Steve Wozniak: ‘Marketing is the most important thing for business success’

Marketing is the most critical element to making a successful technology company, particularly as competition in the sector is so intense, according to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.  

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Speaking today (23 October), at the Apps World conference hosted in London, Wozniak told attendees that marketing products and services to consumers was as important as engineering to the success of Apple, the company he founded with Steve Jobs.

He said: “It’s a lot easier to think of an app and write it, than it is to convince people to want it… publicity is crucially important… Marketing is the most important thing.”  

Wozniak went on to tell attendees that marketing was even more crucial given the intense competition in the potentially highly lucrative technology start-up sector.

It was the decision to become a “market-led” company that was focused on the needs of the consumer – as opposed to just developing technology for the sake of it – that has made Apple stand out from its competitors.

What Steve Jobs did well was to become a spokesman and the face of Apple, he said denouncing a recent Steve Jobs biopic that starred Ashton Kutcher as late Apple CEO. 

During his Q&A session, Wozniak also argued that the perceived “intertia” among the tech industry over Apple’s lack of product innovations – that had a similar effect of the initial iPad and iPhone – was not necessarily a bad thing.

He said: “The fact that Apple has plateaued for a couple of years, is fine with me.”

It’s difficult for companies to repeatedly come up with product innovations – similar to the breakthrough Apple I and Apple II computers – year after year, he added.

Wozniak, who still retains an interest in the company – also hinted that Apple had similar marketing changing products in the pipeline. 

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