Pulses were racing in a modest boardroom situated at Cupertino, California. Its constituents pondered every possible outcome of a decision they were about to make. It was the year 1997.
The backdrop — A haemorrhaging Apple Computers on the verge of closure, a probably nervous Steve Jobs carefully considering all available choices laid flat on the table by his branding counterparts in a bid to alter brand perception, gain public favour and attempt to bring the almost defunct company to — hopefully — a lesser vulnerability.
Many irate board meetings and endless brainstorming sessions culminated in a one-minute commercial that paid homage to noteworthy historic figures who went against the popular grain with their nonconformist and almost heretical agendas, and in the process, transformed the world. The result was the ‘Think Different’ campaign — the conundrum of the moment.
Would it be a game changer, or a wipeout?
The campaign wasn’t supposed to work because it went against all the rules. Technical specs were replaced by poetic lyric — the antithesis for what was expected in a techno-jargon dominated market. It compared the struggling brand to audacious revolutionaries across the eras — a reflection of its philosophy to fight the good fight in spite of societal deterrents.
To top it all, not even a mere mention or depiction of the product line — considered a gross violation in an industry that relied on product specs and exposition. Apple stuck to their guns and aired the ad anyway.
A seismic shift occurred in its aftermath. Apple was back, and with a vengeance that was undeniably heroic. Its competitors were rendered hack product vendors competing solely on replicable price and configuration attributes.
With iconoclastic agendas at the very core, every product was infused with fun and trendy attributes that stood it apart from the rest, and plenty of attitude peppered in for distinctive measure.
Thus, a new era in technology was born, and personal computing was never to be blah again.
Apple identified with the power of emotion in the branding process; specifically its ability to coax purchase decisions. Although it had a product that was technologically a cut above, it still needed an edge that positioned itself uniquely onto its target audiences’ minds.
The ‘Think Different’ strategy helped give the brand an emotional finesse — one that would catapult product sales, usher in an age of diehard customer patronage, and write up a good portion of the computer industry’s innovative history.
Emotion sells, and the world loves a story. A memorable brand is akin to the human journey, with inspiration taken from our innate desire to conquer everyday imperfections and rise to ideals sacred to our destiny.
Stemming essentially from the brand’s mission and vision parameters, it often displaces rationality in the hierarchy of the buyer decision process. They have the power to suggest, even make outright declarations, either by gently coaxing or utterly swaying the consensus on buying into brand-desired ideologies.
Romanticism occupies a much prioritised niche in our psyche, and branding experts understand that rather well when chalking out strategies.
An important ingredient in the story ideation process, creativity, helps convince audiences without being too coercive. Suspicion arises from fear of the unfamiliar and not the actual legitimacy of the proposition, and gaining your customer’s trust is crucial to the buying process.
While price and product features are an explicit motive, consumers are also driven by a need to be entertained when making a purchase decision. On the other side of the equation, audiences hold up to their end of the bargain by bringing in a very crucial element to this interchange — suspension of disbelief — which is their way of playing along with your brand story.
A good emotion-based strategy should creatively use associations that resonate with its intended audiences by drawing parallels to something they know to be tried and true, as a means to help them embrace a new concept. The rule of thumb here is — guide them into choosing a favourable decision, but don’t tell them what to do.
A winning brand that connects emotionally wins hearts and minds. A good way is to allow the obvious physical attributes to convince, and the abstract emotional element to titillate. Features can be matched and products can be plagiarised, but an emotional sweet spot is what separates the players from the wannabes.
There is a common misconception that an in-house branding department — dedicated, enamoured, living and breathing the brand 24/7 — can create these definitive associations better, owing to a home-grown advocacy.
There, however, is a level of detachment that is an inseparable dynamic of every effective campaign. Ruthless purging of redundant and impractical elements can only be performed by external intervention — a credible branding agency — that can provide effective and honest critiquing free of sycophantic agendas. Rationality trumps egotism in the business world.
Apple, even to date, prefers to rely on their branding agency for creative direction, even if the cost of setting up an in-house branding department wouldn’t make them so much as even flinch.
There’s no doubt that the contracted branding agency may have rocked the creative front, but it took an often belligerent and egomaniacal, albeit intuitive Steve Jobs to seal the deal. His participation and fullest cooperation ensured absolute adherence to the brand’s business objectives, and his ability to translate the suggested strategy into conceivable bottom-line figures gave the campaign its wings.
The groundbreaking campaign made history and became a benchmark for campaign effectiveness, catapulting it to “superbrand” status. This goes to testify how teaming up with your trusted branding cohorts can leave your organisation to concentrate on doing what it does best — make reliable products that your customers love and trust.
Since then, Apple’s success had a lot to do with Jobs’ acumen coupled with his obsession to deliver cutting-edge products by getting under the consumer’s skin. But it was the ‘Think Different’ ad that made the world sit up and take notice.
A rallying call for a generation that buried their individuality, there was now a way to lash out and avenge their dormancy — by buying an Apple computer.
The prophetic nature of the ‘Think Different’ campaign inspires a sense of awe. Its depicted protagonists are a sure witness to the powerlessness of conformity — much like a noose without a hitch.
Although many hindrances come along the road to transcendence, the desire to make the world a better place will always be met with mockers, haters, and saboteurs. The freedoms we enjoy today as a free world can be owed to these revolutionaries — depicted throughout the campaign — who stood their ground and refused to cave in to besetting circumstances.
And although these choppy memories may one day vanish due to the perishable nature of its captured medium, there is one thing you can’t forget no matter how hard you try — that they changed our world. Because of the evidence that will always prevail. Just like Apple.
The year 1997 was a watershed in Apple Inc.’s timeline. Awards were won at the most eminent advertising functions across the globe — including the 1998 Emmy Award for Best Commercial and the 2000 Grand Effie Award for most effective campaign in America.
But there was, however, an unsung hero that didn’t quite get the recognition he deserved as a very pivotal part of the campaign — the official “aye” or naysayer of everything Apple.
Even today — although passed on — Steve Jobs’ immense contribution to the $104.3 billion brand places him as a creative genius to have never walked the red carpet.
— The writer is the CEO of re-brand-ing.
