Abstract
We always turn to the lives of successful people for inspiration and instruction. None would disagree that Steve jobs was not just an inspiration, but a legend. Isaacson wrote, “Steve Jobs became the greatest business executive of our era. The one most certain to be remembered a century from now. History will place him in the pantheon right next to Edison and Ford. He was a genius. His imaginative leaps were instinctive, unexpected, and at times, magical.”
Steve Jobs has always been a profound inspiration for entrepreneurs, not just for his role in creating Apple and Pixar Films but for the visionary principles he embodied. I have often seen entrepreneurs, ambitious startups, and even established firms put up Jobs' life-size portraits with his quotes on their office walls. Some of the more inspired one's even click their photographs in Jobs-like poses. One of my Symbiosis (SIBM) MBA batchmates & close friend who closely worked with one of the largest unicorn founders also shared how many of these famed startup poster boys are so inspired by Jobs that they imitate his style & persona.
Apple products enjoy a fanatical loyalty. Both my teenage daughters are admirers of Apple products and completely addicted to them. So are several of my friends & family members.
Jobs life story has emerged as a holy scripture for entrepreneurs. While there are many books on his life, Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson is the best of all. This and my next two posts will unveil three of these 10 anecdotes, post which the complete blog will be available. Today’s post is on Apple's "Think Different" campaign of 1997, the one that marked the return of Apple and Jobs to their past glory and also laid the foundation for the fanatical loyalty that Apple enjoys today.
Anecdote 1: “THINK DIFFERENT”
“Steve created the only lifestyle brand in the tech industry. There are cars people are proud to have – Porsche, Ferrari, Prius – because what I drive says something about me. People feel the same way about an Apple product.”…Larry Ellison (Oracle)
We all know something about Apple’s ‘Think Different’ campaign launched in 1997. It is one of the most iconic and effective branding efforts in marketing history. Do you know that this campaign played a crucial role in revitalizing Apple's brand post Steve Job’s return to Apple and set the stage for its transformation into one of the world’s most valuable companies?
In the mid-1990s, Apple was struggling. It was losing market share to competitors like Microsoft, and its products weren’t selling as well. The company brought back Steve Jobs, who had been ousted in the 1980s, to help reverse the decline. One of his first major initiatives was to rebuild Apple's image, and the ‘Think Different’ campaign was central to this effort.
After Jobs had retaken the reins at Apple, he realized that he was not impressed with their advertising agency. He, therefore, reached out to Lee Clow, the creative director at TBWA/Chiat/Day, the creative agency responsible for the great ‘1984’ ad campaign for the launch of Macintosh. He told Clow, “We have to prove that Apple is still alive, and that it still stands for something special.” Jobs requested Clow to pitch for Apple’s business. Clow clarified, “We do not pitch for account. You know our work.”
Jobs and Clow agreed that Apple was one of the greatest brands in the world, probably the top five based on emotional appeal, but they needed to remind folks what was distinctive about it. So, they wanted a brand image campaign, not a set of advertisements featuring products. It was designed to celebrate not what the computers can do, but what creative people could do with computers. Jobs recalled, “We at Apple had forgotten who we are. One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are. That was the genesis of the campaign.”
The campaign was a celebration of creativity, innovation, and individuality. It paid homage to ‘the crazy ones’- people who saw the world differently and changed it. The phrase ‘Think Different’ itself became a call to action for consumers to embrace their own creativity and individuality, aligning Apple's brand with those values.
The key slogan, ‘Think Different’, was simple yet powerful. While grammatically incorrect (the phrase should technically be "Think Differently"), its impact lay in its brevity and directness, inviting audiences to challenge norms and conventions.
The most famous part of the campaign was the TV commercial titled "Here's to the Crazy Ones." Narrated by Richard Dreyfuss (and in some versions, by Steve Jobs himself), the ad showed black-and-white footage of iconic figures who had dared to think differently. These included Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Amelia Earhart, Pablo Picasso, John Lennon, and others.
The voiceover said:
"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."
The print ads featured the same iconic personalities shown in black-and-white portraits, with the Apple logo and the phrase ‘Think Different’. The ads often ran without product descriptions, allowing the campaign to focus on emotion and philosophy rather than specific products. By aligning the Apple brand with icons of creativity, the campaign forged an emotional connection with its audience. It wasn’t about the technical specifications of Apple products but about what those products represented—empowerment, creativity, and individuality.
The clean, minimalist design of the campaign reflected Apple’s own product design principles. The ads were simple yet visually striking, with stark black-and-white imagery complemented by the colorful Apple logo at the time.
The campaign redefined Apple's image. It positioned the company not just as a maker of computers but as a brand for creative thinkers, innovators, and those who wanted to challenge the status quo. This was a sharp contrast to competitors like Microsoft, which was seen as more business-focused and conventional.
‘Think Different’ laid the foundation for the fanatical loyalty that Apple enjoys today. It turned Apple users into a community of forward-thinkers and creatives, rather than just consumers of technology. This emotional branding became a hallmark of Apple’s marketing strategy going forward.
The campaign helped restore Apple’s reputation at a critical time. Following its release, Apple saw a significant improvement in sales and market share, largely driven by the emotional resonance of the message. It laid the groundwork for the company’s later successes with the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and other revolutionary products.
The "Think Different" campaign perfectly encapsulated Steve Jobs’ vision for Apple and its products. Jobs saw Apple as a company that existed to help people unlock their creative potential. He believed that technology should empower individuals to think outside the box and make an impact on the world. The campaign also signaled Jobs’ return to Apple’s core values of innovation and creativity.
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