You gotta hand it too them

I was shopping today. Big mall, seasonal stock stacked high and a Friday rush. But all the hustle and bustle couldn't stop me noticing just how dialled Apple have got the next generation of physical retail. This become all the more obvious when you see the painfully try-hard attempts of certain competitors to reproduce that cooler-than-cool shopping environment.

I'll single out Virgin*, because they're a company always on the look for the limelight. It's widely accepted the Apple is sexy; sexy in a clean, cool kinda way. White works. Virgin Media try to go sexy with their red and black branding and end up with a look that's a very different sexy. Hot and dirty - and I don't mean either as a complimest. Caustraphobic.

They may be failing but at least they are trying to be this millenium. Woolworths remains firmly rooted in the 70s!

*Virgin's homepage points me to Superbrands, who've named Virgin Atlantic as their 10th coolest brand of 2007. They still lose to Apple and the iPod!