Apple has a branding problem

What’s that you say?  Is this heresy?  Apple, your favorite example, the paragon of branding, the lords of iEverything - that Apple?  A branding problem?! Surely you jest!

Well I hate to say it, but it is true.  Apple has a branding problem, and its name is Steve Jobs.

Now don’t get me wrong,  I love me some Apple, and I still think that the company is one of the greatest branders of all time, but I callz’em like seez’em and there is a fly in the soup.  The company has so embraced and promoted the Steve Jobs is god message that it has begun to harm the corporate image.  Speculation about Steve’s health prompted by his gaunt appearance earlier this year has caused a ripple of concerns on Wall Street and started a rumor-mill regarding succession planning.  The impression is that Apple, once saved by the return of Steve Jobs, now can’t survive without him.

No doubt, Steve has been the miracle man for Apple and his demanding approach to leadership, insistence on high design, and self-appointed role as chief-presentation-officer have only added to the mystique, but one man does not a company make - especially not a global, multi-billion dollar, public company. As an example, a study of the 5th generation iPod, revealed a supply chain of up to 10 parts vendors with manufacturing occurring in 5 different countries.  Steve gets around, but c’mon this isn’t a one man job.

Steve the mastermind, the guru, the dictator, the showman these are all legitimate parts of Apple’s brand and all grounded in truth.  So what can Apple do to patch this chink in their brand armor?  I think the approach of the Wall Street pundits is wrong - rushing to find a suitable successor will not heal the problem.  I think the thinking is akin to the logic behind ripping off an adhesive bandage - it is going to hurt no matter what, so let’s just get it over with as fast as possible.  However, this thinking assumes that the cut under the bandage has already healed…. pick the successor, take the hit, and performance will solve the brand issue.  But it doesn’t work that way.  People believe in Steve Jobs.  I believe in Steve Jobs.  We’re bought into the cult of thinking different.  To solve the brand problem of Apple can’t be Apple without Steve Jobs the answer is to do what any cult does when faced with the loss of its spiritual founder and leader.   They must be canonized.   The answer to the brand dilemma is to present Steve’s impact as being so profoundly transformative that the culture he catalyzed now has a life of its own.  Yes, I’m saying that Mr. Jobs should be elevated even more than he already is.  Fanboys rejoice!  For his Jobness has bestowed a lasting organization on the principles of Steveitude.  iCommandments anyone?

Interview on Atlanta Business Radio

Just a quick note to mention that I was interviewed recently on Atlanta Business Radio. Hosts Amy Otto and Lee Kantor made me feel right at home as we discussed how the Internet has impacted the way we brand and some tips that small businesses can learn from the big ones. Click here: David Cohen on Atlanta Business Radio to visit the site.

Dancing + Chewing Gum = Joy, Courage and Leadership

I’d like to thank Jennifer A. Jones and Dan Greenfield for calling to my attention a wonderful video and a great story that I feel demonstrates the best of what branding should be.

A fellow named Matt Harding has been traveling the world and marking each location visited with a short video of himself doing a silly dance. Sometimes he dances alone and sometimes he dances with the local people. It is simple, charming, beautiful and joyous. At this point about 6 million+ viewers on YouTube seem to agree.

But there is a little bit more to the story. It turns out that Mr. Harding’s former employer, Stride Gum, has taken on the role of sponsor for this remarkable project. Stunningly, they have not plastered their name and logo all over the video. Matt wears no Stride apparel. The song played on the video is not a corporate anthem. It doesn’t even look like Matt is chewing gum! The only mention of Stride is in a simple thank you graphic at the very end of the video. This is GREAT branding. Instead of trying to “own” the project, Stride is content to lets it happen. Instead of trying to milk the publicity, Stride lets the message spread - and boy is it spreading! By all the standards of conventional wisdom, by all the instincts of the old marketing, this was a risky, even reckless, act. But marketing is changing, and what this project has shown us is that a sincere message, an expression of values, IS important, and if we have the courage to present such a message with integrity people will respond. As Dan points out, “…I am writing about a chewing gum company now.” By all measures this has been a great path for Stride - sales are up, market share is increasing, and awareness is on the rise, or as Jennifer states it, “Clearly, the goofy dance is moving the needle.”

I think also that by recognizing Matt Harding as a leader, and by leaving him essentially unfettered by the usual corporate billboarding, Stride Gum has shown itself to be a leader. We can’t help but assume that the positive values demonstrated in the video: joy, hope, and a global generosity of spirit, are values shared by the sponsor who has supported the production with such humble integrity.

Announcements: Begin blogging article and a seminar

Just a couple of quick announcements:

1. I’ve put together an article for those of you readers who haven’t gotten started blogging yet:  Getting Started Blogging (and Branding)

2. I’ll be teaching 1/4 of a new two day course called Slingshot Seminars targeted to the needs of small businesses.   Think of it as a two day boot camp to sharpen your skills and gain new insights. This is a collaboration between my company, Equation Arts, along with Hunter Chatman Communications and The WallStreet Athletic Group.  I’ll be teaching the morning session on the 2nd day, which will focus on branding of course.   Find out more and register at SlingshotSeminars.com.

I want a jingle

Confession time, I miss the age of jingles. Sure they still linger around on radio and turn up on the odd low-budget commercial, but there was a time when jingles ruled the Earth. You younger readers might not remember “Chock Full O’ Nuts is the heavenly coffee…” but certainly you know “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz….” or the Oscar Meyer Weiner song, or the nigh-operatic “My bologna has a first name….” I’m not that old, am I? Well nonetheless, I want a jingle. Something snappy and memorable, something to look back on with nostalgia in my dotage. And why don’t more marketers have jingles? You know something like “You get more lather from Ogilvy & Mather.” Well you get the idea.

So resolved, Equation Arts needs a jingle, something with the nerdy folkiness of a Jonathan Coulton with a touch of the art school quirkiness and humor of a James Kochalka.

So I started here:

Sales were weak, were we forgotten?

Our brand was sad and just seemed tired,

The story felt bland and uninspired,

Brand Therapy is what we desired.

This where the good part starts:

Along came Equation Arts!

Logic and creativity, not insults.

Whole Brand Thinking, made our brand a cult!

Naah, too long. Then I thought maybe Oscar Meyer was on to something with that spelling thing:

“E” “Q” “U” “A” “T” “I” “O” “N,”

“A” “R” “T” “S,” your brand’s best friend!

Snappy, but doesn’t really say much, so I got a little abstract:

Left Brain, Right Brain — both are real.

You can’t just think, you also have to feel.

Short, and got the essence, but where’s the company name? So for the time being I’ve settled on:

If you want to win your customers’ hearts,

Get Brand Therapy from Equation Arts.

Anyone got a melody for me?

Tell me a story

We are born with a craving for stories.   Ask any parent if their kids ever ask them to read them a report or a product sheet or a market study - of course not, but “tell me a story”, that’s a common refrain.   As adults we may not climb into a lap to ask for a story, but we’re wired for them just the same.   Yesterday, I had the good fortune to sit in on a presentation by Mike Wittenstein of Storyminers.  Mike is a great storyteller, but more importantly he helps people to see the importance of story as a means of making a connection with people.  For us so-called grown-ups, “What do you do?”  is the common refrain, but Mike reminded me that what is really being asked for is that same “tell me story” from childhood.

What if the next time someone asks you that question you answer with a story, instead of the usual 30 second commercial?   Try a real story about one of your customers, and describe the journey taken in working with you.  Set the stage by  talking about the client’s situation and the emotional state it caused.  Talk about the problems solved and the changing circumstances that came as a result.  Finally, bring on the “happily ever after” - share the client’s success and happiness that were the outcome of working with you.  Find the compelling beginning, middle and end and you may find that talking about someone else’s experience is an effective way of communicating your own abilities.

where personal branding and technology meet

Just wanted to point you to a nice interview on Dan Schawbel’s blog with Sarah Lacy, journalist and author of Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0.  Sarah comes across as very down to earth and drops some great branding thoughts as she discusses her career and her opportunity to interview some of the innovators and success stories of Web 2.0.  Here are a few gems that jumped out at me:

” That’s the most lasting way to build a brand, one relationship at a time.”

” It just takes building your credibility and trust over time. Put another way: your brand within your small sphere is crucial to build before you can build any sort of larger brand in the world.”

and my favorite

“And second, business reporting done well are just stories about people. People love stories about people.”

Thanks Sarah and Dan for sharing this people story!

If you vote with soda do you call that a straw poll?

Who says branding can’t be fun… and political?  Take a lesson from Jones Soda, the oft-feted purveyors of oddball limited edition flavors and arty labels, the folks that make news every Thanksgiving with the arresting annual appearance of turkey and gravy soda. Yup, them. Well the Joneses may have outdone themselves now, and managed to rewrite the rules of political pollstering in the process. Check out http://www.campaigncola.com/ for “Capitol Hillary Cola” “Pure McCain Cola” and, of course, the Obama-inspired “Yes We Can Cola”. Cast your vote, and call your dentist. Friends, you just can’t make this stuff up.

where branding and technology meet… and lay an egg

Google has done more for the practice of branding today than any other company in the world (sorry Coke). The findability of virtually everything has magnified the end consumer’s strength in the power relationship of a brand. More than any other company we can thank Google for that. Google also has been a model example of letting function lead form and creating alignment of the brand message with the delivery of the core product. It also managed to make a goofy logo, cute, friendly and meaningful to billions of people - to the point where Google’s holiday and special occasion logo variations are celebrated by faithful followers.

So Google, what’s up with the new favicon?

Lowercase “g”? Where did that come from? And why the circle with the predictable, Web2.0ish shadow? OK the main Google logo was never going to win any design awards, but really is a gray egg the best you could come up with?

Be a beacon

When you are out on the water on a stormy night looking for the shore there is nothing quite so reassuring as seeing a bright, shiny beacon pointing the way to a safe harbor. Well I hate to say it, but we are in some stormy times in our economy and with the price of gas continuing to rise I would hazard to say the roughest waters are still to come. At times like these, when your customers are worried about how to stay afloat, your brand needs to be a beacon. A lighthouse beacon makes a promise - come this way and you’ll get to where you want to go. It is simple, direct and fulfills a valuable service by making a promise that needs no explanation. If your brand isn’t a beacon your business may get lost in the fog.