My pick for brand of the decade is Nintendo. I'm inspired by what Nintendo has been able to accomplish this decade. They went from undisputed category leader in the 80s to bringing up the rear by early this decade behind XBox and PlayStation. I figured Nintendo would be nothing but a great memory from my childhood. But Nintendo responded with the best of branding principles.

Focus. Nintendo stayed focused.  They were patient. They knew that if they were going to be relevant again, they needed a sharp focus.

Differentiation. Their focus needed to be unique and differentiated from the competition. They had lost the graphics battle and couldn't compete there.  Instead the created a gaming system that was everything that other systems weren't.  They created the system that was about being off the couch and together with people.

Strong Brand Identity. The Wii is one of my all time favorite brand identities.  It speaks to what makes them unique "we" not "I".  They spell it uniquely so it's easy to remember. The i's in the logo represent two people together.  It's incredibly simple and bold.  All around, it's brilliant.

At the end of this decade, Nintendo is back up to almost 50% market share.  Congrats Nintendo, you've earned it.

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