Apple owns 3 of top 10 social brands, 2008

I don't know what a vitrue is, but they've done a Top 100 brands list of American Brands. 9 of the top 10 (except Starbucks) relate to media/entertainment/electronics. (Starbucks is about lifestyle/relaxation/socialisation.) Microsoft comes in with Xbox and it's own brand name at 5 and 11. Apple has 1, 3, 7 and 16. Note that Disney at #4 is to a large part due to Pixar which was Steve Jobs' baby too. The iPhone, iPod and Xbox brands are less than 10 years old and all appear in the top 10. Of course, the average age of people online tends to be the low to mid-20's, and hence the relative youthfulness of the brands too.

But the point also is that brands find it difficult to make the transition from one generation to the next. Further, it is possible to establish a whole new brand with a whole new generation (besides, a whole new market segment, as in the case of 'Google', 'Facebook', 'Amazon', 'Nokia'). But it's got to look authentic: people -- especiall young people -- can easily see through old brands trying to dance like they were young -- the brand begins to look pathetic and ridiculous.

A dual-branding strategy typically works well -- one for corporate, one for the product/service -- so that even if the corporate brand ages, the product/service brand can remain fresh and relevant for a specific generation. IBM, for instance, couldn't possibly succeed in the consumer market on the strength of its brand alone -- it's brand is perceived as corporate-conservative. Microsoft isn't perceived as 'cool' but 'Xbox' works fine; indeed, anything with an 'X' in it seems de riguer for perceived coolth.

Anyway, the point of my post is that Apple has been remarkably successful in creating and promoting brands; that requires a special kind of creativity. Sony is a highly innovative corporation -- yet, it is no longer able to maintain a 'cool'/'hip' perception in the marketplace; the times when the 'Walkman' was the epitome of cool are long gone. The iPod & iPhone today are what the Walkman used to be 25 years ago.

Apple -- in particular, Steve Jobs -- has done a lot to maintain the 'cool' perception in the market by relentlessly releasing new products annually, and in a highly dramatic fashion. Apple has a very limited range of products, and thereby avoids brand dilution. It's hard to tell what would happen if/when Steve Jobs passes on (given that he is very ill presently).

The Vitrue 100 of 2008

1. iPhone
2. CNN
3. Apple
4. Disney
5. Xbox
6. Starbucks
7. iPod
8. MTV
9. Sony
10. Dell
11. Microsoft
12. Ford
13. Nintendo
14. Target
15. PlayStation
16. Mac
17. Turner
18. Hewlett-Packard
19. Fox News
20. BlackBerry
21. ABC
22. Coke
23. LG
24. Best Buy
25. Honda
26. eBay
27. Sharp
28. Lincoln
29. NBA
30. Pepsi
31. General Motors
32. McDonald's
33. General Electric
34. Walmart
35. NFL
36. Mercedes
37. BMW
38. Samsung
39. Nike
40. Subway
41. Dodge
42. Pandora
43. CBS
44. Mercury
45. NBC
46. Disneyland
47. last.fm
48. Toyota
49. Cadillac
50. Chevy
51. Jeep
52. Netflix
53. Nascar
54. Suzuki
55. Red Bull
56. Wendy's
57. Burger King
58. Volkswagen
59. REI
60. Nissan
61. T-Mobile
62. Verizon
63. Macy's
64. AT&T
65. Guess
66. Victoria's Secret
67. Walt Disney World
68. Audi
69. TBS
70. Cartoon Network
71. IKEA
72. SEGA
73. Kia
74. Porsche
75. Fox
76. Intel
77. IBM
78. VH1
79. MLB
80. Cisco
81. Oracle
82. Saturn
83. Sprite
84. Subaru
85. Adidas
86. BP
87. AMC
88. Chili's
89. The Gap
90. Capital One
91. Hyatt
92. Costco
93. KFC
94. Adult Swim
95. Jet Blue
96. Taco Bell
97. Converse
98. Sirius
99. Puma
100. Sears