How to do marketing and branding like Steve Jobs

Look at any rating of the world’s leading brands, and every time one name appears at the top of the list: Steve Jobs’ Apple. Like countless startups today, Steve Jobs began his journey in a garage with nothing greater than a vision.

So how did he build one of the most recognizable and trusted brands in the world? To set his company apart from the competition, Steve Jobs followed one easy philosophy: He viewed the Apple brand as a checking account or vault.

Read on to find out how you and your team can replicate his strategy to grow your corporation.

Depositing credit in your checking account

A brand represents the intangible assets that entrepreneurs possess, while branding is the technique of strengthening a brand by instilling credibility and trust. A superb brand is one that customers trust to create a high-quality product or provide excellent service. Where there is this level of trust, there is room for error. Great brands are not infallible, but they are good at dealing with problems, equivalent to admitting mistakes and caring for their customers in difficult situations.

Make deposits, avoid withdrawals

Steve Jobs’ idea is easy: Every time a company does something good, it deposits something into its checking account or adds something to its treasury. Bringing a successful product to market is as much of a deposit as finding a mutually helpful solution to a problem that has occurred. Every time your customers leave feeling they were treated with respect, trust in your brand increases.

In my marketing company We don’t sell products, but we still find effective ways to make regular donations. Deposits can come in many forms: customer support, partnerships, feedback loops, etc. In the meantime, every blog post that prospects read and find useful, every piece of leadership they like and share, is one other small deposit to our “brand bank account”.

On the other hand, if someone has a negative experience with your organization, there is a payout from your coffers. Launching a failed product can be a major recall. However, even an unfriendly interaction on a customer support hotline may cause your brand to lose consumer trust.

How to get a healthy brand bank balance?

Just as your team works hard to maintain a positive balance in your organization’s actual bank accounts, every team member should understand the importance of maintaining a healthy brand bank balance. In theory, this is so simple as ensuring that the variety of deposits exceeds the variety of withdrawals. In practice, it isn’t all the time that straightforward, and no brand is immune to mistakes and bad luck.

Here’s a good example of a situation where Apple avoided a major recall. When the company introduced its then revolutionary facial recognition technology for the iPhone X in 2017, the technology just didn’t work. This temporary glitch caused Apple’s stock value to drop for a time period. However, due to the company’s established brand fame and history of innovation, loyal customers and supporters remained steadfast. Apple quickly resolved the technical issues, demonstrating its commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. As a result, trust in the brand was restored, and in a short time Apple was reborn, demonstrating the resilience of the brand’s solid checking account.

Maintaining a healthy brand bank balance requires fixed deposits, small and large. Payouts, even if they appear incredibly small, ought to be taken seriously. A small problem can quickly snowball and cause significant damage to your brand.

Companies using Steve Jobs’ banking anology

The concept of branded bank balances is not only for large and established firms. Any interaction, online or offline, can lead to deposits or withdrawals.

As a startup founder or small business owner, you may look at or consider the firms around you for examples and inspiration these widely known brands: :

• Ford Automotive Company. In 2023, Ford noticed a problem with brake lines and wipers. Both could pose a threat to drivers, their passengers and other road users, which is why the manufacturer decided to withdraw up to 1.5 million vehicles from service. Is it a deposit or withdrawal? On its face, a withdrawal can be a withdrawal. However, by being open with customers about the reasons for the recall and streamlining the process to minimize customer inconvenience, Ford strengthened its relationship with consumers throughout the process.
• Peloton. Exercise equipment maker Peloton wasn’t doing thoroughly when reports of potential issues of safety, including the death of a child, began to emerge. Instead of proactively pursuing the reports and initiating a recall, the company dragged its feet and was ultimately fined $19 million.

While this is a significant physical withdrawal from the company’s checking account, it is likely an even larger withdrawal from the company’s brand checking account. Rebuilding consumer trust after a perceived lack of concern for the safety of users and their children will likely cost more time and investment than a timely product recall would require.

Start considering like Steve Jobs

Prioritizing consistent deposits into your brand’s checking account builds customer loyalty and contributes significantly to brand longevity. Even small deposits will accumulate over time, much like compound interest on a real checking account. This concept is what makes this analogy so useful for firms of all sizes and at any stage of their development. Whether your organization is a very early-stage startup or you are a sole proprietorship, Steve Jobs’ “secret sauce” can enable you to transform your corporation.

In the next article, we discuss strategies for making higher and smarter deposits into your brand’s checking account. If you are not already a subscriber, join Entrepreneur+ today to gain access.