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

When Netflix just announce a 60% increase in rates they drove shock waves through thousands of loyal customers of absolutely loved Netflix. Is say loved because many of the comments, blog entries and Tweets are saying how Netflix is screwing over their loyal customer base.

This was the time when retail was immediate and visual as you passed one store front after another. Seeing if you could get pulled into the store by what’s in the window.

Rule 1. in building brands is evolve value and keep building on what you have. Most companies that have dumped an old name for a new one to try to “reinvent” themselves have run head on into customer confusion.

I see a lack of real strategy on building a bigger online community and more of a move towards adding revenue based on targeted groups.

Brand strategy is the connection between your marketing goals and your customers’ experience. How you position your brand defines who comes to buy, why and how to build your market.

I don’t think all multiple store chains are killers of authenticity. Fundamentally, what do they provide that’s not being served to the consumer? And is it real in how it connects to consumers’ experience?

Yahoo’s parent affiliation with Flickr prompted many loyal Flickr users to respond with negative comments about this “brought to you by” connection.

Three years after making a critical online branding mistake, Ask Jeeves in Great Britain is back with a fancy new suit and good advice. Yes, the Jeeves brand element, which we redesigned, has returned to center stage.

Apple defied the predictions of the analysts and the recession with increased sales and overall increase in revenue and profit for the first quarter of 2009. In the same period Microsoft had its first ever drop in sales