Today, Apple pushed Google out of top place for the title of the “Most Valuable Global Brand” in the BrandZ Top100 ranking of the most valuable global brands. How did they get there? By being the 21st century’s most distilled brand.
Think about it. What other global brand has so maximally delivered on such a minimalist brand strategy? A strategy that is staggering in it’s simplicity? Apple.
When you reverse engineer it, their promise, position and personality all fuse into one distilled promise “magical”.
Magical Brand Promise
You can unfold the magic into the promise – the iPad was touted as a “magical device” but many of their innovations have that amazing “presto” experience baked in.
Magical Positioning
Their positioning has usually been either a series of firsts, mass marketing magical new categories like the Graphical User Interface or the Tablet Computer and then later positioning the same products as so much easier to use then the competition’s – magical in comparison. Remember when Apple had a contest to see who could set-up up a Mac of PC faster? The Mac was set up far faster but then it was revealed that the PC had been setup by a PC expert, while the Mac by a little kid. Magic!
Magical Personality
Finally, the Apple personality is ambitious, sensuous, creative, and friendly. These also role up quite nicely into the magical promise.
Magic. Magic. Magic.
Arthur C. Clark famously wrote that: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” The way Apple is pioneering new technology and business categories is magic making. The way they deliver on their magic promise and personality is magical. Apple has ascended into a virtuous cycle of magic promised and magic delivered.
Their challenge? With an ailing Jobs, hungry competitors, and concerns about their spreading tendrils? Keeping the magic and the momentum alive.