Steve Jobs may be the most intelligent man in branding today.
Bold statement. How so?
Let’s play a game. You are creating a software product for a mobile phone, maybe even as part of a campaign of yours, regardless of the phone platform what do you call the product?
App?
Good. Now say it with conviction.
App!
And the reason we call it that now is because Apple has re-branded the program. With the app store they changed the language of software. No one wants to download a program for their smart phone; people remember programs as bulky and slow. An app on the other had is light, helpful, convenient and a word of Apple’s creation.
Why is this important?
It’s important because Apple’s list of programs in their OS has always been applications; in contrast to the ‘programs’ in windows. Now, everyone is clinging to the app and the idea of the ‘program’ is pretty much dead. Android sells apps in their marketplace, Palm has an app store and even Windows Mobile has developed an app store. Apple has its brand all over everyone else’s cell phones. Even better, a word that used to be exclusively Apple’s has permeated the vernacular of the world.
Until someone comes up with the next big word the app is here to stay.
-Jeff