branding
evolve
Brand's evolve
Brands evolve overtime. The full blown brand does not appear overnight, although its possible for a new company to capture the imagination of some in the beginning, it still takes time for the company and it's products/services to take hold and have any real meaning as a brand.
Apple's evolution
Apple is a case in point and works as a perfect example of a brand evolving. It took quite a while after its inception in the 1970s to arrive at where it is today as a leading brand.
The Apple company was started in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Shortly after conception Wayne sold his share of the company for $800.
Since the beginning Apple produced high quality products with an emphasis on innovation and design.
"The Macintosh turned out so well", Steve Jobs once told the New York Times, "because the people working on it were musicians, artists, poets and historians who also happened to be excellent computer scientists."
Apple's brand really started to take off with their introduction of Lisa 2 and their ground breaking "Why 1984 Won't be Like 1984" commercial was shown in 1983 and again during the Super Bowl in 1984. The 1984 advertisement played on the idea of Apple as being completely different, that they broke the mold.
Lisa 2 was the first affordable commercial computer that included a GUI, Graphical User Interface. With the release of Lisa 2 in 1983 and the first Mac in 1984, Apple got an extremely loyal following.
Alan Kay at the Learning Research Group at Xerox introduced the GUI in 1972 that used iconic graphical representations for computer functions. He designed overlapping windows along with menus, folders and storage processor box.
To Make a Long Story Extremely Short
Windows
Steve Jobs refused to license the OS or the hardware. Microsoft came out with Windows in 1986 and for a variety of reasons that included the licensing of Windows on various PCs, got the giant share of the personal computer market.
The users of Apple's computers tended to be adventurous, creative and think outside the box. Windows OS tended to attract users that preferred to go with the status quo and probably wanted the familiarity of computers that they already used at work or had used before. At this time very few had a personal computer.
Steve Job's leaves Apple
Steve Jobs left Apple in 1986 due to internal discord within the company and Steve Wozniak left in 1987. Apple continued to attract loyal consumers but they were a select few compared to owners of other PCs.
Think Different
Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 and the first iMacs shipped in 1998. The iMac was very sleek and sexy in a variety of colors other computers were grey and rather dull in comparison . At the same time the 
Think Different commercial was released.
Sales for the iMac were very strong,
but even though the iMac did very well, the bulk of the PC sales were still going to the PCs with Windows OS. The "Think Different" is an amazing commercial but to a large extent it was preaching to the choir.
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iPod
The iPod was release in 2001. Although Apple was not the first to market an MP3 player the iPod was by far the most successful.
"[Apple] brought to market more value, more style, and new ways of interacting with digital media.” says David Taber a marketing consultant.
...they continued to be that much better, they used better hardware, software, packaging, and marketing techniques than anyone else. The iPod was also more durable than its competing products due to Apple’s use of better parts which, in return made it more reliable." BestTechie
The Switch Campaign
In 2002 the Switch campaign was launched but was not that successful.
Get a Mac
In 2006 Apple launched its "Get a Mac" (I'm a Mac, I'm a PC) campaign with the bland business guy as the PC and the cool young guy as the Mac. The commercial compared the Mac with other PCs.
Shortly after the first commercial aired there was a rise in overall sales of 39%. Get-A-Mac Campaign Analysis.
The first iPhone, was released on June 29, 2007. The iPhone offered the most effective integration of mobile Internet ever known. In 2011 Apple sold 18.6 million iPhones in the first three months.By 2010 Apple's brand was so strong that consumers placed over 300,00 pre-orders for the new yet to be released iPad, sight unseen. 14.8 million iPads were sold in 2010. Between March and August 2011, 15 million iPad 2 were sold.
Apple has become the biggest company and the most important brand on the planet.
A Short History of the GUI and the Microsoft vs Apple Debate