Apple Brand Strategy Leaked in Microsoft Slide!

Hours ago, CNET and other tech sites featured a purported leaked Windows 8 document. It looks real. Especially convincing is the sad “How Apple does it: A Virtuous Cycle” slide. (image above from leaked document above)

The Virtuous Cycle:

1. A strong brand promises “That it will just work”
2. It does “just work” and so
3. The brand gets stronger.

There’s nothing funny about the content. Just that Microsoft with Windows, still so typical of most companies, can’t help but complicate, rather than distill.

It is easy to bash Microsoft, but their Windows brand represents the typical vicious cycle:

1. A weak promise leads to
2. Forgettable or frustrating experience, and so
3. The brand gets weaker.

Few and far-between are the teams that…

• Know that brand is a customer experience, not a logo or design.
• Have a clear brand promise shared by everyone on the team.
• Have an authentic promise that fuses team passion with customer need.
• Deliver on the promise first and foremost.
• Put the customer first in everything they do and every problem they solve.

Is your brand in a vicious or virtuous cycle? Let us know on twitter or right below.