thomas fitzgerald.net

The other day I was walking around the electronics section of a local department store, when I noticed these cool looking little lcd TVs shaped like animals. Nearby was a 8 year old boy with his parents who was drawn to the televisions commented to his parents how the screens looked like something Apple would make. I was taken aback somewhat at the comment from a young child, but I soon realised how pervasive Apple has become into our culture. The more I thought about it I began to realise just how stunning an achievement that is for a company that only a few years ago everyone had written off. But Apple hasn’t just rebounded; it has become an Icon of the twenty-first centaury. The iPod halo effect finally kicked-in in force this year but it had a surprising side effect. It didn’t just increase awareness of Apple’s computer products; it propelled the Apple brand to superstardom, in a way no other electronics company has ever achieved before.

By the end of 2005 the iPod was the brand du-jour. It was a must have accessory, and in the electronics industry it was the hit product everyone had to beat. There was certainly a sense, from reading the industry publications, that companies had not only been blind sighted by the iPod’s success, but were almost offended by it. Among some analysts and journalists, there was a feeling that Apple had no business being this successful. How many times over the last few years have we seen the phrase iPod killer? But as companies struggled to unseat the iPod Apple was already moving on to bigger and better things. The problem for other electronic firms is that Apple is not really perceived as one. It has transcended the confines of an electronics company to become something truly unique, a symbol of coolness, of fashion, an indefinable metaphor for modern society, youth and the way things should be. If there was one thing Apple did in 2006 that could be the defining moment of the year it was not the Intel transition, or the revised iPod shuffle, it was that at some point during the year, the coolness associated with the iPod icon jumped onto the Apple logo.

Sure, the internet geeks would probably disagree, but out in the real world, where the ordinary people live, Apple has achieved a brand status that very few brands have ever achieved, ranking it up there with Nike and Coke. But Nike and Coke were the brands of the twentieth century. Apple is the brand of the twenty first century. The computer press would argue that Apple’s products have their faults, that the Mac OS is not perfect, that Windows accounts for far more sales, but they don’t get it. Ordinary people, teenagers and kids, grandparents and housewives don’t care. They don’t really know why, but Apple is the in thing, the cool thing and they want to be part of it.

So how did Apple get there? How did they achieve such status? Well, it was a number of factors, but two stand out, particularly this year that I believe helped solidify their position as global icon.

Firstly, they launched a brilliant marketing campaign for the Mac. While some would call the “Get a Mac” ads cocky, they were brilliantly simple and played on the stereotypes people have of computers to get across a simple message. If you a tech industry reporter what that message is, they will tell you that it the ads try to say that the message is that the mac is better than windows. Some will tell you that Apple is being condescending to PC users. Some have argued that the ads are bad because people are drawn more to the likeable character of John Hodgeman’s PC than Justin Long’s Mac. But they are wrong. All the armchair advertising “experts” seem to miss the subtle but simple message. The PC is a computer, but the Mac is a Mac. They invisibly imply that the Mac is not a computer but something else altogether, a device more like a TV or a DVD player, the appliance of the twenty-first centaury. It is something friendly and convenient that you don’t have to worry about and just works. Computer journalists can argue all they want about the realities of this sentiment, the merits of one OS over the other, or how they would have made Apple ads, but the numbers speak for themselves, and people are getting the message.

And perhaps Microsoft is getting the message too. Why else would they have tried to take on the iPod with the Zune. Microsoft had absolutely no need to launch a music player, certainly not financially. Which leads me to think that it’s not about defeating the iPod per se. They realise that despite their huge annual Windows Sales, they are still seen as a computer company. Their one success outside this realm is the Xbox, but that’s appeal is still mainly to the geeks. They must surely look on frustrated as the world swoons over what is technically a less successful company. Microsoft has a strong brand but it is hardly the icon that Apple is. Microsoft wants to expand its image beyond the corporate boardroom, and they must surely see that apple rode a successful music player to stardom and they feel that they can do the same. But outside of the diggerati, no one is buying it. It’s ironic that Apple always wanted to position the Mac as more of an appliance than a computer, but it took the success of a tiny music player to let them achieve their goals.

The second thing Apple did this year that has made a huge impact on their brand is their confidence. In both their mac and iPod advertising they have displayed a renewed confidence not seen from the company in a long time. They no longer feel like they have to explain themselves. Their product stands for itself. And now the brand stands for itself. The iPod shuffle ad embodies this confidence perfectly, and also shows how again they are moving beyond the confines of what an electronics company should be. I have written about this in depth before, but in a nutshell, they portrayed the iPod in a way more akin to a fashion item than a music player, or even an electronics item. Sony may have induced gadget lust over its PSP, but Apple has induced plain old lust. Ask a teenage girl what it is about the iPod that they want and they won’t tell you it’s because it can hold all your songs in the palm of your hand, it’s because it’s cool and everyone else has them. The fact that it’s an electronic device is beside the point.

But 2006 held one dark cloud from the company. One that could potentially unravel everything they have worked so hard to achieve. The probe into the companies handling of stock options could potentially be as damaging to the company as what happened to Enron. If criminal charges are brought against the companies former financial executives, the damage would be minimal, but if CEO Steve Jobs is indicted the damage could be irreversible. So far there’s little evidence to suggest that he will be, but the rumour that he has retained independent council does not bode well. To put things in perspective though, Apple is only one of nearly a hundred companies that are being currently investigated. The downside for Apple is that it is probably the most visable of all these companies, and if the Government decides to make an example out of anyone it will be Apple. Hopefully it will never come to that.

Rather than end on a sour note though, I think it is fair to say that 2006 was they year Apple truly came into its own and banished for ever the image that had been haunting the company since it’s near demise before Steve Jobs took back the reigns. 2007 will be an interesting year for Apple. With the Intel transition complete the company will be free to push on with new designs for ever cooler products and with the imminent launch of their set top box the Apple brand continues it’s push into the home. It’s never been a better time to be a mac owner and a mac blogger.