This post written from Starbucks in East Brunswick, NJ

So the madness begins! The lines for apples new iPhone have already started forming. All over the country people have started camping out on line in font of their local apple store to be one of the first to own the much anticipated iPhone.

The iPhone is set to go on sale on Friday June 29^th at apple stores and AT&T locations around the country. The iPhone is a revolutionary new device that combines a touch screen cell phone, web browser, email client and iPod into one ultra cool device.

As a certified gadget guy I have to say I would not mind owning one, unfortunately the phone does not really ft my needs. Even though I’m an avid iPod user (have an 80 gig iPod with over 20,000 song 50 TV shows and a few movies and I’ve had 4 iPods before this one), heavy cell phone user and a gadget nut, believe it or not I’m not the target customer for an iPhone.

The reason that the iPhone is not right for me is that the iPhone is not a good “smart phone” for business users (so don’t ditch your Blackberries just yet). There is no sync software to sync a calendar or contacts with any major CRM system, not even Outlook or Microsoft Exchange. You can only sync the iPhone contacts and calendar with apples iTunes software. The iPhone also lacks a core feature; voice dialing, and any road warrior will tell you voice dialing is a must have for calling and driving.

As a power iPod user this phone would be a poor replacement for my current 80 gig iPod. The two choices are 4 or 8 gigs; I have playlists bigger than that!

The reason that I’m not right for the iPhone, the iPhone (at least the first generation) is for the “cool factor” crowd. Just look at the people waiting in line waiting for one or take a look at the phone features apple is highlighting in thier commercials. Users sliding through pictures, surfing the web and my favorite, watching videos on You Tube. The commercial shows an iPhone user watching a skateboarding dog. Great, now I can take my A.D.D. on the road.

The iPhone is the device that will bridge the gap between iPod haves and have-nots, giving apple an even tighter grip on the already staggering market share they have in the digital music space. This device will increase Podcast listenership and force businesses to take a second look at designing websites that will work better on a smaller screen. The iPhone is going to shake things up.

Apple is going to make a huge customer connection with the iPhone. The marketing is dead on target for the person they want to buy. They did a great job. I love the phone and can’t wait to see the version (or the marketing) they come out with when I’m the target customer.

As much as I like the iPhone I do think they failed in one area, they chose AT&T as the initial service provider. I switched to AT&T a year or so ago when they had their no risk try us for 30 days campaign. I hated it. I’ve never dropped so many important calls in my life. I returned the phone well within the 30 days (I think is was more like 10 days) It took over 9 months to get them to stop sending me bills. AT&T’s marketing slogan is, “more bars in more places” which is perfect because after using their service I needed a stiff drink!

It’s easy to make a judgment about anything if you just look on the” surface”. What’s below the surface is typically not as easy to see or even understand much less identify opportunity. Microsoft has introduced a new way of computing called “Surface”. On the surface, “Surface” is an extremely cool technology. Quite possibly the coolest I’ve ever seen. I was mesmerized while I watched the video demonstrations on the “Surface” website. Once the wow factor was gone I immediately began identifying marketing opportunities for this new technology. Microsoft has identified targets for “Surface” such as hotels, bars, restaurants etc. After pondering for awhile you can easily think of hundreds of marketing and practical uses for this technology. One thought is in the entrepreneur space. Surface may bring back the short-lived “Internet Cafes” that popped up in major cities during the dot-com frenzy and disappeared just as quickly as the money burning business models of the day. “Surface” provides a more social element that was lacking in these café’s and may just be the magic bullet needed to make this seemingly doomed business model a success. 

Yet another example of how critical it is to really know your customer.

The Volkswagen Beetle hit the US in 1949 however it was not until the sixties that the bug-like rear engine car would make a social impact amongst soon to be avid VW followers.

Since the sixties the Volkswagen brand has become very “cult-like” with a following of loyal consumers that refuse to drive anything else. To the VW customer the brand stands for affordable non-conformity, hip and some may even say… cool.

VW commercials historically played to the type of customer that would take to the VW brand, the cool hip budget conscious non-conformist. They have had some amazing advertisements that really spoke to the target VW audience. Even the 1998 re-launch of the “New Beetle” created, well, Beetle Mania.

Volkswagen had done it again. Connecting with a new generation of loyal followers with the New Beetle. The target for this vehicle was clear. The children of the flower power generation. The New Beetle even came with a flower vase attached to the dashboard.  VW had always counted on their loyal 1960’s followers to pass down their love of VW from generation to generation. Over the years they’ve introduced many vehicles that hit the mark with their clients. The Rabbit, Golf, Cabriolet and wildly successful Jetta. Volkswagen truly knew who their client was, at least I thought they did.

In 2004 VW came out with the $80,000.00 Phaeton. The thought process was that as the “make love not war” types grew up they would now want a luxury vehicle and who better to buy it from than their old friend VW. VW was counting on the loyal VW buyer and the power of the brand to convert from affordable non-conformity to incredibly expensive semi-conformity. Well surprise, surprise, It turns out that when you can afford to drop 80 large on a vehicle, non-conformity be dammed, you’re not driving a VW.

The fact is that no one will pay BMW prices to be treated like a VW customer. You want the total experience and everything that comes with it. Ask any Lexus dealer, their clients would not take kindly to plastic seats and styrofoam coffee cups in a Volkswagen “service lounge” while their friends and collogues ate gourmet wraps, drank espresso, played the front nine at Pebble Beach in a full sized virtual golf simulator then sat on the leather sofa and watched CNN on a 50 inch plasma TV at the local Lexus “service center”.

VW missed the mark big time and it cost them plenty. The Phaeton was a huge failure in the US only selling a few thousand nationwide. Volkswagen stopped thinking like a customer. They took a top down approach when in today’s world you have to build bottom up to understand your customer’s needs. Somewhere along the way VW lost touch with their customers and what a VW customer really wants – to be hip and cool - in an affordable non-conformist kinda way.

Take a cue from VW. Listen to your customers, never stop trying to understand and fill their needs. Volkswagen wanted to sell cars for $80,000 but they learned from their mistakes. The Phaeton is history and now they drive around screaming “3 V-Dubs under $17,000!” – Welcome back.