Aviation marketers that practice Steve Jobs’ management philosophy can create a powerful emotional connection with their brand.

In his Harvard Business Review article, Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute and the author of Steve Jobs’ biography, identifies what he thinks Jobs’ keys to success were and how they affected his management philosophy and style.

Below is my interpretation of Isaacson’s leadership article and how Jobs’ keys to success apply to aviation marketing.

12 keys for leadership in aviation marketing:

1. Focus – As everyone has limited resources, focus on sustainable marketing efforts that provide the best visibility and customer experience.
2. Simplify – Customers are busy and want their lives simplified. Eliminate excessive data gathering and intrusive checkout forms to increase conversion rates. Jobs’ mantra was “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
3. End-to-end responsibility – If you hand off any part of the customer experience, make sure your partner lives up to the brand promise.
4. Leapfrog – When marketing efforts come up short, innovative marketers leapfrog the competition with new marketing platforms and technologies.
5. Make a dent in the universe – Memorable marketing costs money. Don’t compromise on the quality of outbound and inbound marketing materials. The customer should be just as excited to open the box as he or she is to use what’s inside it.
6. Intuition is better than a focus group – Understand the desires of your customers. Empathy with the user’s situation builds brand loyalty.
7. Bend reality – Great marketing is a mixture of passion and sweat equity. Differentiation is achieved by standing out, not blending in.
8. Impute – Customers form an opinion of the product or company by the way it’s presented and packaged. The tactical experience sets the tone for how the product is perceived.
9. Push for perfection – When you think you have it right, hit the rethink button. Taking a second look allows you to course correct on faulty assumptions as knowledge is gained and new insights surface.
10. Speak your mind – You’re there to create inspirational marketing. Surround yourself with the best talent you can afford and encourage opinion sharing – both good and bad.
11. Engage face-to-face – Ideas are generated from people-to-people contact, not from emails and PowerPoint presentations.
12. Sweat the details – Big picture strategy is great, but it can get lost in the execution without attention to detail.

To view Walter’s complete article click on the following article title: “The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs”