
Steve Jobs explains branding - sz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmG9jzCHtSQ&feature=related
======
tc
Apple's "Think Different / Change the World" ad was a brilliant piece of
marketing. But it doesn't seem that really stuck as the core value of their
brand. If Nike's message is "we hang around great athletes," Apple's message
today is "we hang around the young and hip," [1] which is different than "we
hang around people who change the world."

You could argue that these are somehow related, that the young and hip would
be attracted by the Think Different ad. I don't dispute that. But the later
ads of kids jamming with their iPod ear buds communicate a message that is
much closer to the general perception of Apple as a brand today.

\--

[1] In the clothing industry, this type of positioning wouldn't be noteworthy
or distinguishing. But in consumer electronics, advertising more like
Abercrombie & Fitch and less like IBM has worked out brilliantly for them.

[2] The pre-2000 perception of Apple's brand was also somewhat tangential to
the idea of changing the world. Their core message was "we're not IBM." In the
talk, Jobs mentions this shouldn't be their core message, but clearly it was.
The 1984 ad reinforced this, and even the 1997 Think Different ad retrenched
this ground by riffing off of IBM's motto.

[3] Edit: The idea that Apple's core customer is someone who "values their
time" and is not a computer geek is meaninglessly broad. Every customer values
his or her time, and in any mainstream industry, the vast majority of
customers are not computer geeks.

[4] Edit: Was it the success of the iPod that made Apple hip, or was the
perception of the iPod being hip part of what made it such a success? Clearly
it did become a fashion accessory. The product's clean design was congruent
with this message.

~~~
ynniv
The success of the iPod made the Apple brand young and hip, but their core
customer has been (and may again become with the iPhone and iPad) people who
value their time and are not computer geeks per-se. That's a difficult thing
to say in a crowd of computer geeks, but may contextualize the iOS/Android
debate around here.

~~~
brlewis
We shall see how well it works out for them to be the brand for people who
aren't fond of rules...computer geeks excepted. Computer geeks who want to
change the world seek platforms with fewer rules.

~~~
andreyf
_We shall see how well it works out for them to be the brand for people who
aren't fond of rules...computer geeks excepted._

I think we see it pretty well already, no? People who think they can change
the world aren't the kind who care whether or not Apple gave them permission
to jailbreak their iPhone.

~~~
brlewis
I think I can change the way the world tells its story with photos, and it
bothers me that Camera+ and other 3rd-party iPhone apps can't write EXIF data;
only the native app can. Yes, it sounds like a geeky objection, but it makes a
difference to people's stories whether the photos can say when and where they
were taken.

~~~
andreyf
It's been awhile since I've done iPhone development, but it seems this is
available starting in iOS4:
[http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/Grap...](http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/GraphicsImaging/Reference/CGImageProperties_Reference/Reference/reference.html#//apple_ref/doc/c_ref/kCGImagePropertyExifDictionary)

It's hard to find engineers who can work on products like iOS, so I think it's
understandable if they can't get every nook and cranny of the API into v1.

~~~
brlewis
It was recently that I heard somewhere that you couldn't write metadata to
photos in the photoroll. I think the Camera+ authors have seen iOS4. So I
wouldn't read too much into the existence of EXIF data structures in the
documentation; it doesn't say what you can do with it.

~~~
andreyf
_I think the Camera+ authors have seen iOS4_

Sure, but it doesn't mean they had time time update to use every of the 1000's
of feature changes that came with it. This is why Flash as a competing
platform is a terrible idea - it adds another stage of "rolling out <some
feature> is blocked by <someone in another organization>".

------
wmeredith
_I'm basically reposting my comments on this video from my company blog..._

The big takeaway is in the first few lines of this video:

"This is a very complicated world. This is a very noisy world and we're not
going to get a chance... to get people to remember much about us. No company
is. And so we have to be really clear on what we want them to know about us."

The whole branding/selling thing goes like this...

Lunch pitch ~15 minutes > Bar pitch: ~5 minutes > Elevator pitch: ~30 seconds
> ?

That last one is your brand. It's the ultimate quick pitch. You've got 5
seconds, what do you want someone to know about you and what you do for a
living?

If you don't know you're in trouble.

~~~
mhoofman
Wouldn't this just be a company's logo or slogan? (ie Nike: Just Do It).

~~~
jpwagner
no, that's a mantra:

[http://academicearth.org/lectures/dont-write-mission-
stateme...](http://academicearth.org/lectures/dont-write-mission-statement-
write-mantra)

------
Arun2009
Maybe it's because I'm in a cynical mood right now, but Steve Jobs looks like
he's performing for an audience. I'd have loved to hear what people like Steve
Jobs, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates _really_ think, but whenever these guys speak,
I suspect that they compensate for the fact the people will be listening to
them, and that what they say will influence their lives' work.

You're left with no other choice but to reverse-engineer their _real_
philosophies from how the respective companies behave in the market.

------
boredguy8
Let me pass along "Art & Copy" as a suggested movie for those interested in
marketing. They talk with agencies both for Apple (Chiat/Day) and for dairy
farmers. <http://www.artandcopyfilm.com> \- and on Netflix instant play.

~~~
alabut
Art & Copy does a great job at explaining why the Mad Men era was important -
there was a shift in the 60's from large corporate sales-driven organizations
to smaller ones where art directors and other "creatives" were in charge.

The parallels to today's startup scene are really strong, with people fleeing
corporate cubicle farms and stale products to create fresh new stuff on small
teams.

------
willheim
It's Apple returning to the Big Why. It worked. Apple at the time was in deep
trouble having been the "other PC" for too long. They moved away from their
"why" to a "what" and they had copied the "what" of every windows PC at the
time to abysmal failure.

This speech could have been part of a film "How Apple got its Groove Back".

The iPod ads have nothing to do with this "Think Different" campaign. The iPod
ads maintained the "why" as in "Why do we produce these things?" Answer: For
fun! For expression! For freeing you from the shackles of a 60 minute CD. For
choice.

They didn't go on about what the iPod was (and the iRiver H100 series at the
time was a far better machine and the one I chose). They instead went for why
it was. That resonated with their audience. They then took that theme and ran
with it with every product since.

And yet, just being fun and frivolous doesn't work for everything. Take a look
at the iPhone ads; all about function through the app store... and yet
withthat function they declare "Fun!". Take a look at the words they use;
magical this and magical that. Meanwhile their competition tries to tout
function this and function that... and price. Even HP now recognizes what
Apple did right and they tried to rip it off with designer notebooks. Too bad
that while they have the product the ads still suck (does HP advertise?)

Apple has nailed down what works in marketing for now. They control the mobile
space. They control the music space. They have far greater impact on web
development than their products have reach. If Adobe/Microsoft/Google ever
"get it", watch out. But maybe that is Steve Jobs greatest asset. He knows
that they don't "get it".

------
erikstarck
I have to admit, watching this video kind of killed the magic of the Think
Different ad video.

From now on I will see it as a Nike ad rip-off. A good one, but still.

------
lispm
There is a big difference between those brands, Nike and Apple. There is a
reason I use a Mac and I don't wear any Nike.

I bought early one of the most expensive Nike Air running shoes. The quality
was total shit and running with them was a pain. I never bought a single pair
of Nike shoes again, and I bought a lot of running shoes. There was nothing
that Nike could fix, it was just the whole construction of the shoe that was a
big fail. Plus it was their most expensive shoe at that time. It was way too
soft, the Air sole lost its function early, the rubber was also soft and there
was not much left after just a bit of running, it provided no stability at
all, and the whole 'Air' was just hot air. The shoe could be used for walking
around, but not for running. From running with them one would get all kinds of
injuries because of its various construction failures. So the core function
and the core value of that shoe, the essence of Nike, was zero. All the
marketing money with fancy ads showing athletes was zeroed out.

I then kept running Adidas and currently I'm very happy with Brooks shoes.

I bought early an Apple IIc, then a Mac SE30, a PowerBook, and then a
multitude of other Macs - typing this on a MacBook Pro. The quality was good
(not always) and Apple tries to improve things (though not always). All in all
it was and is fun to use their products.

In the end the 'brand' stuff for me is bullshit of the quality of the product
is bad. Apple had some bad products, but it was never such a total failure at
its core architecture as that Nike shoe.

------
noelchurchill
He's wearing shorts!

~~~
subbu
I didn't notice it until 1:20 or so. Then you see that!

------
quux
That commercial still give me goosebumps

------
kapitalx
At least at the time Jobs was thinking different himself. Very powerful idea
and transformation for the company. Really planted the roots of what the
company has become today. The ad itself is powerful even when watched now, 13
years later.

------
xtacy
It reminds me of this scene from Madmen:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus>, on How to pitch a product.

------
jdietrich
Apple has a living, beating heart; That heart is Steve Jobs.

He is a megalomaniac, an obsessive driven by the desire to shape the world in
his image. He is an artist whose canvas is metal and whose paint is code.
Apple is simply a machine that turns Jobs' vision into reality. On Infinite
Loop, his word is absolute.

You may love or hate that vision, but just you try and ignore it. Apple
inspire many emotions, but very rarely indifference. That is the essential
genius of Apple - of all computer companies, they and they alone seek not just
to appeal to the intellect, but also to the emotions. No other computer
company announces new products to rapturous applause. No other company
attracts such vitriol, against not only themselves but their customers. No
other company elicits gasps of delight and desire _at their packaging_.

Apple have done many things to frustrate me and anger me. They have made many
decisions that I strongly disagree with. They have also made me cry with joy,
on several occasions. To me, "Branding" seems far too mild a word.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndkIP7ec3O8>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0FtgZNOD44>

------
acon
This video is awesome. Think Different is my favorite ad of all time.
Unfortunately it feels like they have lost something in the last decade. While
before it was about enabling passion and challenging the status quo, now it is
more about reverence for old heroes. Before it was a call to arms to be
inspired by those great men and women and do great stuff, now it is just to
adore what they have done, while we continue to live life in our pods.

This makes me sad.

------
erikstarck
3:22. "The core value of Apple... is that we believe that people with
passion... can change the world for the better."

------
mmaunder
A rare, wonderful and inspiring look inside the greatest marketing
organization ever created.

Many businesses create Ogilvy style campaigns that sell benefits (rather than
features). For example:

"Only Dove is one-quarter moisturizing cream"

"At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the
electric clock"

Apple understands that they are essentially in a commodity business much like
Nike. It's tough to sell benefits in that environment when your benefits are
the same as everyone else's. In the market they're in, everyone already
understands what the benefits are and most people can use a spreadsheet, word
processor or web browser equally well on an Apple or PC.

What Apple did is create a new intangible and very powerful benefit with Think
Different:

The words "Think different" translated into an Ogilvy style headline would
say: "If you buy this product your friends and peers will think you are
different and you will stand out from the crowd.". It's not possible to
communicate that directly because it's an embarrassing subject. The Think
Different campaign takes a wonderful indirect approach to addressing a
sensitive issue and communicating that benefit.

This approach of creating a new intangible and emotional benefit in a
commodity market has worked so well for Apple that they have incorporated the
marketing approach into the entire organization including their sales strategy
and their products. Whereas before their products focused on differentiated
features, now they focus on emotional differentiation. Apple stores are an
emotional experience.

Apple's smaller market share facilitates this approach because their customers
have been the minority. So you're automatically "different" if you buy Apple.
These days that is less true, so it will be interesting to watch the marketing
organization evolve as their market dominance increases.

Here are my notes from the video:

1\. Marketing is about values

2\. You don't have much of a chance to get people to remember you.

3\. You have to be really clear on what you want people to know about you.

4\. A great brand needs investment and caring if it's going to retain it's
relevance and vitality.

5\. At the time of this video Apple's brand had suffered from neglect.

6\. Don't talk about features.

7\. Nike makes you feel something different from a shoe company.

8\. Nike honors great athletes and they honor great athletics.

9\. The question Apple asked was "Our customers want to know who is Apple and
what is it that Apple stands for? Where does Apple fit in this world?"

10\. Apple is not about making boxes to help people get their jobs done.

11\. Apple's core value is that "We believe that people with passion can
change the world for the better."

12\. Apple is going back to their core value mentioned in 12.

13\. "Values and core values mostly shouldn't change" ~Jobs

14\. "The things that Apple believed at it's core are the same things Apple
stands for today"

15\. The ad is a way to communicate this.

16\. Jobs is clearly and intentionally emotionally engaged with the ad and
that engages his audience.

17\. The ideas above were distilled into "Think Different."

~~~
houseabsolute
That's a thoughtful post, but I think you got the wrong message out of it.
Jobs wants to create computers for people who "think different" in a way that
changes the world. He's not talking about it as a fashion statement as you
imply when you say:

> The words "Think different" translated into an Ogilvy style headline would
> say: "If you buy this product your friends and peers will think you are
> different and you will stand out from the crowd."

tc's comment does bring up the fact that that's not what stuck, but it is what
Jobs was trying to get at.

------
motters
Steve Jobs is right about branding in this video, and it's for exactly these
reasons that I'm not a big fan of Apple. Their core values are about dictating
what developers can do with their hardware. Selling software shouldn't be
about one person having the power to dictate what goes into a store. That's
not a free market. Users shouldn't have to "jail break" their own hardware
just to be able to use it as they wish. That's disempowering people with
technology, not empowering them. I don't much care for those kinds of core
values.

~~~
spoiledtechie
Its pretty sad to see that yes men of Apple vote you down, when you speak the
truth and offer an intelligent start to a conversation.

~~~
forgottenpaswrd
Oh yeah, so sad. Those that agree with you are intelligent and speak the
truth, those that not, are "yes men".

Forget me, I don't want to pop the bubble you live in.

------
plainOldText
Only someone like Steve Jobs could talk about core values and branding wearing
shorts. It's only for a short instance where you can see his shorts. Right
before he introduces the ad.

------
Marticus
Here's what gets me:

The disconnect between that video at the end of his presentation versus Apple
today.

"Think different... as long as we approve your application for download on the
app store."

Admittedly a pretty cool video though.

~~~
thought_alarm
The App Store the is epitome of "Think Different".

It has done an astounding job of attracting developers to their platform, and
no competing "Store" does a better job of connecting developers with actual
users.

Yet there was no shortage of people who said it would never work, and there's
still no shortage of people who keep saying they're doing it wrong.

~~~
emil0r
I thought it was people saying they're doing a lousy job of explaining the
rules of approval?

~~~
Marticus
What he said.

If they're going to try to say to break out of your shell and be different and
go crazy and be rebels (look at the people in that video, jeez) it's ironic
that Apple now tells people what they can and cannot create.

------
danilocampos
Reminds me another Steve Jobs conversation, about the NeXT logo:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb8idEf-Iak>

He talks about Paul Rand, who refused to give Steve multiple options on the
NeXT logo. He would do just one, it would be right, and Steve could take it or
leave it.

I admire the courage involved in saying "taste is more than subjective, it's
right vs. wrong, and I choose to be right."

That's a huge part of the power in Apple's branding.

------
Keyframe
I wonder what happened between then and now. Seems like a different company
altogether.

~~~
MikeCapone
Would you say they make better products now or when this video was shot? I
think that for such a product-centered company, that should be the benchmark.

~~~
Keyframe
I'd say they make far far better products now. That's not the issue here. It's
just that back before Jobs was ousted and when he returned you'd hear about
Apple, you'd hear about philosophy behind it etc. Now you hear sales stats and
here and there how good the product is or will be. No more philosophy or
visions in talks. Maybe it's just my perception of it though.

~~~
dizm
This is so offbase, that I'm not sure where to begin. Every iPod ad. The
FaceTime ads, at the end of all recent Steve Jobs keynote. Apple is trying to
promote their philosophy and vision constantly.

~~~
Keyframe
No, it's not. I see you've got brand nursing out of marketing agencies and
genuine talks by Steve Jobs confused. Which makes sense, it worked.

I was referring to how before he was ousted and just after he returned he was
talking very differently, more passion, genuine. Sure, related concepts to
branding they have now, but related only via high concept. Something changed
along the way. Take it as you will - it's just a subjective perception
anyways.

------
hasenj
"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the
ones that actually do."

Brilliant

------
zeynel1
thanks for this video - i just wrote a post about apple marketing comparing it
to christian marketing - [http://makebelieve1.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/apple-
promises-...](http://makebelieve1.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/apple-promises-and-
delivers/)

one thing i disagree with what he says is that it is -not- nike who has the
best marketing department of all times but christianity

------
alexandros
I think it says a lot about how much Apple's brand is damaged for me that I
can't think of one of those people in the ad, if they were alive today, using
a mac without it diminishing their image in my mind.

~~~
dreyfiz
You would think less of Gandhi and Martin Luther King if they used Macs? I
think it says more about the irrationality of your Apple hatred.

