Banking on Apple

According to a report from Thomson Reuters,  Apple is now worth as much as the 32 biggest Eurozone banks.

This is a consequence of the steep fall in the share price of many of Europe’s leading banks last week, which is in stark contrast to the steady rise in Apple’s valuation.  Apple’s market capitalisation has soared to $340 billion on the back of the success of innovative technology products like iPods, iPhones and iPads.

Since peaking in May 2007 the Eurozone banks have lost three-quarters of their value.

For those who care to pick up on it, there is also a clear message here as to the value and payback of investing in branding and innovation strategies that respect and connect with the multi-layered aspirations of consumers.  Apple has built a reputation and loyalty by providing products that  opened up new possibilities for their customers.  Banks blew their brand reputation in the financial meltdown of 2007 and have continued to enact a mismatch between what they promise and what they deliver.  The results speak for themselves.

 

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS

Apple’s Board of Directors today announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board has named Tim Cook, previously Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, as the company’s new CEO. Jobs has been elected Chairman of the Board and Cook will join the Board, effective immediately.

 

Virgin for 25 years

A masterclass in playing your brand.

 

Apple logo

An interesting article on Apple and branding in Wired magazine. In many respects the later versions of the Apple logo with the bite taken out provides a pun on bite/byte – whether consciously or sub-consciously. The story linking ‘the bite’ to Alan Turing sounds somewhat apocryphal, but now it’s out in the linguistic ether, it will be nonetheless real.

Whenever I reference the apple logo during teaching, I link its significance to the story of Adam and Eve. In what might be seen as an act of resistance, Eve bites from the apple of the tree of knowledge and becomes ‘knowing’. If you think of computers as a way of extending knowledge then it makes a degree of sense. It also fits in with Apple’s counter-cultural aspirations as demonstrated in their renowned ’1984′ advertisement. And whether the ‘originators’ of the Apple logo intended these connotations of meaning isn’t really an issue. The story of Eve and the apple is so iconic, so deeply embedded in Western culture that it will operate at both conscious and subconscious levels.