This article is part of a series on guaranteed success for tech and media marketing.

1. What's Your Story: An iPhone Christmas

2. What's Your Story: Demystifying Apple

3. What's Your Story: All business is drama

4. What's Your Story: Make me care

5. What's Your Story: Stand and Deliver

Last issue we mentioned Robert X. Cringely article - Faster iPhone faster! Kill!! Kill!! He shares the Apple marketing formula, which they've learned through trial and error and are successfully applying with iPhone.

The formula is no secret. Here is his list.
1. Set expectations.
2. Deliver on those expectations.
3. Follow up on any problems.
4. Have no shortages.
5. Have an upgrade plan.

It's standard marketing. Indeed many of the techniques that Apple is using are well-known and commonly practiced, such as putting the product in the hands of employees to make them beta testers and evangelizers, aka "eating your own dog food."

The trick is execution. So far Apple has been spotless. What about you and your company's story?

The rest of this series takes Apple as the launchpad to dive into successful marketing for most any company in tech, media, and other innovation-based industries.