Apple released the iPhone more than a month ago and AT&T finally got around to notifying me. "Sign up to be the first to know," they said--when  they were Cingular.

Good thing I wasn't waiting for AT&T's "new" marketing people to keep me in the loop. But it's okay. Apple sent me a note long ago, and sold me the phone quite easily.

Sometimes just 'not screwing up' is the best marketing strategy.

How often do you find yourself talking marketing strategy and the other person is talking about promotional tactics? Mary Schmidt writes in Marketing Is Easy! I’ll Read a Book!,

Dr. Near is confusing marketing with advertising. She spent $50,000 on advertising during her first year in business, with no results. In Albuquerque, that’s a lot of money and a lot of advertising. Nary a mention of other marketing tactics or Internet strategy in the article.

I've reached the point where I just don't use the term 'marketing' any more. One of the secrets of market-driven leaders is to know the difference between Big M marketing and little m marketing.

I got an Apple iPhone for my birthday--that is, I bought one myself but my wife said, "Hey, guess what? That's now your birthday present, mister! And I'm returning the BOSE computer speakers that I already bought you."

So anyway, I bought it while traveling, hooked it up to my PC in the hotel room, connected to the internet, and the phone activated immediately. I was actually amazed at how wonderful the experience was since I'd heard  that many people had bad experiences. Happily I didn't.

This weekend, I took my daughter and her friend to see Harry Potter at the IMAX theater. [Man! That's a big screen! And that fight scene in the room with all the prophesies! Sweet. And did anyone else question their filing system?] But despite a sold-out show and over-the-top buzz, the theater seemed surprised that all these people were showing up. They were completely unprepared--so much so that the patrons took the law into their own hands and policed the queue. [How bad is it to jump a line for a kids' movie! Yeesh.]

But my experience is nothing compared to the story from James Stoup about buying a fan from Honeywell. (Don't drink anything while you're reading it!)

What's the difference between a product-driven and a market-driven company?

Product managers in the market-driven company look at the entire buying and using experience... beyond just the device or service itself. Apple did it right. The iPhone is indeed gorgeous! Activation was elegant and easy. Alas, for those who had problems, AT&T dropped the ball on customer service (no surprise). IMAX was thinking ticket sales instead of managing the thundering herd. The Honeywell fan? 'nuff said.

Some companies seem to say, "Once we have your money, who cares?" Market-driven companies say, "I want you to tell your friends!" And people do either way. Happy customers tell some people. Unhappy customers tell everybody!

It's five times cheaper to keep a customer than it is to get a customer. What portion of your marketing plan contains strategies for keeping customers?