Textbook example of the "Complete Brand Experience"

Norm told me he was going down to the city last weekend to show some visiting friends all the sites NYC had to offer. When I asked him where they were going, I found it interesting that he was excited to visit the Apple store in Soho. When I asked why, he explained that "it just gave him a good feeling to be there" (The same thing my wife tells me when she goes to Starbucks)

Apple has done an amazing job of becoming a lifestyle. We all think of the same things when thinking of the Apple brand, stylish, easy to use and innovative. I asked Norm to take some pictures and write down how the Apple Store fulfills the brand promise of Think Different. So he did. :-)

Norm Writes:
When Apple created the store in SoHo they did a spectacular job. The
outside of the building (except for the window advertisements) has been
unchanged except for the addition of what I would consider a beacon of hope, an Apple logo cut out of black metal hanging above massive glass doors. You walk through the front doors and you are greeted by a soaring ceiling that holds all the electronic toys you could possibly imagine. There are stations to play with the latest and greatest Apple products. There is an area for education (the second floor theatre where they offer free wifi and demo software products all day). They offer software and peripherals and even their infamous Genius Bar where you can get those difficult questions answered. It is not just the beauty of the store that makes it the greatest place in the world for me though. The people make it an even better experience. Apple has staffed out the store to the gills, there are always people on hand in every department to answer all of your questions or direct you to someone who does know (although I have found that most of the people know the answers to questions you didn't even realize you wanted to ask). These are just the people on staff though, the patrons are about as ecletic as they come even for SoHo, there are computer geeks; jocks; the elderly; young students; professionals and tourists. Everyone has been drawn in either by the brand (in which case they already knew it was going to be an experience to remember) or by the wonderful exterior.

Norm posted 20 pics, check em out here.