Apple has lost its charm?

Apple used to stand for something. Through their ads, products and leadership, they created a movement and put a dent in the universe. But to put it in an artistic sense, the most beautiful things are momentary. And Apple’s moment has passed.

What made Apple special came and went with Steve Jobs. He brought to the company a mindset that attracted the world’s greatest minds and pushed them to do undoable things. Their ads had to be the best. Their products had to be the best. The people had to be the best and if you weren’t the best, you weren’t at Apple. During its renaissance, Apple wasn’t satisfied with changing the status quo once. They popularized digital music, mobile applications and touchscreen products in a few years. They changed the tech industry permanently time and time again. More success was never enough.

That is what Apple used to be. They created new products instead of updating them. Since Jobs’ death in 2011, Apple has made one notable addition to their product line: the Apple Watch. In six years, Apple released one product to catch up with the already saturated smartwatch market. To put that in perspective, from 2001 to 2010, Apple released the iPod, iPhone and iPad. In nine years, Apple created three different categories of products. In the past six years, Apple played catchup and nothing else.

Needless to say, something important left Apple. Their advertising department has struggled to maintain the image Apple once invented, but the products have begun to speak for themselves. The truth is that the company has lost its identity. That’s easy to do with any company, but for a company that was defined by its brand the mistake is a major one.

As we’ve seen, creating a brand identity can be an extremely rewarding process. The benefits that come from a united, highly-focused strategy can be revolutionary. When your company loses it, however, you can lose everything.