Apple Without Steve Jobs
Labels: Apple, fix, History, Media Trend Watching, Steve Jobs
This YouTube video tracks the entire universe of Apple throughout its history --- with and without Steve Jobs and back again with Steve Jobs.
Taran Swan from The Media Fix just posted a blog piece on Apple and the current questions circulating around the iconic company and their ailing founder/CEO Steve Jobs, who is on a 6-month leave to focus on his health issues.
It centers around the limitations of companies that are led by charismatic leaders which overshadow the talent below the leadership. She writes:What is Apple without Steve Jobs? This unanswered question … caused their stock to take a hit (though it has since recovered a bit)...generated critical editorials, and...now the SEC is investigating whether the Company properly handled disclosures.
What do you think?
This all happened because the market thinks Steve Jobs IS Apple, which means any risk to Jobs is a risk to Apple.
How did Apple get into this situation and what can they do about it?
Steve Jobs is only the most extreme example of what happens when a company builds its brand around one person and doesn’t showcase its “people depth”.
The iconic Steve Jobs was effective in giving Apple a face and a mystique. But the focus on Jobs took the spotlight off the team that makes Apple great.
Jobs health woes give Apple an honest opportunity to showcase their management depth and their strong team of “up and comers.”
Apple could take a page from GE – which has benefited for years by publicly acknowledging their succession planning. And, then making the necessary investments to back up the talk.
So, what can Apple do? Here are a few suggestions…
1) Take the succession planning exercise seriously.
2) Cultivate and promote a culture of leadership development and sustained investment in building a deep management bench.
3) Make management comfortable with competition by smoothing a path to an appropriate consolation prize for those who don’t take the brass ring.
4) Nurture your relationship with the press – use it to effectively get the new message out about its brilliant team.
This would probably make both Steve Jobs and Apple’s shareholders feel better. And, it would reassure millions of Apple fans around the world.
posted by Unknown @ Wednesday, February 11, 2009,
,
Lessons in Customer Brand Building
Labels: Advertising, Apple, brand building, Branding, Coca Cola, CRM, Customers, Truthy
In brand building, do you:
1) Teach with facts (without emotion, except perhaps subtle guilt or "do this now" commands)?
...or...
2) Promote with truthiness (with twisty wordplay of "wishful" results, even if unlikely)?
...or...
3) Create product/customer relationship opportunities (allowing the consumer to attach their own aspirations and value)?
Successful brand building is more than just associating a product with a brand message. Successful brand building results occur when a customer associates a product with a brand message...and agrees that union has continued value and meaning to that customer.
iTunes, the iPod and "Hello I'm a Mac" MacBoy all are extensions of Apple's "Think Different" brand building proposition led by Steve Jobs...attracting loyal fans who love the product and love being associated with the product.
Coca Cola has been "The Real Thing" for 80 years, even while they tried to teach the world to sing.
What is your primary brand message doing for your customers: teaching, being truthy or creating relationships?
Have you media trend watched today?
posted by Unknown @ Saturday, March 03, 2007,
,
Stephen Colbert Gives Apple iPhone Rare "Double Wag of the Finger"
Labels: Apple, Cisco, Colbert, Double Wag, iPhone, iPhony, Jointblog, Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger
...Until he gets one shipped for free from Steve Jobs, of course.
Within 36 hours of Apple's MacWorld Expo presentation of the new soon-to-be-released iPhone, Cisco Systems slapped Apple with a copyright infringement lawsuit over the naming of the new product.
But did Cisco lose their rights last year?
Dealing with Cisco may be easy compared with Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report.
Every week, Colbert offers his top "Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger" observations on the do-gooders and not-so-do-gooders.
Did the iPhone earn a tip of the hat? No...both Apple and the iPhone earn the rare (and feared) double-finger-wag from a critical Colbert. Dropping "computer" from your name, he lectures, does not make you cool (hello now, Apple, Inc.). And integrating too many features into a single, easy-to-use platform takes away from the basic rule of life: Whoever dies with the most toys wins.
"The legends are true, it exists...the much feared double-wag" of his finger. The Apple iPhone left Colbert "flaccid with rage." Click here for the video or stream it below.
...Now, those of you "sporting wood" instead over the iPhone who don't want to wait until June can at least spruce up your Treo with iPhony, which converts the Palm OS "look" to the iPhone look...
...For a closer look at the iPhone, click here.
posted by Unknown @ Saturday, January 13, 2007,
,
Stern, Ratings, CES, MacWorld Expo: Not Just Another Day in Mediaville
Labels: Apple, CBS Radio, CES, HD Radio, innovation, Jointblog, MacWorld, Media, Media Trend Watching, Net Neutrality, Radio, Ratings, Satellite, Sirius, Stern, Steve Jobs
January 9th turned out to be quite the media day.
Howard Stern started off the day celebrating one year satcasting his radio show on Sirius radio, complete with omelet bar and plenty of bagels for Artie Lange.
Stern's one-year impact? Certainly a major contributer to Sirius subscriber gains of more than 2.8 million new listeners. Which explains Stern's huge stock reward announced today worth an estimated $83 million.
Stern's also much happier censoring himself instead of being verbally shackled by the FCC, allowing him to deliver radio that is "free-form, free-flowing, one big party." Stern's satellite success has brought Sirius plenty of new sat radio listeners and, according to Mel Karmazin, $300 million more than Wall Street originally forecast for Stern's first year. But, Newsday asks, at what cost?
Whatever. The King of All Media is better than ever.
And CBS Radio was left reeling, as explained by the NY Daily News. Today's Fall ratings book results began rolling out today; the Stern-escape effect still shows.
Meanwhile, looks like HD Radio may be benefiting due to Stern's move to satellite radio. According to Forbes.com, the major disruption in morning radio habits once Stern left forced listeners to consider new options. Some went to Sirius or XM or just another terrestrial radio station. But, now that prices have dropped and more formats have been made available, some radio listeners are beginning to check out HD Radio, including at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Will HD Radio (now with 1,200 stations available and increasing) eventually challenge satellite radio's position?
Speaking of new electronics...
The annual MacWorld Expo trumped the CES getting all news outlets talking while also giving Steven Jobs some TV time on ABC's World News with Charlie Gibson. ABC News got two-minutes alone using the brand new Apple iPhone, which won't be released for sale until June.
That hasn't stopped iPhone envy, impressing fans with the sleek design which promises to "reinvent the phone". Many are thrilled with this latest example showing the genius of Apple design.
Although Cisco apparently isn't too happy.
Jobs countered previous speculation suggesting iTunes sales were slowing down. In fact, he says, iTunes has now sold more than two billion songs, 50 million television episodes and over 1.3 million feature-length films have been purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store, making it the world's most popular online digital media store.
And now, AppleTV (or iTV) will be coming to a living room near you, too.
Speaking of mobile phones, Yahoo! inked new Mobile 2.0 distribution deals with a variety of wireless providers for its newly enhanced mobile product Yahoo Go for Mobile 2.0, as well as a newly launched mobile search platform, dubbed oneSearch.
Lastly, fresh-back-in-session Congress led by the Democrats formerly introduced a new Net Neutrality bill, which is good news for all media trend watchers.
Lots of media news with potential long-term impact. Wonder what the new media landscape will look like one year from now?
posted by Unknown @ Tuesday, January 09, 2007,
,
