If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then Apple is receiving a lot of flattery these days. How many commercials, ads, products, etc have you seen that use a square item sitting in a field of black with a reflection below? Everywhere I see copycats of Apple ads, visuals, websites, and so on.

The reason so many people are copycatting? Apple’s brand has become more than just a “look”, its becomes a way of defining oneself. Even though Windows still wins in number of actual users, Apple definitely wins when it comes to the reach of their brand. Ever heard someone say, “I want this to look like Apple” or “That reminds me of Apple”. I’ve never heard someone say, “I want this to look like Window’s Vista”.

Apple’s brand has reached a cultural plateau that few visuals reach. Their brand does more than just define a company, it defines a whole set of qualities people want to be associated with – to be trendy, in-the-know, relevant, innovative, and the list goes on. This is branding at its best.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 11:22 am and is filed under Random. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.