Brand Apple, Brand Jobs
By Sabine Stork* Is Apple about to become an ‘ordinary’ brand on the death of Steve Jobs? The issue is how much the former CEO’s powerful personality, single-mindedness and vision has contributed to the phenomenal success of the Apple brand. And will it prove enough for the founder-visionary to have put successors in place who are able to sustain his work?
And is the sense that Jobs was behind everything that mattered at Apple something of a brand myth?
Part of the company’s success was down to being able to unite appeal among creative types with that of the mass market, and while it’s clearly too soon to call on Apple, few brands manage to stay at the top of their game for very long periods.
In brand narrative terms, the departure of Jobs could well prove a turning point. Apple seems at the pinnacle of its success, and now the hero – yes, our culture loves to love the individual creator myth – has died. Does that also mean that some of the magic has gone? Well, that could be so for the early adopter creatives who have been so crucial to Apple, and who also felt the strongest about Jobs.
Now there’s a sense that even if the company continues to make great products, Apple may need to re-work its brand story.
*Sabine Stork is founding partner of Thinktank International Research
