While I appreciate the approach and respect her as a guru of branding, I believe Laura Reis missed the mark (and some facts) in her recent post on her blog, The Origin of Brands. Consumers don't love categories. Consumers love trends. But consumers also love their brands - whether they are trendy or not - because of the value they provide in either material or emotional ways. Brands don't exist because of being located in the right category - although they may thrive better if they exist there. Great brands also thrive when they embrace new trends and / or re-define categories.
For example, lets look at Laura's example of Red Bull. Energy drinks existed as a category only in the minds of work out junkies and those who thought gensing was a better alternative than sugar. Then Red Bull changed the definition. People don't buy red bull as an "energy drink." They buy it to add to their Vodka so they can get more pop from their mixer - which used to be Coke. Whamo! A new category is created from an old one - which in turn is based on the new trend of clubbing from the old trend of partying. People were not chosing the category of energy drink. They were chosing the best known and marketed mixer that would allow them to dance in Vegas until 4 AM.
While this may seem subtle, I think it is a very important distinction. I believe brands don't exist purely because of categories or trends. Brands BUILD categories and CREATE trends. MP3 players were not on the radar screen of the general public until the iPod came out from Apple. Apple was a mega-brand that defined a category with a mega-product. MP3's would have continued to struggle if apple did not design a user friendly and incredibly powerful new device.
Also, I don't believe that brands are a means to an end for customers to create simplicity in their choices from a sea of selections. I also don't believe they are a means to "chose" a category. I don't order Sierra Nevada Ale because I want to chose the category of micro-brews out of a sea of beers. I chose it because I like how it tastes. I bought my Volvo because it was safe an drove well. My wife chooses her jeans by how they fit and make her feel.
Laura's suggestion that, "...the key to building and maintaining a brand is to be sure the category and idea your brand represents is vibrant, relevant and frequently thought about" is misleading. This could be translated into a powerless branding approach that is akin to acting like a sheep and following the heard. Are you supposed to give up if your brand is not in a category that is vibrant? Branding is not about chasing the shiny object. Its about consistency and the ability to change with the times within the category - any category.
Also, I have to point out that Dell did not "fall flat" with the "Dude your getting a Dell!" ad campaign in 2001 - 2002. From January 2001 to December 2002 Dell's stock outperformed Apple, IBM, and HPQ, as seen in the graph below. The reason Dell stopped the campaign was because the actor was busted for buying pot in New York. Michael Dell is a person with incredibly high moral standards - and he personally requested the change. Also, Dell was as much about customization as it was being direct and cheap. Net, they just executed poorly on their laptop strategy (e.g. poor quality and focus).
I also find it a tad humorous that Laura attributed the ThinkPad brand name to Lenovo. While that name is now theirs via acquisition, it was IBM who built that brand / product identity. Lenovo does not have to worry about the world knowing about ThinkPad. Most respected business persons in America knows the IBM ThinkPad. Also, companies don't buy laptops (or PC's or Servers) based on a brand name. They cut deals based on volume discounts, product quality and service level agreements.
BUT, I do strongly agree with Laura's suggestion that Apple should have dedicated iTunes stores. I was a loyal Tower Records geek growing up. It was a weekly trip for my brother and I. Today, there is no gather place for music and kids. The basic music or mega store just does not cover the long tail of albums and musics to support the niches that kids run in these days. Heck, I would even hang out at an iTunes store.....but that may not be the best thing for Apple!