The January 26, 2012, article, In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad, reveals to many for the first time the blood, sweat, tears and loss of life required for Apple to win the battle of technology leader and innovator. For me, the revelation that Apple knowingly continues using suppliers that promise but do not deliver basic safety standards for their employees is horrific. 

The horror is as intimately connected to the actual human abuse as it is to the Apple brand itself. The stellar brand position of Apple has no room for horror, human abuse, or death as a means of profit. The disconnect draws up an emotional response that every Apple customer must acknowledge and determine what to do with the new information. It’s the kind of discovery that passionately motivates consumers to boycott Walmart or British Petroleum.

According to the investigative report by The New York Times, Apple relies on many independent suppliers outside the U.S. for the production and delivery of the iPad (and other products) to its customers. The company’s own audits reveal that more than half of its suppliers still demonstrate ongoing violations of Apple’s standards, and in some cases suppliers are violating local laws. The violations extend back to 2007, even though Apple claims to be making serious demands and seeing significant improvement.

Nonetheless, within the timeline of making significant improvements, more than 200 people were injured and four killed as a result of exposure to poisonous chemicals and explosions at various Apple supplier factories. Improvements seem to be coming a bit slow and a bit late. It makes me think about slow customer service or late arrival of a product. What does the consumer view as acceptable and appropriate?

“If Apple was warned, and didn’t act, that’s reprehensible,” said Nicholas Ashford, a former chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, a group that advises the United States Labor Department. “But what’s morally repugnant in one country is accepted business practices in another, and companies take advantage of that.”

To be fair, Apple is not alone in a world where American corporations rely on suppliers that fall far short from the American standards for providing safe working conditions for its employees. Dell, Hewlitt-Packard, Motorola and IBM are partners in crime when it comes to a common tolerance of substandard working conditions outside the U.S. Unfortunately for Apple, because of its brand prowess, it must take the heat for the larger team, and as a result it must take the lead in providing jobs and working conditions throughout the world that improve lives not eliminate them. It’s a brand opportunity or threat for Apple to harvest.

I’m happy thus far with my iPad 2. It reinforces the shiny brand image I have of Apple. However, under the shiny glass surface of the iPad screen, I’m detecting a bloody film. If the pattern of human abuse continues with Apple’s suppliers, it won’t be long before the tolerance of consumers terminates, and their love affair with Apple rots.

Some call this succession planning. It’s not a new concept, but many may consider it a risky one, especially when the current mentality of job preservation encourages everything but developing someone else to replace you.

Obviously, there are challenges. The greatest challenge will be human nature. With high unemployment, fear can diminish leadership cultivation as people strive to demonstrate their necessary value in order to preserve their source of income. A real leader, however, sees that equipping others to succeed benefits the entire operation. This insight into real success separates leaders from managers. Real leaders will rise to the top because of their self-confidence and capability, but most of all because of their passion to invest and cultivate the same traits in others.

This approach to business can unleash a wave of powerful leadership and innovative thinking. And with a little bit of energy, it can create business evangelicals who look outward, collaborate with others, and build on creative ideas. This approach could make you look pretty good, and that’s something to smile about.

Walmart — bellwether to our future optimism on life, the economy and a kinder, gentler nation — reveals to me that despite its efforts to soften its brand identity, the retailer still struggles to redefine itself with the broad public. A recent series of Black Friday encounters at its stores across the country reveal a personality trait that is a legacy of the iconic brand: cutthroat behavior in pursuit of the lowest price. One incident involving pepper spray occurred in the Los Angeles area, before we could completely digest our Thanksgiving turkey. According to a story filed by the Associated Press, a woman fired pepper spray into a crowd at a San Fernando Valley Walmart, creating chaos and injuring up to 10 people in the resulting scuffle. Meanwhile, across the country at a Walmart in upstate New York, two women were injured and a man was charged after a fight broke out inside the store, according to the news report.

Interesting fact: both of these particular incidents occurred in stores that Walmart positions as upscale. Unfortunately, the behavior does not seem consistent with characteristics or attributes you associate with an upscale retailer. Of course, we all recognize that Walmart has a long way to go before it can formally be included in that category, but the brand is trying hard to move, if ever so slowly, toward that direction. Maybe it’s time to develop a customer behavior brochure to go with store receipts that express expectations the retailer has of its shoppers. Attention shoppers: Help us clean up our act.

The reality is that Walmart has so well defined itself as the lowest priced retailer that we should not be surprised by news reports of somewhat violent behavior by its customers. Remember the 2008 Black Friday Walmart stampede that resulted in the death of one of its employees? After all, the company developed its own behavior profile over a prolonged period prior to 2008 by the dubious treatment of its own employees and also of its suppliers, who the giant squeezes in order to get to the lowest price point, even if by only a penny. Walmart’s shrewd brand position sheds like dog hair, and now its customers are wagging the tail of disdain that once belonged to the retailer. In my business, we call this an extension of the brand. However, this brand extension is going in the wrong direction.

Granted, Wal-Mart has close to 4,000 stores, so how can we judge a giant by its toe? Well, in this case, I suggest the initial holiday human display of behavior personifies Walmart precisely. It’s lowest price position over time has created gangrene in the toe, and  such an infection may repel shoppers, especially those who put a greater value on their safety and lives than the price savings the retailer may be offering.

As a result, expect the continued saturation of Walmart ads that reflect a fun, humorous, delightful retailer. It’s one approach that may change public perception overall of its brand. Hopefully it also may change the behavior of its customer base, as cash-strapped Americans try to get the most out of their holiday shopping.

The personal side first. One of my earlier blog posts titled, “Forever Young. A Winning Perspective,” features an image captured in 2010 by photographer Ralph Barrera. The snapshot is of a senior gentleman seriously focused on his golf game with a visible determination to sink his putt. The golfer is tethered to an oxygen tank that stands nearby. The golfer is my dad, César Salas. In October, 1987, he landed his first hole in one. In 2010 his golfing image helped reflect the life of Austin in a year-end recap by the Austin American-Statesman. My dad loved the game of golf. He passed away on Oct. 17, 2011, and he was buried next to my mom in a very traditional manner, but with many personalized wishes written on golf balls neatly tucked near his body.

Now the business side. Preparing for a funeral is extremely emotional and requires the empathy and expertise of a funeral home and its staff. My family used Cook-Walden Funeral Home in Austin. Cook-Walden is part of the Dignity Memorial Service Corporation International. The Dignity brand is far-reaching throughout the U.S. and Canada with a network of more than 1600 funeral, cremation and cemetery providers.

The Dignity corporate brand identity is expressly linked to attributes like caring, respect, integrity, honor, and compassion. It espouses, “a celebration of life with dignity.” These are great brand characteristics, and seem especially relevant for a brand in this industry.

However, identity and image are two different things. Recently, Dignity Memorial may have begun its own discovery of the two terms, and how they may matter to its heavenly positioning with customers on earth.

One day, Arne Swanson, the corporation’s market director, keenly observed a mourning family spreading the ashes of a loved one on a golf course fairway. This spawned his idea for a new product offering that could generate more revenue for the corporation. After all, the funeral business is a business. Maybe his new idea was the result of his compassion and respect, but I wonder.

“I thought, ‘There must be a better way,’” Swanson says, during an interview with NPR. “There just simply was not a product to meet the needs of this family,” he says.

His pursuit of a better way resulted in a memorial golf park, within one of Dignity’s cemetery properties, with a backdrop of the Olympic mountains and an overlook of downtown Seattle. Expect something similar coming soon to a cemetery near you.

The target audience? The passionate golfer who plans his funeral in advance, or the grieving families of deceased golfers who find a golf course setting the ideal resting place for their loved one. When you visit your loved one’s remains, you can bring your putter and brush up on your game. Maybe a tip from heaven will be your reward.

Surely there will be rich debate about whether the concept supports the Dignity brand position. I can make an argument for either side. However, the split between identity and image comes the talking points and the messaging strategy that Dignity Memorial seems to manage loosely. The separation gap of Dignity Memorial’s identity from its image may be as vast as heaven is from hell.

During his radio interview, Swanson fails to hold tightly to the brand’s higher value characteristics of compassion, respect and honor. Rather, for him, this is as funny as it is profitable. He single-handedly reinforces all the negative images of his industry and places them squarely on the Dignity brand. If Dignity promises to begin with compassion, it fails miserably when its market director makes death a laughing matter.

“We guarantee you that everyone here finishes six under,” Swanson says of his great concept.

I can only imagine that Dignity’s green fees for its golfing concept reflect its keen understanding of human emotions during a time of loss.

It’s a trick question, really.  The concept for the venture was birthed three years ago, and only very recently the COO was able to pull the trigger to get it going.  Obviously, the COO owns it ultimately.  His task is to be sure the right people are doing the right jobs to make the new venture succeed.  Success will be based in large part on the effective positioning of the venture’s brand.  So a new question arises: “Who owns the brand’s success?”

The recent departure of Steve Jobs as the CEO of Apple prompted investors to speculate about the future value of the iconic, wealth-producing company.  From a financial perspective, shareholders and portfolio managers are still considering how the uncoupling of Apple’s dynamic CEO will impact the company’s innovative leadership position, which has made it a sweetheart on Wall Street and a diamond brand on Main Street.

Speculation about Apple’s future needs to consider the value of its brand and its enormously powerful magnetism.  Who owns the Apple brand, anyway?  Was it Jobs’s job as CEO, or did he just play a more visible role in building Apple’s brand equity?  Sure, as a high profile CEO, Jobs conveyed well Apple’s brand attribute of brilliance.  However, does his new role as Chairman of the Board diminish his ownership of the Apple brand?  What about the Apple Genius working at the company’s local retail store?  Does he have any brand responsibility?

Brand ownership in any venture is the responsibility of all its employees.  In the case of a non-profit, it also falls on the shoulders of the volunteers and advocates.  Steve Jobs was extraordinary (another brand attribute) in shaping the identity of Apple, which has helped fuel a very high stock price for the company.  In 2000, the company shares sold for about $7.  Today the stock is valued about $382 a share.  Not a bad decade for Apple shareholders.

However, the true test of success going forward will be whether Apple’s employees worldwide really understand Apple’s brand and continue delivering on it, no matter who is at the helm.  My guess is that they will.  The magnetism of the brand surely attracted some of the best talent out there, and if that talent does not waiver in its understanding of the brand position and promise, then the brand equity for Apple will continue to increase, even if the price of its stock fluctuates in the short term.

Turnover at the top can create confusion and stall progress, especially when employees mistakenly view brand ownership as the CEO’s or someone else’s responsibility.  However, if Apple’s brand position is well understood and embraced with ownership by its employees, the departure of Steve Jobs and the arrival of Tim Cook can be seamless to customers, shareholders and every stakeholder that views the Apple brand image favorably.

So, who owns the brand with your venture?  Can I see a show of hands?

 Safety is a hallmark of the Volvo brand; at the core of its promise to  all its customers.  The corporation is relentless in its efforts to  deliver on that promise.  It’s commitment was evident to me again  recently, from behind the wheel of its new S60 R-Design sedan.

First a disclaimer:  I am a father of four off-spring drivers that I love  dearly.  I am a Volvo fan.  My family drove the classic, narrow-  boxed 240, which survived several incidents until it was totaled because of a collision that created more damage than the value of the old car.  We still long for it whenever we see a faded 240 faithfully carrying its passenger in the next lane.

We also drove the sporty S40 Turbo 4-door sedan.  This was Volvo’s move into a newer look that kept safety at the center, but expanded its reach to a younger, faster generation that wanted out of the box.  Fast, sleek and safe.  This auto also survived several incidents, but also eventually encountered its fate with a collision that again caused more damage than the car’s worth.  It’s so hard to say goodbye to a faithful friend.

Now, we drive the newer S40, and it too is holding the line on safety and the enduring quality of surviving those “incidents” with grace, and with the endurance of a tank.  It was in the shop recently for regular maintenance, and the loaner vehicle was the 2012 S60 R-Design.

During the past 10 years, Volvo’s style has kept pace in the luxury class with its German and Japanese competitors.  Safety does not mean you have to drive a car that looks like a tank.  The driver just wants to know that it has the tank-like characteristics under its beautiful skin.  The driver also wants to show off style and speed.

For me, the new S60 met all the marks that Volvo seeks to convey with its identity.  My image of Volvo is most likely the mirror of its own identity.  This is the brand’s sweet spot, and this is why I like to use Volvo as an example of a good brand.

The new S60 is luxurious on the inside and says, “You have achieved success.”  This is a very aspirational brand position, and it is what keeps Volvo’s price point so high.  Many aspire for it, but not everyone can afford it.

The get-up-and-go reminds you that the maker of this automobile also understands jets, and it’s easy to fly this car down the open highway without feeling like you going that fast.  The ride is supersonic and smooth.

However, two new features especially caught my attention.  The starter is a push-button, but it requires a key insertion.  This is not novel, but I do like the safety feature that does not allow you to start the car without having your foot pressing on the break.  It’s a great way for Volvo to instill its promise onto the driver behind the wheel.  Safety from the get-go.

The second feature that I really like is the safety measure the car provides for the driver that is lazy about checking that blind spot before changing lanes.  Inside, on the left and right side near the driver’s gaze at the side mirrors are little lights that come on whenever another vehicle is sitting in your blind spot.  The light comes on when a car is approaching or when you are passing a car.  This alerts the driver with just enough attention to say, “Be careful.  Be safe.”

As automobiles evolve and continue to compete on bells and whistles, Volvo clearly understands its differentiation in a cluttered market.  It uses that brand distinction as leverage in the very beginning, as it designs and manufactures its automobiles.  Then it delivers on its promise with great style.

Volvo has conquered the safety position in the car market, and it is using technology to strengthen that position.  Now it has eyes to expand its brand position, and the environment may be its next frontier.

Aggie Cadet and Mascot Corporal Ryan Crawford provides white glove care for Reveille

path of higher education, walking the same halls of the 40 acres-plus teaching facilities, cheering on the Longhorns from the student section of the football stadium, the baseball field or the basketball arena, just like the old man.  With four children, what are the chances that at least one of them would pick up my passion and carry the torch of my alma mater?

The first child out the door, Anne, landed at TCU.  The first-born son and second child out the door, Michael, landed at Texas A&M, and he enrolled in the Corps of Cadets.  How deep can the dagger go, I wondered?  I found TCU to be acceptable.  However, the Aggie experience was a whole different story.

I willingly wore purple on visits to the Ft. Worth campus, but during my visits to A&M, I don neutral white or any other color besides maroon.  In gentlemanly fashion, and as a demonstration of support to my son, I even avoid wearing burnt orange.  What’s a father to do when his house is divided?

When the going gets tough on freshman cadets — to the point of making them want to quit — a father encourages them to hang in there, be tough.  This is not forever, I tell my cadet son.  Just endure, I say.  I wonder who has to endure the most, especially on Thanksgiving Day when my alma mater goes down in flames at its attempt to play football against the Texas A&M Aggies.  My oldest son cheers, and I change the subject.

Now, at the conclusion of the first year for my little Aggie cadet, Michael proudly demonstrates his achievement in his final review march around Kyle Field.  The achievement for Ryan Crawford, Michael’s best friend since first grade and fellow freshman cadet in another corps unit, is receiving the right as Mascot Corporal.  The distinction for the friend — and someone who we consider as part of the family — is that he now is the caretaker for Reveille, the Texas A&M mascot.  The responsibility is coveted by many, and is a 24/7 job.  This means, when Ryan comes to our house to hang out, so does the mascot of the nemesis.

Where does one draw the line, I wonder anew?  How can this be happening to me, when my beloved college campus sits just a mile down the road from my home?  As I offer my congrats to the new Mascot Corporal, I followup with a question, “Does that mean the dog comes into our home with you?”  The heads of loyal Aggie fans surrounding me turn in my direction with looks of disdain.  I used the “D” word in reference to the “lady.”  This is something I never learned while attending The University.  Dogs were dogs, and Bevo the Longhorn was the mascot.

Now, out of support as a father and father-like friend, I must learn a new trick of dog hospitality, shedding hair and all.  The Texas A&M mascot Reveille crossed the threshold of my home, and she fears not.

Take me home, Jesus.  Take me now, for surely these are the end times.

The lead story that I have been waiting to read for more than a week reveals the aggressive plans by the Waller Creek Conservancy to cultivate $60 million of public-private support for transforming a 15-block stretch of prime real estate that currently is underutilized, except as a haven for the  transient population. The founders of the        conservancy are presenting Austin an  opportunity to take a giant step forward  toward inclusion in a handful of elite U.S.  cities. The creation of an urban greenbelt  along the eastern portion of downtown  Austin mimics what few cities have tackled.  Taking on the challenge that cities like New  York, Chicago and Houston have  accomplished well, puts our capital city in a  cluster of good company. Houston’s inclusion  may be debatable by some. A good dream or vision needs champions, and Melanie Barnes, Tom Meredith and Melba Whatley create a strong founding team of advocates for what will further distinguish Austin’s attractiveness from other places to visit. Unfortunately, the conservancy’s new logo falls flat on design and appears disconnected to the group’s aggressive positioning.

Another smaller story inside today’s morning newsprint was a brief about local Austin neighbor (Spicewood, TX) Scott Jeffress, and his idea of pitching a television show about eight young and fearless professionals who have zeroed in on Austin, “the most exciting city in Texas,” according to Jeffress. His success as one of the executive producers of Jersey Shore gives him credibility and insight into what captures today’s viewing audience. If Jeffress continues his success, the spillover is another rainmaker for Austin’s visibility and tourism. Reality shows drive awareness and fuels attraction for places and trends. Dallas experienced this benefit while primetime TV viewers were captivated by oil money, soap-opera scripts.

The final story of today puts a silver lining on the future of our U.S. economy. Pent up purchasing demand is beginning to rip the seams of fear that have suppressed people from spending as much as they would like. A recent AP survey of leading economists express optimism that our economy will grow faster every quarter this year. Even the higher cost of filling a Texan’s F-150 pick up is not preventing the spending necessary to encourage the economy. This is the same encouragement that helps fuel optimism for the Waller Creek Conservancy, and adds energy to the Austin lifestyle that Jeffress most likely wants to capture and convey to the world.

Connect the dots for yourself. Austin is on the move, and the world is going to be watching.

The repositioning placed heavy emphasis on technology’s influence on mobility and flexibility, and it blurred the lines between work and family lives. Today, that is our reality. In the course of a regular business day, we bounce in and out of different worlds, depending on the phone call, email, text or Twitter interruption. Work, marriage, kids, school, and new opportunities clamor for our attention. Technology got us to this place and technology will be our savior.

AT&T’s attempt to be the iconic innovator worked well in its advertising campaign long ago, but failed miserably in the marketplace because the company could not deliver fast enough on the expectation it created. However, Apple is standing in the gap quite well as today’s innovative brand. The, “You Will,” concept works well with Apple, because it creates a vision for reinvention at a time when we need it most. And because we “need” it, we will buy it. We seem to be buying it from Apple more because it delivers to our needs with creativity and style.

Just when I began to detest Apple (see my earlier blog post, One Bad Apple), I now covet its products all the more.

The new iPad 2 made its Austin debut during the recent SXSW Interactive. For a few days, downtown Austin hosted an Apple retail outlet, and the destination felt like you were in Manhattan. The iPad 2 in AnyTown, USA, was the center of the world, and the world was filled with promise when the new product hit the market. The promise of Apple is that you will be able to do more than you can imagine with its products, and the company creatively carves out a companion-like relationship between you and its brand.

Scale creates intimacy with its products. The iPhone slips into my hip pocket nicely. I can feel it. My daughter’s key ring is attached to mini-purse just big enough for the iPhone or an iPod Touch. Like a little puppy, the new iPad 2 sits easily on your lap. Owners caress it with care. It’s personal. At the same time, iPad owners willingly share their tablet. It’s a bragging right. “Oh, you don’t have one? I do. Try mine. It’s cool.”

Color plays into the brand prominence of Apple, and it enhances the customer experience. Again, it’s personal, not generic. The personal relationship with the iPad 2 is more than skin deep. More than 65,000 applications are available via Apple to expand your imagination about what you can do, if you will. It’s like a marriage that never gets old — always exploring, revealing new possibilities, always serving with creativity. Apps like, FaceTime eliminate distance. Touch-edit features with iMovie and creative music mixing with GarageBand open your eyes to what you never thought possible. Apple’s brand is transformational, and its brand essence spills over to complementary product lines.

Get ready for sleek, creative iPad 2 covers to help personalize the Apple product further with distinction. The launch price for the newest Apple product makes it approachable. And, although the world was not clamoring for a newer version of the iPad, Apple saw the need for it nonetheless. Estimates indicate a strong consumer demand. Bringing forth the new iPad 2 is like opening a new Starbucks. The new kid on the block gratifies the thirsty and market demand grows.

Of the estimated 24.1 million tablets expected to sell in the U.S. this year, 20 million could be branded with the iconic Apple. That is an impressive market share, but one day soon the pool is going to attract more swimmers, and the real olympians will survive. This is the pool of technology and the future. “And the company that will bring it to you,” is not AT&T. Today it’s Apple.

Austin is no longer the sleepy college town where hippies hang and politicians periodically hover. The energy level is high, always. And energy attracts energy. The University of Texas, Concordia University, Austin Community College and St. Edward’s University all generate an energy of intellect. Countless coffee shops churn out creative works by a covey of entrepreneurs collaborating behind their laptops. Artistic expressions don the walls of museums and informal galleries, and music fills the air from a random corner, a footbridge over Lady Bird Lake or from atop a rooftop lounge downtown. These are the daily habits of a city I call home. And one of the fun periods to tap into the city’s rich brew is when so many residents flee it.

As Austin locals turned their homes into short-term hotels and escaped for a spring break, visitors poured into Waterloo like a tsunami and flooded our restaurants, our trailer vendors, and our streets with a carefree feeling that makes Austin a magical place. And for the locals who stuck around, the show was practically free. No hotel fees. No HomeAway rental expenses. No airline tickets. No real hassle.

A strategic drop off point put me and my high school- and college-age kids into the thick of all things SXSW. Free music, free drink, free food samples and a free-flowing crowd made for great entertainment. It was an instant flashback to college and a time when living in Austin was affordable. The abundance of music was compelling. I could not keep myself from dancing freely in the streets, much to the embarrassment of my offspring who wished I was elsewhere for this March madness. They would say, some things are best kept at home.

Our Downtown Austin Alliance could not have ordered better weather, and the SXSW organizers pulled together an incredible array of talent. A National Public Radio crew from New York was on the scene at Auditorium Shores for a live simulcast. The Big Apple was getting a taste of the real fruit, and the NPR crew was thrilled to be here because Austin was delivering on its promise of being a fun city, a creative city, a city of collaboration and cause to celebrate.

The City of Austin’s brand profile is very high right now. Mickey Mouse should consider being a rock star.