In a short video about the IBM brand, Jon Iwata, Senior Vice President (Marketing and Communications), states, “We don’t try to manage the IBM brand. We try to manage our character as a business. And we’ve never defined IBM by what we’re selling.”
And, really, isn’t this how all of the branding giants operate?
Walt Disney World® doesn’t sell Mickey Mouse shirts. Disney sells childhood bliss (for all ages).
Apple® doesn’t sell cell phones and computers. Apple sells acceptance.
Mercedes-Benz® doesn’t sell personal transportation. Mercedes sells status.
And Pampers®? They sell the American adult dream of being pampered (to borrow from a David Foster Wallace theory)
Branding Without Products
The secret behind all of these brand giants – here focusing on IBM – is that, as leaders, they can’t wrap up their definitions of self in consumer goods – especially when those consumer goods are technology.
What if we had come to known IBM as “the typewriter,”
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