Meeting the pop of iPhone, Bob Borchers :)

Great great great inspiring presentation by Bob Borchers on 'Innovation' yesterday at the MMC 10 organised by ADOI.

His advice from conception to delivery: Just remember to etch this four very important rules onto your everyday work habit (but Italic mine):

1) First is overated (first, so what? It's about who scores with the hottie after that!)
2) Change the rules (if you identify the wrong rules, you change the wrong stuff. Still can't get myself to do it right...)
3) Show the obvious benefit (if there are many benefits, then show them all in a single breath!)
4) On going innovation (yea, once isn't enough, keep it going and going and going till it becomes your entire existence is to innovate)

There was a short Q&A session after the presentation which had to be cut short because believe me, it could go on and on and on. I mean Bob was so popular! Like Rihanna! I had a burning question in me but wasn't lucky (or tall) enough to get noticed. So he ended the talk, the crowd poured out of the hall, some went to get his superstar signature and eBay-type photos ;) and I went back in because it was still burning. I had to put it off. So here's my question to Bob.

***

Sparks: Hi Bob, I have a burning question back there but you didn't see my hand.

Bob: Hi, I'm sorry about that. You should have just jumped up! So what was it?

Sparks: Well, my question is purely from a consumer point of view so... am not gonna ask you for any marketing tricks ;) You talked about innovation at the very source which is the conceptualisation of a product and finally creating it. You also mentioned about innovation in communication, to ensure the message gets right through to the consumer before they finally open their little 'Christmas in Spring' shopping bag to reveal their new iPhone.

And if I understand your marketing strategy correctly, since the first iPhone launch, every 1 and a half years or so, there's a new version. Understandable because that's innovation. But as you launch newer and newer versions, your customers are continuously upgrading. And considering our 'over consumed' state of the world, which lead to an inevitable crisis on sustainability issue, what is Apple's stance of innovation in this? So there's innovation in creation and delivery. What about disposal? What happens to all the hardware that we have purchased but are no longer in use? What is Apple's innovation in the last mile of the consumer cycle?

Bob: Well, that's a very good question which I forgot to mention during the presentation. We acknowledge our strong and loyal fan base and that's why our software upgrade is every 3 months. Which means, in order to enjoy the latest features, all they have to do is upgrade their existing softwares. We never tell them they have to purchase the latest version. But we too want them to enjoy the latest from Apple.

Sparks: Yea but what about the hardware? The ones that are no longer in use because there are now spanking newer versions?

Bob: Well, that's a really tricky one because hardwares are important to our business. But we're just saying that, the option of upgrading to the latest version is available to our customers.

Stranger: Hi Bob! Great presentation (squeezed in)

Sparks: Uh, oh, okay, thanks! Yea GREAT presentation :)

***

Well, I think he answered my question: SOFTWARES can play a huge role in sustainable consumption in electronics. But he didn't answer my other question. What innovation is Apple putting in place as part of its responsibility as a global citizen and important economic figure?

Hmm, something to really think about, isn't it?

And to leave you with something entertaining, a hip hop remix of Bob's original presentation of the iPhone :)