Long ago Peter Drucker, the father of business consulting, made a very profound observation that has been lost in the sands of time: “Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs.”Innovation and creativity are the keys to make marketing the distinguishing, unique function of a business.
Uniqueness is the driver fueling Apple’s phenomenal growth and profitability. Personally, I wonder how much longer Apple’s growth will continue without Steve Jobs. Uniqueness increases profits, especially if that uniqueness is important to the customer.