It’s been a trying year for Apple as the brand continues to shape its post-Jobs identity and competitors become increasingly tenacious, emboldened by a marketplace no longer totally mesmerized by Apple’s spell.

Despite the cynicism the public feels about Apple’s incessant parade of product upgrades and disturbing news about its factory conditions in China, we still love one aspect of Apple’s brand: the retail stores. In fact, in 2012 Apple’s more than 400 stores attracted 120 million people. So the company plans to strengthen its brand by expanding its retail space: closing 20 stores that can no longer accommodate the growing crowds and opening 30 new stores across the globe, expanding the brand’s retail presence into 13 countries.

Clearly something profound is happening in Apple’s retail stores; something that extends beyond our attraction to digital devices, our obsession with the latest technology and our affinity for the knowledgeable customer service representatives that answer our questions. Apple retail stores are becoming part of our communities—like your local Starbucks, but without the requisite caffeine addiction.

Read more

Apple‘s latest PR push and disappointing iPhone 5 sales have led some to wonder: Is Steve Jobs‘s baby no longer the king of all things cool? Have Samsung and Microsoft somehow managed to knock the reigning tech nerds off their perch?

We wouldn’t go that far, but it’s clear that Apple’s cheaper, less fashionable competitors are upping their game. This week, for example, Samsung officially launched a Galaxy promo campaign designed to combine several untouchably cool elements: New York Fashion Week, crowdsourcing and red-hot designer/Balenciaga creative director Alexander Wang. The campaign’s first video spot, released yesterday and titled “Be Creative”, shows Wang using his Galaxy Note II to do just that:

Read more

For a long time, it seemed like Steve Jobs and the team at Apple saw traditional PR approaches and tools like press releases as ancient relics. They were over it.

Things are different now, though. The Wall Street Journal tells us that, in the light of recent stock dips and disappointing sales numbers, Apple has decided to “subtly [increase] some of its PR—at least for now.”

What does that mean? Well, the team issued an honest-to-God press release to mark the all-but-meaningless evolution of its operating system from iOS 6 to iOS 6.1–and this was “the first time Apple has issued an official press release for a non-major mobile software” roll-out since way back in 2010.

That’s not all: In addition to posting an uncharacteristically large number of press releases so far in 2013, the company has also been more active about sending positive third-party media mentions to journalists. One of the pieces circulating is a study predicting that, by 2014, Apple will be “just as accepted in the enterprise as Microsoft“. Wait, a study predicting that your company will be as much a part of the status quo as your biggest, lamest competitor?

This is not the Apple we know and love.

Read more

Running a green/sustainable/environmentally friendly brand is obviously a big deal now. Following retail giant H&M‘s promises to use its water responsibly (under the watchful eye of the World Wildlife Federation), we figured we’d revisit the issue.

The public is understandably skeptical of such “sustainability” pledges, especially when made by notorious polluters like BP. It’s sort of like Apple promising to stop using child labor to build your iPhone or McDonald’s swearing by “certified sustainable fish” for its seafood McBites: how much of this is for real and how much of it is just another “greenwashing” corporate reputation stunt?

It’s one thing for a brand to release ads highlighting its environmental efforts but, as the Greenpeace Stop Greenwashing project tells us, most of these companies aren’t really all that interested in making their practices more sustainable–especially if they operate in the energy, automotive or forestry industries.

BP is a great example of a brand that just doesn’t have much credibility in the environmental sphere, no matter how many enthusiastic press releases its team writes. Puma, on the other hand, has begun publishing regular accounts of its supply chain’s influence on the environment, making clear that many of its practices have a serious impact and setting related goals that can be measured statistically.

So tell us: which brands do you trust on the sustainability front? While we’re at it, we have a couple more questions:

Read more

According to Amy Kersey, communications manager at the Park City Chamber/CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau), “The Sundance Film Festival has put Park City on the map in a lot of ways. In some circles we’re known for world-class skiing, while in others we’re known for Sundance.”

“Park City tends to transform during the festival”, Kersey said. It’s no wonder, since Sundance is the United States’ largest independent film event. The festivities take place every year in this eco-friendly former mining town that’s currently home to three ski resorts, attracting over 45,000 filmmakers, A-listers, cinephiles and hangers-on from around the globe.

Sundance Institute has held the event every January since 1985. The festival will screen about 200 films as well as hosting panel discussions and musical performances in Park City and various satellite locations. jOBS, a biopic starring Ashton Kutcher as the late Apple founder, will premiere at Sundance before its April release.

PRNewser recently checked in with Kersey to find out how the Park City Chamber/Bureau gets involved in the town’s biggest public relations extravaganza. Click through for a look behind the scenes from a communications, digital and brand perspective (plus a brief preview of the action).

Read more

As food writers/enthusiasts, we know how difficult it can be to make your restaurant stand out–especially in a crowded market. Serving great food in a casual, well-designed atmosphere just isn’t enough anymore (if it ever was). Now, in the tradition of the “Instagram menu“, we bring you news of the latest tech gimmick for restaurants and cafes: the touchscreen table.

The concept is fairly self-explanatory, and it’s not completely new: both Apple and Microsoft have produced table-sized versions of their popular tablets. But Korean electronics company Moneual plans to begin mass-producing its touchscreen cafe table very soon; curious onlookers may get a chance to see this interactive furniture in action at next week’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

We love the concept from a design perspective, and it will make for a great spot to promote other local businesses and events, but we have to ask: Will this newest tech toy become another promo tool for restaurants looking to make a name for themselves? Will it be another short-lived trend? Or will it simply become common practice like the iPad menu/register?

Here’s a crazy statistic: people around the world downloaded 328 million apps on Christmas Day 2012. It would seem that owning a tablet or smartphone is nearly as important as breathing when it comes to being an active member of the human race in 2013.

Of course, this newly equipped public presents brands with a one-time opportunity to get with the program and increase their reach—especially if they’re considered last year’s news. Today brings reports of a re-branding at Polaroid, the one-time king of all things photography, which plans to follow the Apple “Genius Bar” model by opening a series of “experiential” “FotoBar” retail locations specifically targeted to those millions of Americans whose smartphone drives are filled with digital snapshots just itching to become real-life photographs.

Polaroid is no longer the brand it once was—after moving through multiple bankruptcies, the company looks like a relic. But the photo market is huge, and there’s lots of money to be made within it. Fotobar’s CEO estimates that the public takes nearly 1.5 billion pictures every day, and he’s betting that more than a few of those amateur image-makers want to turn their camera rolls into physical objects fit to be framed and displayed on desks, walls, bedside tables, etc. The world’s first Fotobar will open in Florida in February.

PR pros: Would you stop by an old-school brick, mortar and fiberglass retail location to print out your smartphone pics? Will this move help make Polaroid relevant again?

Apple CEO Tim Cook made the media rounds this morning to hype a major announcement: For the first time in well over a decade, Apple will be manufacturing a certain number of its products within the United States.

As cynics, we see this move as a blatant attempt to counter all the bad PR that Apple received over the Foxconn outsourcing/slave labor/suicide scandal (though we would note that this awful story didn’t really prevent anyone, least of all ourselves, from buying Apple products).

The fact that late CEO Steve Jobs supposedly denied a request for more domestic production from none other than President Obama strengthens this theory. As much as we’ve accepted outsourcing as a part of the modern business landscape, everyone loves to hear about good new jobs for Americans. So this is great PR, right?

Maybe–but investors hated it, and we have a feeling certain Apple advisers did too.

Read more

Muck Rack’s Gregory Galant begins his latest CNN piece on the state of the PR world with a few unsettling facts:

• US companies spend $150 billion annually on advertising and only $5 billion on public relations
• Advertising professionals make up to 75% more than their PR counterparts
• MBA courses in public relations are far rarer than courses in advertising
• When it comes to pop culture figures, advertising has Don Draper while PR has…Samantha on Sex and the City. Not a fair match, is it?

No matter what the public thinks of the public relations industry, we all know how important it is—and so do the people in power. Steve Jobs himself often served as Apple’s pitchman, calling The Wall Street Journal reporters at home to hype his company’s latest tech innovations.

OK, so why don’t the unwashed masses give us the respect we so obviously deserve? The reasons are clear enough:

Read more

A recent survey commissioned by rbb Public Relations and performed by IBOPE/Zogby International received a bit of media attention over the past few weeks, and with good reason: its most significant revelation was the fact that “83% of consumers would pay more for a product/service from a company they feel puts them first.”

The survey concerned the phenomenon of “breakout brands” that achieve the enviable goal of customer loyalty and steady market share by dealing directly with their customers rather than playing a never-ending game of Battleship with their competitors. And its list of 2012’s “Top 10 Breakout Brands” ran the gamut from universally-beloved names like Apple and customer service leaders like Zappos to controversial brands like Chick-Fil-A.

What led rbb to commission this survey? While researching older marketing strategies, founder Christine Barney noticed that brands no longer followed the classic “challenger” approach typified by the Avis tagline “We’re only No. 2 in rent a cars. So why go with us? We try harder”. This Don Draper-style message may have worked in the 60’s, but it’s no longer relevant. So how have branding strategies evolved?

Barney lists three primary traits of the “breakout brand”:

1. They lead by putting the customer first, not distinguishing themselves from rivals. Customers don’t care about brand fights.
2. They use market research and knowledge of their customer base to anticipate their customers’ desire. Did the public realize they wanted tablets before the iPad arrived?
3. They communicate in ways that go well beyond traditional customer service, developing “rich feedback loops” with their customers.

Can any brand break out? Theoretically, yes—“breakout” does not necessarily mean new. Barney also lists three distinct types of breakout brands:

Read more