Apple Designers: the new royalty?

 

When a team of senior US based Apple designers attend a conference in Europe later this year they will be following the Apple travel code. This means that no more than two of them may travel on the same aircraft and they will all stay in different hotels. Travel arrangements like this were once the stuff of royalty, but given the recent court decision in favour of Apple over Samsung, Apple designers are clearly the new royalty – at least in Cupertino.

 

 

The court decision also illustrated that patent law is not just about technology or what’s inside a product anymore. Three of the six patents that a jury found Samsung had violated were not about how the iPhone works but covered the way it looks.

 

These days virtually any technology or service advantage can be copied, cloned or re-invented in double quick time. Therefore, brand advantage has to include the design component - the way the product, technology or service is delivered. Brands need be clear about the way this facet of the brand is articulated and mobilised so that it is built in and delivered in every product and at every contact point. JS

Overheard Not Over-Hyped

 

We’ve recently been staring out of CRICKET’s office windows at a couple of rare sights.

The first is of a New Oxford Street where the normal car park of stationary buses is a fast flowing river of big reds  – a genuine success for 2012 Games©®™ and Transport for London’s pre-Olympic strategy.

The second extraordinary view is a heavyweight bus advertising campaign where the majority of the ads are in Chinese. The few that are in English give little clue to as to the advertiser’s brand or product.

It transpires that the advertiser is Yili – a leading Chinese dairy products brand – and sponsor of the Chinese sports delegation here in London. Yili products are not in distribution in the UK so even if the delegation are spurred into action they’ll have to wait until they return home with their medals to stock up on their favourite milk, yoghurt and cheese.

It appears that the campaign is designed to be overheard by the China based target audience. The logic is that by seeing a domestic Chinese dairy brand advertising in the very same West that gives them LVMH, Gucci and Range Rover imbues that brand with coveted Western quality, style and credibility.

CRICKET have always been fans of overheard brand communication – allowing the target audience to discover the message rather than having to constantly bat it away. Exactly how the brand mobilises the campaign within China would be interesting to understand… is the Chinese Gary Lineker standing alongside bus lanes delivering his update on the latest Chinese medal winner?

Either way it’s an interesting strategy for a country not yet known for creativity in brand communications. JS