feel attached to my Apple product and would be lost without it” experience of oxytocin connectedness
In essence Apple products bathe your nervous system with a gift that keeps on giving.
Why should any of this matter?
- because when most people think of their day to day life, especially in these difficult, insecure times, few experience excitement, delight, enjoyment, satisfaction or deep connectedness to either a significant or lasting degree
- because the crash off any of these experiences, especially off an adrenaline rush can be so upsetting, frustrating and painful that we will rush back to grab another toke from the Apple drug to avoid it
- because if your product or service instead of producing the above reactions produces the opposite, i.e. Boredom instead of Excitement, Disappointment instead of Delight, Frustration instead of Enjoyment, Regret instead of Satisfaction, Disconnection vs. Connection, they will experience less of the above neurochemicals and hormones and it will widen the Mirror Neuron Gap (explanation further down).
What Apple (and facebook, Starbucks and Zappos) know and execute on is that customers are compelled much more by an experience than a result. Why is that important? Because when you experience something you feel alive; when you achieve a result, you have a momentary feeling of excitement, but then you’re off to seeking the next result (that is why pure adrenaline junkies who only know excitement or restless boredom are usually not very happy, satisfied or fulfilled).
Years ago, I did a workshop at a PromaxBDA convention that was high tech except for my standing room only no-tech presentation to more than 250 attendees on “Creating Gotta See It!” PromaxBDA in the international association for entertainment professionals who are responsible for the trailers, ads, opening tv and movie sequence all designed to compel you to want to see more or what I referred to as “Gotta’ See It!” This is the same experience behind, “Gotta Have It!” “Gotta Buy It!” “Gotta Tell Others About It.” Contrast that with the opposite reactions such as “Never mind,” “Nah, don’t think so,” “Pass” or “Yuck!”
The single hand out from that presentation is below. In essence what it means is that every customer who has the internal experience on the left wants a product or service to transport them to the experience on the right. In the example of a promo or trailer or title sequence, all of these should offer a viewer the promise of being transported from an experience on the left to the one on the right if they see the tv show or movie. The same is true regarding your product or service.
That is what is referred to as the mirror neuron system. Mirror neurons are a part of the brain that cause us to mirror what we see others doing and to even feel what they are feeling. It is the part of our brain that causes us to yawn or smile when other people do it. It is thought to be the area associated with imitation, learning and empathy and when not functioning is thought to be involved in autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.
The relevance of this is that when we mirror, care or conform to the needs of the world it builds up in us a reciprocal desire and even deep hunger to be mirrored in return. I refer to this as a Mirror Neuron Gap (explained more fully in my book, “Just Listen” Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone which explains how deep and empathic listening narrows that gap and enables you to get through to anyone).
So if and when we are mirroring/conforming/catering to the emotional needs of others we unconsciously want others or the world to do the same in return.
If in our mirroring the world, we enable it and other people to feel excited/adrenaline rush, delighted/dopamine burst, enjoyment/endorphin flow, satisfaction/elevated serotonin, bonded/oxytocin connectedness at our expense, we are going to be very hungry for something that mirrors us and gives us back those experiences.
That is what Apple products do.
Tags: adrenaline, apple, dopamine, endorphin, serotonin
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