English Rock, Apple Computer

Stu Werbin was an associate editor at Rolling Stone’s New York office when he was asked to write liner notes for Aerosmith’s first album. He saw the group perform at Boston University, where he was treated to a passionate display of vintage street band rock and roll.

The students danced, the band jammed, and the cynical critic was won over. He’d found a band of young punks that the music establishment would initially hate but would eventually have to accept because Aerosmith was its own audience.

Aerosmith became the voice of the mills and the malls-working class suburban kids who had grown up on English rock.

The bandmates resembled the English musicians enough in sound and appearance to appeal to the fans of the Rolling Stones, yet they understood American kids and their way of life. Today, their music continues to reach the mills and the malls and well beyond, appealing to America’s working class as well as the hoards of white collar types who grew up on classic rock. They have fans spanning the ages of 12 to 70-from the teens who support their latest musical endeavors to the grandparents who include “Dream On” and “Sweet Emotion” on their personal favorites lists.

As Aerosmith demonstrates, brands are more likely to capture angel fans when they well represent the audience they are targeting.

This was true for Apple computer. Positioned as the computer of choice among antiestablishment, nonconformist types, Apple countered the traditional suit and white shirt image of the market leader, IBM. Even its most famous television ad, which aired during the Super Bowl, showed a woman heaving a javelin at large screen images of Big Brother, literally shattering the traditional image of computing.