September 28, 1997: Jobs’s Beer Picnic, Brand Over Capabilities

After his return to Apple, Steve organized a company-wide soiree. The food was vegetarian and the beverages included beer.

As Apple employees ate and imbibed, Steve explained that Apple had been spending $100 million dollars a year on marketing and not getting much out of it. It was harder, Steve opined, to differentiate the Mac from Windows than it used to be when the Mac OS was head-and-shoulders above Windows.

Thus, Steve related, Apple would continue to spend the same amount on marketing but the company would do it far more effectively by focusing on the brand rather than on the capabilities. Apple's marketing direction was revealed to Apple employees this week in 1997.