Reflecting on Scott Forstall's Dismissal

It is no longer news that Apple’s iOS chief, Scott Forstall has been fired. While no official reason has been given for the decision, there has been much talk that his sacking is not unconnected to the substandard iOS 6 Maps software. There has also been talk by former employees and insiders that he was difficult to get along with. While some of the rumours will most certainly be untrue, I am also mindful that there is no smoke without fire. My musings on all the reports and rumours raise some very cogent questions and point to a much bigger problem.

Has Apple's 'i' Branding Run Its Course?

Back in 1998, Apple announced the iMac computer and the ‘i’ branding strategy was born. This practice of attaching a lowercase ‘i’ to the names of their products has proved to be a masterstroke. And of course the rest is history. They’ve gone on to introduce other ‘i’ products like the iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iOS, iPad, iBooks and so on. There have also been some very funny uses like when Steve Jobs joked that he would adopt the title iCEO around the time when he was interim CEO.

Fourteen years later and the ‘i’ strategy is losing steam; we are beginning to see lacklustre names like iSight and iMessaging.  And then there’s that matter of what to call their fabled TV. A UK TV station already has the trademark to iTV. Frankly though, Apple has gotten very good mileage out of the strategy.

The time has come for Apple to come up with a new branding strategy. Nuff said.

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