How Steve Jobs Became a Master Brander

As all the world knows by now, Steve Jobs, brand master of Apple, yesterday introduced the iPad 2. Consistent with his own iconic brand image, he wore his black mock turtleneck shirt and blue jeans. When he walked on stage, he surprised the audience and received a standing ovation -- dispelling rumors that he was on his deathbed. In response to his appearance and the iPad 2 announcement, Apple stock rose $2.81.

Probably due to his compromised health, his presentation seemed to lack the energy of previous product introductions. If anyone has seen Steve Jobs in action, they know that his performances are typically powered by high energy, enthusiasm, and phenomenal timing. When he is healthy, nobody comes close to his level of skill in giving a presentation to an audience.

But while Steve has always been a skillful one-on-many sales person, his branding skills were not always as good as have been over the past 10 years.

Apple's early years: a confusing platform confused customers

Prior to leaving Apple in 1985, he created a very confusing brand platform that used numbers and letters to distinguish models. The Apple II line was indicative, with Apple 11, 11 plus, 11c, etc.

While Apple's products were popular in the education market, they never really caught on with other large segments of the computer marketplace. That is because earlier Apple models overlapped, confused, and ultimately cannibalized -- taking sales away from each other rather than competitors.

Away from Apple, he gained savvy
In 1985, Jobs brought in John Sculley from Pepsi Cola to run Apple and beef up its marketing expertise. After the two clashed, Jobs left Apple and started NeXT Computer. As he has done throughout his career, Jobs micromanaged the marketing and everything else at NeXT. NeXT was a commercial failure and part of a 12-year down period. After re-examining what went wrong during this period, one can only presume that he realized his branding mistakes because Steve Jobs returned to Apple a much wiser and more capable brand marketer.
Even so, the lessons he learned were unable to overcome the common perception that Apple brand computers were expensive relative to Wintel-standard alternatives. As a result, Apple's computer line had no more than a single-digit market share through the end of 2009.

iPod was the game changer
With the introduction of the iPod in 2001, Steve developed a very effective branding platform - using mostly two syllable descriptive names (iPod, iPhone, and iPad). Now most of Apple's business comes from these product lines, and because they have introduced new segments to the Mac computer line, which also uses an effective branding platform (iMac, MacBook, MacPro), Mac computer sales broke through the 10% market share threshold in 2010.

A post-Jobs future?
While there is concern for Steve Job's health and reports that the other architect of Apple's phenomenal success, Jonny Ive (Apple's head designer), may be leaving the company, Apple seems to be firing on all cylinders. In May of 2010, it became the most valuable technology company in the world. The Apple brand has come to represent innovation, superior industrial design, quality, and products that delight their customers. As a result, their sales and earnings continue to exceed analyst expectations.

Steve Jobs learned a lot during his 12 years wandering between his stints at Apple, and the implementation of his brand expertise in the new Apple Inc product line has played no small part in this success.

What do you think?

• Related:
• First Ads for iPad 2 Stay Within the Apple Playbook
  
• C'mon, Charlie, this Meltdown Smells of a Marketing Plan
• Why Disney Keeps Its Name Off of its Sexy Movies