• The Atlantic, Tuesday, July 12, 2011 10:46 AM

Nigel Hollis, chief global analyst at Millward Brown and author of The Global Brand, reflects upon the general fixation with iPhones, iPods, and iPads, noting that agency and marketing executives have apotheosized Apple for its coolness and the loyalty of its adherents. "But," he says, "these same branding experts who work so hard to duplicate Apple's success in their own work often miss the real source of Apple's success."

And marketers extol the brand for emotive benefits like design, imagery in ads, and the cachet. "This glosses over the product's most important trait: functionality. Using an Apple product feels so natural, so intuitive, so transparent, that sometimes, even people paid to know what makes products great completely miss the cause of their addiction to Apple products. It's the natural, intuitive transparency of the technology," he writes.

He says that while most phone ads are about specs, Apple ads are about how a product can change your life. "Apple advertising stands in direct contrast to many of its competitors. BlackBerry, Samsung or Nokia ads are often laden with so much information that the recipient is left in a blaze of numbers and claims. Instead of focusing on how people interact with technology, those companies focus on features and specifications." Everything about the Apple brand, he writes, suggests that less is more.

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