Regardless of how you feel about Apple products there is no denying they are genius marketers and communicators. They run a very tight ship and heavily control the flow of information from their organization to the public. That’s the only reason why the recent iPhone 4G leak scandal was even a scandal at all. But that’s only part of what makes the folks at Apple geniuses.

When you see their advertisements, whether it be television, web, billboards (yes, there are Apple iPad billboards in Boston), or even those goofy highly-scripted spectacles that Steve Jobs puts on at a convention center every time they have a new product to announce; their marketing just makes you want to buy. Well, I should say “most of us want to buy” to be fair to those non-techy people like my wife who could care less about gadgets.  Apple’s marketing is very consistent. Images always have a clean white background with the product angled in a specific way and a nice reflection going through the top half. Their fonts are always bold, clean and crisp. You get the sense that the product is so special and so advanced it’s worth every penny of its usually high price tag. This could not have been more true for the recent release of the Apple iPad.

I watched the online video on Apple’s website where they take you through the iPad and talk about its functionality. The calm but dramatic voices of their engineers and product managers (the same people that appear on all Apple videos) just make the iPad seem magical. In fact, that’s how they describe the iPad, “magical”. Clearly, the iPad is not magical. It’s a series of wires and processors that form a really cool tablet. But despite the fact I had no practical use for the iPad, I really wanted one.

Later that week my wife and I were out and I asked her if we could take a stroll through Best Buy to checkout what all of the buzz is about regarding the recent iPad launch. She gave me a disapproving look and agreed on the condition that I would not buy anything. “Sure honey”, I agreed, “there is nothing I really need”.

I spent about 3 minutes playing with the demo iPad in the store when it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I was disappointed to find that I really didn’t need or want the iPad. Yes, it was cool. Yes, it was slick looking and technologically advanced just like Mr. Jobs said, but I couldn’t find any reason to own one. It was then that I realized I was a victim of the brilliant marketing by Apple. Of course, no one will admit that marketing works on them. But in this case, Apple got me, hook line and sinker. Well, to be more accurate, they got me to the store, but they didn’t get my five hundred bucks.

So, is there a point to all this? Well, perhaps not a very compelling one, but there is a question. How can we as marketers sell our brand the way Apple sells theirs? I don’t mean be a follower or do what they do, because your brand is different. I mean, the kind of marketing that brings you to Best Buy on a typical Saturday afternoon for absolutely no reason.