When companies tell Yves Behar, the guru founder of the fuseproject, that they want to be the Apple of their sector, his reply is skeptical, “Fine, but do you have the guts?”
Most brands don’t. They can’t bear the risk of losing their antiquated but historical brand equities or profuse explanatory copy. But in flirting with the proposition of designing like Apple, they flirt with the possibility of garnering the phenomenal brand loyalty – brand religion might be more accurate – that the Apple brand enjoys today.
The chocolate brand ‘Alice’ had the guts to copy the Apple brand with unrivaled thoroughness. They basically put a young girls head in place of the apple logo. And believe me, I know plenty of people that everyday think, “I want to eat my ipod.”
But if you can’t copy Apple, you can always piggy-back. The piggy-backers vary from the quite practical (“I need a protective case for this little bundle of joy”) to the evangelical (“I am looking to furnish my home with items that can receive my ipod”). The ipod dining room table is only the beginning.
