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Lessons from Apple

This week’s blog is a continuation of a discussion around the marketing of Apple Computers and what it has to do with the marketing of chiropractic.

The conversation is based around an interview some 15 years ago with Apple’s product marketing vice president Phil Schiller, which was published in the “Australian” on 19th January 1999. I have drawn certain points and parallels to the chiropractic story and have highlighted the quoted conversation in Italics.

How is Apple trying to differentiate itself from other computer companies?

“First of all we have a message.

We’re really talking about who we are, what we stand for, what we want to be able to achieve, and how we want to be able to help people.

Luckily, we’re able to not only get out that message in exciting creative ways, but to back it up with unique, exciting products that really do illustrate what we mean by “Think Different”.

Chiropractic has always had a clear message. However chiropractors have somehow thought that the message is too simple or too unscientific or too uncomplicated and so have chosen to downplay the message. There are a set of principles that have been handed down for us to consider and the academics in our profession have chosen to deny these exercises in logic in favor of a belief system based on the central dogma of medicine.

The chiropractic message is contemporary and sought after. The public is seeking natural, non-polluting and sustainable living. We have a complex system of government and private organizations fighting for ecological solutions to the world’s dilemmas and chiropractic is not represented at the table because it offers the logical viewpoint that pollution of the external environment will continue as long as people are polluting their internal environment.

Our mission is to let the world know and appreciate the power of their bodies, the potential of their life and the role that chiropractic has in that.

We too can get that message out in exciting and creative ways and a major challenge for us is to continue to refine our art so the name of “back cracker” is no longer relevant.

If you and I make our bigger vision our product rather than what we do we will start to get traction in our community.