How Steve Jobs Blew Up the Rules of BrandingBy throwing out the approved checklist, Jobs got customers to meaningfully connect with the Apple brand.

Before Steve Jobs got his hands onApplefor the second time in 1997, things were far simpler. Serious business customers were different from their playful consumer counterparts. Men bought technology products; women were fashion buyers. Kids had disposable income to waste, and mature folks cautiously invested their pennies.Brandingpromises were made solely in beautiful advertising, price was pretty much all that mattered at retail, and customer usage and satisfaction were afterthoughts.

Oh, what a difference an iMac makes.