In the early 1980s, Apple was a young and dynamic start-up, and Steve Jobs was a wacky visionary and entrepreneur eager to learn and come up with new ideas. After visiting a Sony factory in Japan and walking through all the departments to learn about the company culture and new ways of doing business, he was intrigued by the fact that all the employees, including CEO Akio Morita, wore the same uniforms.
Morita explained that after World War II, people had no money for clothes, let alone clothes to wear to work. Wanting to help them, Sony decided to create identical uniforms and make life easier for its employees.
Times passed and changed, people could afford clothes, but colombia whatsapp list uniforms, although changed in design, remained a constant that helped them connect with the company better.
Jobs liked the idea so much that, upon returning to Cupertino, he arranged a meeting with designer Miyake and presented the idea of uniforms to the employees. The idea did not go over well as Jobs was aggressively chased off the stage, and until he rejected the idea, no one would talk to him.
“Oh man, I got booed off the stage when I mentioned the idea of uniforms ,” Jobs told his biographer Walter Isaacson, “but I have my own supply of uniforms to last me the rest of my life.”
Although the idea didn't go over well with the rest of the Apple team, Jobs wanted a uniform for himself and told Miyake to design something he would wear every day. You probably think of Steve Jobs in a black turtleneck, blue jeans, and white sneakers.
It was a uniform that Miyake designed, Jobs accepted and never took off until his last day, and which made him recognizable all over the world. Most business people prefer traditional business attire, but Jobs was never a traditional person, much less someone who wanted to wear a suit in which he could not move freely.
And so the legendary black turtleneck was born, and the image of a new business person and entrepreneur was later adopted by many others, such as Mark Zuckerberg, who is known for his jeans and gray T-shirts, and Elizabeth Holmes, the CEO of the failed Theranos, who everyone remembers for her black suit with a black turtleneck.
By sticking to his uniform, Jobs became one of the most recognizable CEOs in the world. While someone else in his position would have opted for a traditional designer suit, Jobs took a non-traditional approach and created the perfect personal brand.
Although Jobs often explained how the uniform reduced the time he would spend in front of his closet and helped him focus on his work more efficiently, that was only part of the truth. Nothing Steve Jobs did was by accident.
He knew very well how important it was to create a strong personal brand that would help him strengthen Apple's business brand. He was aware of how a recognizable and casual image would help him create unique connections with customers.
On the other hand, he wanted an image that accurately reflected who he was as a person. He wanted to show that he was a rebel and that he thought differently, which are traits that Apple has always emphasized in its branding and product advertising.
He was also aware that if he opted for traditional business attire, he would be just another CEO in a sea of other CEOs who look identical and cloned. If you want to brand yourself, you will have to find a way to stand out. And until you have a solid product or service that people have heard of, the best and fastest way to stand out is with a striking image.
Steve Jobs, anti-fashion and love for black turtlenecks
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