Apple Inc. was founded by two college dropouts named Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak on April 1, 1976, in Job’s garage. It’s no surprise when we think of Apple, we think of Steve Jobs. There’s a lot to say about Apple and a lot of it has already been told. What I find most intriguing and inspiring about Apple is Steve Jobs’ life prior to starting Apple. Steve Jobs’ rebellious soul can be dated back to his time in elementary school. He would have difficulty functioning in a traditional classroom, making friends his age, resisted authority, and misbehaved a lot of the time. This reminds me of the rebellious nature of the company itself when you see how they not only challenged the computer industry — but also the mobile (iPhone) and the music industry (iTunes). Young jobs at the age of 12 showed courage by calling the co-founder of Hewlett Packard, Bill Hewlett, and requested leftovers for electronic parts. Not only did he get them, but even received an opportunity to work at the company as an intern. “I’ve always found something to be very true, which is most people don’t get those experiences because they never ask. I’ve never found anybody who didn’t want to help me when I’ve asked them for help.”, said Steve Jobs during an interview in 1994. In college, Steve Jobs dropped out after 6 months, but still, he took calligraphy classes. To that, he said: “If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would never have multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.” Back in 1985, Steve Jobs was forced to leave Apple by the board of directors because of the struggle with former CEO John Sculley. He came back to Apple in 1997 after his company NeXT was acquired by Apple. Another inspiring moment was the video about Apple’s confidential internal meeting in 1997. In a nutshell, the video is about Apple going back to the basics — the core of what they are about. “To me, marketing is about value. This is a very complicated world, a very noisy world. And we are not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us. No company is. So we have to be really clear on what we want them to know about us.”, said Steve Jobs. “Even a great brand needs investments and caring if it’s going to retain its relevance and vitality.” The focus wasn’t about the features of their product — it was about what Apple stands for at its core. Jobs was more concerned about what customers should know Apple for. To that he said: “We believe that people with passion change the world for the better.” Apple communicated its core value through its Think Different campaign. It was advertised on television, magazines, and billboards to honor the people who have changed the world. The market will change, and so will the products, distribution strategies, and manufacturing, but one thing that shouldn’t change is the core values, the soul of a company or an organization. You can also read about the brand inspiration that I have done on charity: water, Ahmad Tea and Nike.
In short, What We Can Learn From Apple:
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