Lessons From the Lemonade Wars in Apple's Courtroom Drama With Samsung

Forget Apple ’s patent issue with Samsung. Forget Apple’s e-book pricing issue. Forget Apple’s current share price issue. These are issues, for now. But they’re not what consumers, or the media, or Wall Street or, most important, Apple, should be concentrating on as they consider the future of the brand. These issues are minor skirmishes, actually, relative to the bigger battle. And that is, can Apple provide the best total user experience - better than any of its contenders – in the years to come, which is ultimately what will be required to keep it the reigning category leader?

It’s not just the headlines on the business pages that got me thinking about this but, rather, my morning ride on the subway. As I sit (or stand, depending on the situation), I stare down the rows of fellow passengers, each one engrossed in digital screens of various sizes. From where I sit – or stand – it’s almost impossible to see any difference from one device to the next. They all look pretty much the same, and their owners all look pretty much the same what with all their finger swiping. Yes, I know each device is equipped with an assortment of technological tricks and gadgets, bells and whistles, but the tit for tat, my screen versus your screen is not what’s going to win the day for Apple, for Samsung, or any other competitor.

The fact of the matter is that consumers can’t keep track of competing claims, or competing court room dramas, nor do they want to. The current situation with Apple and Samsung kind of reminds me of my days in the packaged goods industry when I was embroiled in what I’ll call the “lemonade wars.” In this case, it was Minute Maid versus Country Time versus Wyler’s. Minute Maid staked its claim on having the juice of twenty lemons. Country Time, while using citric acid derived lemon peels, staked its claim on  tasting like old fashioned lemonade. Wyler’s staked its claim on being a mix made from the juice of two lemons. The advertising was ferocious. When researchers from each brand team went out to the field to determine which claim was winning with consumers, the only thing they discovered was that consumers were totally confused by the facts and figures, couldn’t rightly remember which brand had how many of whatever, and said all they were looking for was real lemonade that tasted great.

Sure, Apple needs to defend itself in court and, absolutely, it must come up with some super innovative bells and whistle if it wants to keep itself in the game. But to keep itself the most valued brand in the world (which according to the recent BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands it is), it must keep its eye on the bigger prize – how to continue to fit into peoples’ lives in genuinely meaningful ways, and in ways that are as  powerful as they are magical. The only court that really matters to Apple in the long run is the peoples’ court. And it’s only by focusing on the total user experience with its products, across all points of touch, that Apple will win the day.