Apple’s incoming CEO, John Ternus, is set to inherit an intriguing marketing challenge from his predecessor, Tim Cook.
Loading audio narration…
By most metrics, Cook is leaving the company’s longtime hardware chief with a brand in top shape. Data from the brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance, shared exclusively with CMO Insider, pegs Apple’s brand value at $607.6 billion, its highest ever. This represents the value a company would be willing to pay to license Apple’s brand.
The business fundamentals are solid, too.
The dilemma for Ternus: Is Apple at a peak?
US data captured by Lippincott’s Brand Aperture research-based measurement system in 2025 found that Apple’s “momentum” score (53%) — a measure of whether consumers think a brand’s best days are ahead or behind it — was lower than Samsung’s (64%) and OpenAI’s (77%).
Apple’s lack of a killer AI feature, the underwhelming Vision Pro launch, and criticism of its “Liquid Glass” iOS may have shaken some consumer faith in its design dominance.
If AI plays more of a role in why consumers choose a particular brand moving forward, then hardware — Ternus’ specialty — “becomes less strong as the moat,” Lippincott’s Dave Mayer said.
One edge Apple has is privacy.
Under Cook, Apple went to great lengths to position privacy as “a fundamental human right” in its marketing. The trust it has built could help its brand remain strong in the AI era. However, a focus on privacy could be bad news for marketers who had hoped Apple would be more open with its data and bring ads across more of its services, like Apple TV.
“Ternus comes from hardware, not services or advertising, and has likely been part of the decision-making framework that prioritized a controlled, tightly integrated user experience over monetization through ads,” analysts at Madison and Wall wrote in a Monday note.
Apple’s marketing has set a high bar by ad industry standards under Cook.
In 2025, Apple was awarded the Cannes Lions “Creative Marketer of the Year Award,” which the festival said reflected “a culture that prioritizes creativity and innovation” and connected with people emotionally. Recently awarded work included its long-running “Shot on iPhone” campaign and its “Ted Lasso: Fake Team. Real Partners” push.
Sure, these ads might not have been as renowned as earlier campaigns like its “1984” Super Bowl Macintosh commercial or the “Silhouette” iPod spot.
Still, Apple has “been consistently delivering on the brand promise for years and years,” said Richard Haigh, Brand Finance managing director.
As Apple branches into new revenue streams, Ternus may want to step up its advertising.
The company might look to produce a “really innovative, eye-catching, and iconic advertising campaign to put them back at the forefront of whatever it is that they decide is their next big thing,” Haigh said.
Ken Segall, a veteran ad executive who worked on Apple’s account, is hoping for a return to the Steve Jobs brand of Apple product announcements, once seen as a kind of Super Bowl event for tech fans.
Under Cook, those presentations “did not have that raw passion thing that Steve brought,” Segall said Tuesday on BBC Radio. “We’ll see if that returns with John.”
