At last week's class, many of us used Apple as this great example of a company fostering brand communities. Something with that didn't sit well with me then, and now I remember why ..... because they are not. Apple has a great following -- largely because they have good design and marketing -- but they don't foster community all that well at all. Like most major companies, they still very much fear losing control.

See today's exhibit from the Church of the Customer blog. It talks about a bar in Des Moines, Iowa which has been instructed by Apple to cease and desist using the name iPod Mondays. On Monday nights, the event "iPod evangelists gather and share their playlists." While, yes, their may also be some exchanging of songs which takes money from Apple, it's also basically free marketing for iPods. This seems very shortsighted. If the bar were to rebrand the pub night with the name of an iPod competitor, I'm guessing these competitors would jump at the chance.

So... Apple is not all that when it comes to facilitiating brand communities online. If this doesn't sound ridiculous yet, read the article straight from the Des Moines newspaper.