Conventional marketing wisdom has it that customers form loyalties to brands. This is the basic idea that a Ford owner is likely to buy another Ford based on a loyalty to the brand. I think the Japanese car companies would agree that it was not terribly difficult to lure American customers away from the cars of the red, white, and blue. From this is it is clear that there are more forces at work in a purchase decision than brand loyalty.

Modern thinking in marketing talks more about experience engineering. This is an interesting idea, which basically boils down to the creation of an a comlete experience that makes customers feel good about themselves. This is a concept that Apple has gotten right with the iPhone. The all-in-one device, feature-ridden as it is, is really a little bit of the American dream distilled into a 7×4x0.5″ package. It represents freedom, fashionability, and the open road. You can go anywhere with that bad boy and still have you lifeline back into the techno-sphere. It makes you feel good about yourself. It works without an instruction manual. You feel like a wizard.

More than the product itself, though, Apple has captured the full lifecycle of the customer experience. It was extremely simple to order online. They sent me beautifully crafted emails with tips and instructions for what to do when it arrives. It comes boxed in simple, but elegant black. When I removed the tape from the front of the unit, it automatically turned on and told me to plug it in for setup purposes. The entire process of acquisition and setup makes you feel warm and welcomed. It is reminiscent of my wife’s shopping excursions to the Coach store where they hold her hand and cheer her through the process of acquiring new handbags.

So, in short, Apple is a company that gets experience engineering. This is extremely apparent when contrasted with their partner, AT&T/Cingular/whatever. When we walked into a Cingular store, there was no mention of the iPhone whatsoever, which was confusing enough. I mean, maybe they only sell them in AT&T stores, but I really don’t think I should have to care about mundane details like that when it’s the same lousy telco. I’m very glad I ordered it directly from Apple where the entire process of dealing with salespeople and outdated phone setups was eliminated.

To the companies out there in the process of getting products into the marketplace, please think about the full lifecycle of the experience. Make customers feel good about themselves and you will succeed.