Apple's former branding consultant, Ken Segall, reveals his views in an interview with Bloomberg
Ken Segall, a former Apple employee who worked for the company for more than a decade during the Steve Jobs era, reveals what he thinks Apple needs to do to progress in the future.
"I think it would make a lot of sense if later this year Apple came out with a family of iPhones," Segall told Bloomberg. The Apple veteran goes on to say that it's the most plausible path to take, reminiscing about the days of the original iPod, and how Apple extended the line because there was a demand from different people for a more diverse range of devices.
Segall speaks the truth; Apple has done it before, so there's nothing to say it won't do it again. After all, Apple expanded its iPad range to include the smaller iPad mini, following popular demand: "They saw people coming out with these things [smaller tablets] and said 'hey, we can do that better'- and it's turned out to be a huge seller for them," Segall asserts.
It's not the first time Segall has suggested Apple reassess its take on the iPhone; he recently referred to Apple's trend of naming its phones as either whole numbers or "S's" as sending a 'weak message.'
"If you're looking for a new car, you're looking for a 2013 model - not a 2012S," Segall speaks, frankly.
Segall admits the first iPhone was revolutionary, but that, whatever follows is going to be iterative to an extent. According to some this is Apple's main problem at the moment; innovation. It's so hard to innovate, yet extremely easy to copy, meaning companies like Samsung are conceivably excelling.
In terms of advertising their products, Segall realises that Samsung has: "Been out there in all these different places Apple hasn't, they've been booming while Apple have been relatively silent - The Super Bowl, The Oscars. They're creative; throwing celebs out there, doing all these different things. Samsung have been booming while Apple have been silent in their advertisements."
But it doesn't mean that Apple won't continue to strive as the technological giant it's known as. Segall reminisces about the perilous time the company was in just before Steve Jobs came into power, and the iPod was released, insisting that the company came through it all anyway: "Apple have established a pattern: we innovate."
In the third and final episode of our 3-part CMO50 video series exploring modern marketing and why it’s become a matter of trust, we’re delighted to be joined by Telstra’s former CMO and now digital services and sales executive, Jeremy Nicholas, and Adobe VP Marketing Asia-Pacific and Japan, Duncan Egan.
Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.
Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?
As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.
