Creating new markets through brand ideals
On October 18, 2010, the top story in The Wall Street Journal pronounced, “Apple Inc. posted a 70% surge in quarterly earnings ... the latest sign that CEO Steve Jobs’s gamble on consumer gadgets is paying off.”
To us, this view seems incomplete. We would argue that because it focuses on the “what” and not the “why,” the story obscures the leadership role Jobs played in brand creation. It does not explain why, in the vast and fiercely competitive market of consumer gadgets,Jobs won out over a myriad of very savvy competitors. The fact is, Jobs is one of many players in the highly crowded market for consumer gadgets, but he holds a virtual monopoly in the market for self-expression. And that is the true source of Apple’s sustained competitive advantage. By maniacally focusing on its brand ideal — to empower people to express themselves — Apple has created a market that it singularly owns. We predict that the best businesses of the future will be those that, like Apple, serve a human ideal.
