Truly Deeply/Madly

12.20.10

Brandticipation — Does Your Brand Have It?

Intense Brand Antic­i­pa­tion
Brandtic­i­pa­tion is a term we’ve coined for the intense level of antic­i­pa­tion some brands are able to cre­ate in their loyal tribe of supporters

Apple are the Mas­ters of brandtic­i­pa­tion. Through a care­fully chore­o­graphed cam­paign of media leaks, spin, brand com­mu­ni­ca­tions prod­uct launch and dis­tri­b­u­tion, Apple whip their brand fans into a frenzy for new prod­uct launches that see them lining-up out­side stores for days in order to be an early adopter. High lev­els of brandtic­i­pa­tion trans­late into increased ini­tial sales of prod­ucts, word of mouth buzz online and face to face, media cov­er­age, brand loy­alty and a car­ry­over sense of pos­i­tive antic­i­pa­tion for future prod­uct devel­op­ment, announce­ments and launches.

This pic was taken of the queue for the release of the first Apple iPhone (check the level of hys­te­ria and the old tech­nol­ogy mobile — it almost looks retro now).

Here’s some video footage of the open­ing of the Nor­wich Apple store (keep watch­ing to see what the fuss is all about):

And finally, per­haps the great­est trib­ute to brand yet (cer­tainly one of the most amusing):

“I fell in love at the Apple Store. “I never felt like that before” — Price­less brand gold.

So as we head towards Christ­mas and just as quickly into 2011 — the ques­tion for all brand man­agers and own­ers is: What are you doing to cre­ate brandtic­i­pa­tion for your brand?

Dave Ansett, Bran­da­men­tal­ist
For monthly updates of our think­ing, click here to receive our free Brand Newslet­ter
Brand Designer and mas­ter of Brandticipation

Related arti­cles

• Cult Apple store lurks in sub­ur­ban Cal­i­for­nia mall (reuters.com)
• The first Apple retail store has become a cult des­ti­na­tion (tuaw.com)
• LA Times: Microsoft Stores Suf­fer­ing Badly Com­pared To Apple’s Retail Stores (cultofmac.com)
• Weekly Poll: How Often Do You Visit the Apple Store? (appreaders.com)
• info­graphic — Apple’s iPhone his­tory and spec­i­fi­ca­tions (socialwayne.com)

Tags: Advertising, Apple iPhone, Brand Agency, Brand Communication, Brand Communications, brand communications agencies Melbourne, Brand Design, brand designer, Brand DNA, Brand Experience, Brand Expression, Brand Identity, brand identity agencies, brand identity designers, brand identity designers Melbourne, Brand Personality, Brand Strategy, Brand Voice, brand-designers-Melbourne, brand-gesture, Brand-Storytelling, brandamentalist, brandticipation, Corporate Image, Creative Ideas, Dave Ansett, David Ansett, Graphic Design Melbourne, Melbourne brand designers, Melbourne Brand Strategy, Truly Deeply, Visual Language

This entry was posted on Monday, December 20th, 2010 at 7:00 am and is filed under Brand Agency, Brand Design, Brand-Storytelling, Corporate Image, Experiences, Graphic Design Melbourne. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “Brandticipation — Does Your Brand Have It?”

1. Tim says:

   Mon, 20/12/2010 at 7:37 am

   I would have to agree with you David. Apple are the Mas­ters of brandtic­i­pa­tion. Their brand com­mu­ni­ca­tions and con­tin­ued brand expressions/experiences con­tinue to hold them top of the game. It also helps that they are backed up by an awe­some prod­uct as well.
2. david says:

   Mon, 20/12/2010 at 8:09 am

   Spot-on Tim, with Apple it’s tough to sep­a­rate prod­uct from brand com­mu­ni­ca­tion. A large chunk of the brandtic­i­pa­tion they cre­ate is due to their track record of blow­ing peo­ple away with their game chang­ing new products.
3. Ron says:

   Mon, 20/12/2010 at 2:35 pm

   I love the Apple brand. Every­thing the brand does is done with such excite­ment in their own slick way. I have never been to a store open­ing before but if I did it would be an apple store. Such a slick brand, they way they build their prod­ucts to the way they adver­tise their brand.
4. david says:

   Mon, 20/12/2010 at 2:55 pm

   You’re right Ron, the way Apple man­age their entire suite of cus­tomer expe­ri­ences as brand com­mu­ni­ca­tions from prod­uct to store to adver­tis­ing is an impres­sive case study. They’re truly and deeply brand obsessed.
5. Domma says:

   Tue, 21/12/2010 at 1:16 pm

   Brandtic­i­pa­tion at its great­est David. That “I fell in love at the Apple Store. “I never felt like that before” is pure genius – just love the brand ges­ture! I also love your open­ing pic – now that’s what I call brand sto­ry­telling although I’m not so sure McDonald’s would agree.
6. david says:

   Tue, 21/12/2010 at 1:32 pm

   Thanks Domma, the pic is a rip­per exam­ple of brandtic­i­pa­tion alright. Another brand who deliver that height­ened sense of antic­i­pa­tion for their brand expe­ri­ence is Four Sea­sons, which they achieve more through their prod­uct devel­op­ment than their brand communications.