Apple is the new #1 in the Fortune Magazine study of "Most Admired Companies". It seems that Apple continues to delight us and operate above the line of expectations associated with most other electronics companies.
Consider that Apple has so much reservoir of reputation capital that it created lines waiting for the chance to plunk down US$500 to buy the new I-Pod, something few people really understood. In other words, lines were waiting for the chance to pay to see what this new product was. At the same time, no one bothered to pay far less to try out the much touted (by Palm; not by many others) Palm Pre.
Reputations are built by what others say, not what the company says. We are very immune to all the hype companies can generate. It's when other like us get excited that we get excited.
Apple has been so successful that it has managed to commoditize the entire PC industry. It is no longer Apple against HP or Lenovo or Dell. It is now Apple vs. PC. The others seem to lack differentiation. So much so that Apple is able to be priced at twice that of a PC.
Apple will likely disappoint us at some time, but as we have seen with other companies that have excessive amounts of reputation capital stored (J&J and Toyota come to mind), the damage from a mistake will not be as dire as it would be if the company were less admired.
Reputation capital matters. It can carry a company a long way. The I-Pod might not be Apple's finest hour, but go tell that to the consumer of electronics. They still see Apple as king.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
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1 comment:
This Onion News Network sums up Apple's following in a humorous manner! Even though this is fictional, I feel like it's a relatively accurate depiction of the Apple brand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA
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