To maintain mystique, Apple must keep innovating

— -- Apple isn't just a brand. It's a lifestyle.

When you flip on your iPod or iPad, you're making a cultural statement about who you are and what you value.

This is something all brands aspire to but only a handful achieve. A few others, such as Starbucks, BMW and perhaps Harley-Davidson, have dabbled in this cosmic realm of brand-as-message. But none have come close to the pop cultural and societal icon status of Apple's stuff.

What happens to Apple's lifestyle message without Steve Jobs as resident messenger, genius creator and chief derrière-kicker?

The secret to Apple's continued success is to focus less on being a lifestyle brand and more on giving consumers the kinds of things they can't get anywhere else, say brand gurus.

It's one thing to say that Apple devices look great, says Jonathan Salem Baskin, author of Branding Only Works for Cattle, "but the way they became a badge is because they are so damn usable."

Brand gurus say Apple must:

•Remain a ritual. "For disciples, it is a religion with ceremony, celebration and harmony" in just using its luxurious devices, says Michael Silverstein, senior partner at The Boston Consulting Group. What's more, he notes, people smile almost every time they touch an iMac, iPod, Touch or iPad.

•Avoid group think. "Can the executive team work in concert without Steve at the center?" asks Baskin, who was head of Apple's public relations team for its iMac launch. "They could. They might. But committees make bad decisions."

•Stay a necessity. People are consuming the Apple brand in practically every waking hour, says Robert Thompson, professor of pop culture at Syracuse University. "I know faculty members who carry iPads around as appendages."

•Sweat the small stuff.William Shakespeare famously wrote: "The play's the thing." But Jobs, says Thompson, tried to convince us that Shakespeare was wrong. "The play's not the thing," says Thompson. "The thing you play the play on — that's the thing."

•Think big. Apple paints an "organic sense of design" into everything it does, says consultant Robert Passikoff. "They aren't just making a machine to fill in blanks."

•Avoid coasting. Apple can keep coasting with "incremental innovation," says Silverstein. "The challenge is that in the past 10 years, with predictable frequency, Apple expanded its circle."