A Lesson from Apple

Same message, different delivery, different results

The concept of creating buy-in and maximizing influence through an appeal to the heart is not a new one. Most realms of society, especially business, do this whether they know it or not. In the business world, salespeople operate under the assumption that potential customers do not buy for logical reasons. They buy because of emotion and justify it with logic. Look no further than the commercials produced by Apple. Remember when FaceTime made its debut on the iPhone? Skype and other similar services had been around for years; Apple was not creating anything new, so its approach to selling this service had to be different. The advertisements for FaceTime were set to soft, emotional music and dramatized scenarios where several families that were celebrating significant events together. These included birthdays, graduations, the first steps of a baby, and more. At the end of the commercial, it was revealed that some of the members of the family were not actually at these events in person, but rather sharing the experience via the power of FaceTime. What a sell! Apple was able to create a situation that felt personal and affected our emotions surrounding family. We had to have FaceTime after that, it almost felt like it wasn’t even a choice.

In order to successfully introduce a revamped professional development program, I think teachers need to know that this service is built for them. It is designed and will be implemented with no other purpose than to support teachers with their goals and achieve improved learning environments for the students. Also, teachers need to feel validated and empathized with. I want to acknowledge that we understand all of the requirements and stress that teachers endure on a daily basis. This innovative approach to PD is meant to streamline some of those requirements and directly affect the very thing teachers desire to do above everything else - teach effectively.