Fruits, Numbers and Refreshing Beverages (1)
Content
Surprising Fruits, Infinite Numbers and Refreshing Beverages
It’s 1994. The movie is Forrest Gump – a fictional history of contemporary world
events. In the film, Gump says something that’s more a sign of the future than a
celebration of the past - after investing in a fruit company; he says that he won’t
have to worry about money anymore.
The fruit company he’s talking about? Apple.
It’s 2013. That fruit company is, according to the brand consulting company
Interbrand, the world’s most valuable brand. Had Forrest Gump existed for real, he
would be a billionaire by now. Google – another name that was unheard of in the
mid-90s - occupies the second position. Coca Cola, the world’s most well-known
brand for nearly a century, is third.
Find something unusual in the fact that very few people had heard of the two
biggest brands in the world 20 years ago? No. If you look at it, that’s just how our
world rolls nowadays.
What have Apple and Google done that made them usurp a drink that everyone on
Earth idolizes, including poor African nations? Firstly, it helps that Apple and Google
are tech brands. The top 10 list in the Interbrand study has six technology
companies and just one food and one car brand. It goes without saying that the
world can’t do without the information-concept revolution, and Apple and Google
are unanimous leaders in it. Wait, they started it.
Apple lets work speaks for itself. Steve Jobs’s basic philosophy of excellent design
and absolute perfection goes into every Apple product. While Microsoft can call it
customer loyalty, Apple enjoys brand fanaticism. It doesn’t have users, it has
devotees. It respects and wins people who venture beyond the norm. You would
have to sedate and drug an Apple user to make him use any other OS.
Devices like The iPhone and iPad are miniature marvels of technology, usability and
seamless boundaries. When you use Apple, it’s like making technological love.
The rest of this article continues next week!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Surprising Fruits, Infinite Numbers and Refreshing Beverages Part 2
What have Apple and Google done that made them usurp Coca Cola as the
biggest brands in the world?
You can’t do without Google. You use it every day and there lies the answer.
Google’s revenue mostly comes from Google Ads and page ranking, and these are
tools that every brand uses to be visible on the Net. And Google uses jaw-dropping
algorithms. Oh, also, the brand owns something called YouTube.
Isn’t that enough already? Not for Google. The company is probably one of the most
experimental and innovative the world has ever seen. Products like Google Glass,
Fiber and Street View are turning science fiction into everyday user reality. Most
users haven’t even heard of Google endeavors like Project Loon. It uses highaltitude aerial balloons that create a 3G wireless network over rural and
impenetrable areas of the world. They called it Loon, because, well, it’s crazy.
- Normal person’s reaction after researching Google’s
innovations.
Google definitely cares about the fact that information and its medium need to be
re-invented for a better world. And while most companies dream of it, it’s doing it.
Now we come to Coca Cola. Let’s all settle on the fact that the brand has a universal
legacy. Its offline ads stand out for their creativity and innovation. Imagine a brand
that actually re-invents the image of Santa Clause to go with its drink – that’s how
big Coca Cola is. It also stayed as the world’s biggest brand for 13 years starting in
2000. So, it’s not that the brand did anything wrong; it’s probably just that the
world’s emphasis is shifting towards a different spectrum. It’s not that people are
tired of the beverage; it’s probably just that the world is marveling more at insanely
brilliant innovations rather than long standing legacies.
Also, even though the fact has mixed reactions, Coke is still an American brand to
millions. Two films were inspired by this: the epic Gods Must Be Crazy shows a Coke
bottle accidentally dropped in the Kalahari Desert, where it inspires jealousy and
rivalry between tribesmen who have never seen it before. The film One, Two, Three
shows a Coke executive dealing with Russian businessmen who view the drink as if
it’s American nectar. Google and Apple are easily universal to the point that people
have even confused these companies to be Europe or Japan-based (because all
technology is apparently from Europe and Japan). In fact, Google and Apple seem to
belong to a universe without boundaries, countries or compartments.
Coca Cola isn’t ever going to go away, but brands like Apple and Google have only
begun their meteoric rise. Both of them are designed with online innovation in mind,
which is a clear sign of an evolving world of integrated user experiences and
technologies.
So, here’s what it should be. In my fantasy, the three brands should tie up to create
a refreshing soda which is beautifully designed and which , after entering your body,
creates a virtual network which keeps you constantly online and searchable.
Meanwhile, let’s wait for a new company you’ve never heard of, called Jackfruit or
Pina Colada or something, a company which you won’t be able to live without by
2020. Because that’s how our world rolls.
It’s 1994. The movie is Forrest Gump – a fictional history of contemporary world
events. In the film, Gump says something that’s more a sign of the future than a
celebration of the past - after investing in a fruit company; he says that he won’t
have to worry about money anymore.
The fruit company he’s talking about? Apple.
It’s 2013. That fruit company is, according to the brand consulting company
Interbrand, the world’s most valuable brand. Had Forrest Gump existed for real, he
would be a billionaire by now. Google – another name that was unheard of in the
mid-90s - occupies the second position. Coca Cola, the world’s most well-known
brand for nearly a century, is third.
Find something unusual in the fact that very few people had heard of the two
biggest brands in the world 20 years ago? No. If you look at it, that’s just how our
world rolls nowadays.
What have Apple and Google done that made them usurp a drink that everyone on
Earth idolizes, including poor African nations? Firstly, it helps that Apple and Google
are tech brands. The top 10 list in the Interbrand study has six technology
companies and just one food and one car brand. It goes without saying that the
world can’t do without the information-concept revolution, and Apple and Google
are unanimous leaders in it. Wait, they started it.
Apple lets work speaks for itself. Steve Jobs’s basic philosophy of excellent design
and absolute perfection goes into every Apple product. While Microsoft can call it
customer loyalty, Apple enjoys brand fanaticism. It doesn’t have users, it has
devotees. It respects and wins people who venture beyond the norm. You would
have to sedate and drug an Apple user to make him use any other OS.
Devices like The iPhone and iPad are miniature marvels of technology, usability and
seamless boundaries. When you use Apple, it’s like making technological love.
The rest of this article continues next week!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Surprising Fruits, Infinite Numbers and Refreshing Beverages Part 2
What have Apple and Google done that made them usurp Coca Cola as the
biggest brands in the world?
You can’t do without Google. You use it every day and there lies the answer.
Google’s revenue mostly comes from Google Ads and page ranking, and these are
tools that every brand uses to be visible on the Net. And Google uses jaw-dropping
algorithms. Oh, also, the brand owns something called YouTube.
Isn’t that enough already? Not for Google. The company is probably one of the most
experimental and innovative the world has ever seen. Products like Google Glass,
Fiber and Street View are turning science fiction into everyday user reality. Most
users haven’t even heard of Google endeavors like Project Loon. It uses highaltitude aerial balloons that create a 3G wireless network over rural and
impenetrable areas of the world. They called it Loon, because, well, it’s crazy.
- Normal person’s reaction after researching Google’s
innovations.
Google definitely cares about the fact that information and its medium need to be
re-invented for a better world. And while most companies dream of it, it’s doing it.
Now we come to Coca Cola. Let’s all settle on the fact that the brand has a universal
legacy. Its offline ads stand out for their creativity and innovation. Imagine a brand
that actually re-invents the image of Santa Clause to go with its drink – that’s how
big Coca Cola is. It also stayed as the world’s biggest brand for 13 years starting in
2000. So, it’s not that the brand did anything wrong; it’s probably just that the
world’s emphasis is shifting towards a different spectrum. It’s not that people are
tired of the beverage; it’s probably just that the world is marveling more at insanely
brilliant innovations rather than long standing legacies.
Also, even though the fact has mixed reactions, Coke is still an American brand to
millions. Two films were inspired by this: the epic Gods Must Be Crazy shows a Coke
bottle accidentally dropped in the Kalahari Desert, where it inspires jealousy and
rivalry between tribesmen who have never seen it before. The film One, Two, Three
shows a Coke executive dealing with Russian businessmen who view the drink as if
it’s American nectar. Google and Apple are easily universal to the point that people
have even confused these companies to be Europe or Japan-based (because all
technology is apparently from Europe and Japan). In fact, Google and Apple seem to
belong to a universe without boundaries, countries or compartments.
Coca Cola isn’t ever going to go away, but brands like Apple and Google have only
begun their meteoric rise. Both of them are designed with online innovation in mind,
which is a clear sign of an evolving world of integrated user experiences and
technologies.
So, here’s what it should be. In my fantasy, the three brands should tie up to create
a refreshing soda which is beautifully designed and which , after entering your body,
creates a virtual network which keeps you constantly online and searchable.
Meanwhile, let’s wait for a new company you’ve never heard of, called Jackfruit or
Pina Colada or something, a company which you won’t be able to live without by
2020. Because that’s how our world rolls.
