AdAge's 2003 Marketer of the Year: Apple

AdAge names Apple their 2003 Marketer of the Year.

[Apple] has achieved incredible levels of brand loyalty and created an army of evangelist users not because of its great advertising -- though certainly its print and TV work was among the best in 2003 -- but because it focuses, in everything it does, on the consumer.

The article provides perspective from Lee Clow, chairman of Omnicom Group's TBWA Worldwide on Apple's marketing and his experience with Steve Jobs.

Every week, Jobs meets the agency which brings new marketing/campaign ideas. These sessions reportedly saw the birth of Apple's recent colorful iPod ads despite some heated discussion at the departure from Apple's traditional white-based ads.

Clow also provides some unsurprising insight into Jobs' personality:

While Apple has secured cult status, Mr. Clow notes Mr. Jobs has a competitive streak and is unlikely to be satisfied being the computer world's equivalent of Mercedes.