Last night I lost a dear friend. My I pod.

Last night, I decided to pack up 15 minutes before my train was due to arrive at my destination in case it was early (and definitely not so I could race everybody around me to get to the doors first. Because that's a childish game to play in my book. Even though I win every time anyway).

I may have to resort to this pipe
 if the puppy doesn't work

So I packed away all my things, put on my jacket and fancy new 'snood' and walked to the doors with my laptop bag and my suitcase. Admiring my new jacket in the reflection of the window I think, 'I look like the girl version of Sherlock Holmes in this jacket. Awesome. And who made it first to the doors of the train? I believe that's you, Mrs Holmes. Indeed Watson'. Strolling along without a care in the world, I head home in a taxi, where the driver rattles on about the economic crisis and I nod along politely while wondering if I would take him more seriously if he were wearing a Sherlock Holmes jacket. Probably. Definitely.

I get home and run around the house, throwing off my outerwear and bags and turn on the fire to warm myself up, feeling so pleased I made it home without being kidnapped and with all of my belongings. Then, as I unpack my laptop case to get straight onto Facebook (to check the world hasn't fallen drastically off course in the past 3 hours), a dreadful thought falls upon me. Where's my I pod? Oh dear god.

After frantically throwing my bedroom into even more chaos than it’s already in and rummaging through all my bags, of course including the ones that I didn't even have on the train, I have to come to the realization. It's really gone.

I have since tried to call the train companies and lost property offices but there has been no luck so far.

And now I bet you're wondering what on earth that has to do with marketing. So a thought occurred to me today, while I was wallowing in the depths of despair. I remembered that the last time I had felt like this was when I lost my favourite teddy when I was just a little girl. I was literally grieving for this piece of metal (with a gorgeous pink belkin case, in case anyone's seen it). Why did this thing mean as much as my most treasured childhood toy?

The site for all those who also
lost part of their persona today

Apple have done an incredible marketing strategy here. I have to applaud!  I know that many of the bigger brands, like Coca Cola and Heinz have been around a long time (since our parents were kids. SERIOUSLY). They are the brands that tend to trigger parts of the brain where we hold our nearest and dearest, which shows a strong indication that we really, truly care about them. We relate them back to our own childhood, when our parents would serve us that type of baked beans or that drink and we have warm, fond memories of them. They make us feel safe and warm, just as we did when we first tried them many years ago.

Those brands have developed those impressions over a long period of time and have made us really trust them over the years and generations. However, how did a relatively new brand, gain this same impression over such a short amount of time?

Certainly the simplicity of their products have made them at the forefront of new technology and very popular, but I have to wonder – is it only because so many of us own these items that we feel like this? I read today that people are much more likely to buy things they connect with, that they become an extension of our own ‘personas’. So I have come to the conclusion that if you can provide a product that suits people’s personas, you may be able to develop your own brand, that becomes part of the family and literally feels like an extension of your consumer. So last night folks, in a strange way, I lost a little part of Amy.

In light of this news, I’m going to be hitting the bottle hard and gambling tonight – aka a Redbull and a scratch card – to fill that little void. And maybe a puppy tomorrow. Cheers Apple.