So the latest craze to hit the streets related to the Apple brand and Steven Jobs is a 14-inch tall Steve Jobs doll, which looks amazingly like Steven Jobs. However, the Chinese company that decided to manufacture this doll does not own the rights to the Steve Jobs image, and both Apple and the Jobs estate warned this company that they would be sued if they didn’t remove the doll from the market.

It is the epitome of brand recognition and loyalty when you can take icons of a business or product category and make them into a doll.

What more could the most passionately loyalist Applephiles crave more than their own personal Steve Jobs sitting next to them as they ponder the use of their new iPad or Macbook Air, looking over to see Steve watching with approval; what could be better?

Jobs symbolizes so much for people who use Apple products. He clearly represents a departure from the “corporate” mindset of technology, which is driven by the IBM’s, the HP’s, and Microsoft’s who are focused on selling faster, better chips and software designed by engineers who think like, well, engineers. Steve Jobs served as our personal advocate for the technology that worked for us; that supported what we as consumers loved. This sense of advocacy is what drove loyalty to Apple and made it the company that it is today.

Unfortunately the “powers that be” representing Apple and Steven Jobs don’t share the same evangelical view of allowing a “brand” like Mr. Jobs hitting the shelves by the thousands to coach us on to new glory with our iPads and iMacs. So the manufacturing company has promised to withdraw the product from the market. However, look for him on eBay while you can.

So the brand is really a creation of our personality and chunk of our identity in our lives. It’s our story combined with the brand’s story.

Like Apple, ING gets that the “store” environment isn’t just about pushing product. It’s about letting you browse, connect, get conformable with who they are.

Although most people think of an Apple Store as being part of an upscale mall or some other a high-end retail location, Grand Central Station really is the perfect location, and it shows that the Apple real estate group really “gets it” about retail. It’s about nurturing the ecology that brings together consumers, location and buying opportunity.

So, ultimately, the best thing for the shopper and the brand is understanding and using customer reviews, comments, and ratings as you beging to learn what a brand is about, who they are really making this product for, and what you need to know to discover the brand that will fill your needs.

Back in May of this year Overstock.com, the well known — did I say well recognized and branded leader in online discount sales, changed it’s self-descriptive name to a meaningless wonder O.co. This brilliant move lead by the president and CEO Jonathan Johnson ignored all the rules about branding, brand value and building the position [...]

Only a month ago Qwikster was launched to repair the damage of mid July’s disasters announcement of the take-it-or-leave-it strategy of doubling the price of both DVD deliveries and streaming movies. After two ridiculous moves, resulting in tons of nasty comments and thousands of lost customers and a stock drop from $245 a share to [...]

In marketing and branding it’s all about the target audience and how you get your message across. Who will you attract? What will be the value they see? It’s not always easy when you have a place called Fred’s diner or Maria’s Taco Shop.

The amazing thing about what Apple has done under Jobs established a benchmark for a whole different experience for the consumer. He obsessed about this and knew that it was not the amount of ram or speed you had it was what things did and how they simplified your world

Okay, tell your super-loyal customers that you are giving them two months notice, then you are doubling the price of the products they know and love. You get a choice to get streaming movies, which have a limited number of titles, or continue your DVD deliveries, which have just about everything