A client sent me an interesting quote t’other day:

“So, yes, Apple’s product lines have become more complicated. But really, are they that complicated? The company’s entire selection of products can easily fit on an average-size table. When a company cares about simplicity, it offers the right choices – not endless choices.”

At first glance, you think ‘Interesting…good point, well made.’ Then you interrogate it a bit further and you think, well actually, the kitchen table thing has more to do with size than complexity. The Morgan car company has only ever made one product – how simple is that? But you couldn’t get it on a kitchen table. Not unless you had, like, a rilly rilly strong kitchen table. Intel’s entire product line could probably fit in a cigarette packet, if not a match box. But no-one’s touting simplicity as a core brand value for Intel. They just happen to make small things.

But then, there’s that initial impression. Let’s face it, how many people ‘interrogate’ statements? Fact is, first impressions count, vivid images stick, and even individual words can be endowed with engaging attributes and associations such that they instantly evoke a specific company whenever encountered. The power of words, combined with that of images. Simples.