A lot has changed since 2001. Back in yesteryear Mark Zuckerberg was not a household name, the word tweeting was the sound a bird made, and as of May 2001 Apple had yet to open any retail stores – the catalyst that helped Apple become the brand that it is today.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Apple opening their first retail store in Tysons Corner, VA, a Washington, DC suburb. At the time many in the retail industry saw the move as risky, because “big box” technology stores had a stronghold on technology sales. Apple broke away from the norm with their stores by exclusively selling Apple products, instead of selling them alongside their competitors.

No doubt much of Apple’s success has come from their innovative and industry changing products, but it is also impossible to ignore the fact that the brand’s success has a lot to do with their brand image and seemingly flawless execution of brand standards.

Take a moment to think of each Apple store you’ve been in. It’s hard to decipher which is which, and where each was located isn’t it? You can attribute that to the fact that Apple cuts no corners in controlling their retail environments. Each store has the same look and the same feel, when you step into an Apple store there is no second guessing your location. Isn’t that something all brands desire to achieve, an all knowing awareness of their brand?

Whether its architectural design, package design, or product design, Apple uses a consistent brand image to maintain a familiarity amongst consumers, and in a world dominated by ever changing technology Apple’s consistent design and image has no doubt helped the brand who was ranked as the world’s 49th most valuable brand in 2001 skyrocket to the top of the list and land at #1 in May 2011.

So, Happy 10th Birthday Apple stores, I’m sure you’ll have no problem getting friends to come to your birthday party.

College basketball season might be over but for the NCAA, March Madness is just beginning.

Last October, the NCAA secured exclusive rights to the term “March Madness” from sports and entertainment marketer Intersport. Many in college athletics weren’t even aware of the eight-figure settlement until  USA TODAY reported the news in May.

According to USA TODAY, Intersport had retained usage rights to “March Madness” through an agreement with the Illinois High School Association in the early ’90s. The IHSA and NCAA once shared the trademark. The IHSA gave up its ownership several years ago, but still kept use of the term in connection with high school basketball championships. However the NCAA considered any other use “detrimental to the trademark.”

When asked if $17 million-plus may was too hefty a price tag, Randall Scott–Senior Vice President at Addison Whitney–questioned if an equally profitable alternative name even existed for the basketball tournament.  “If you called it something else, would it have the same cachet and familiarity?” he asked.

USA TODAY reports that CBS and Turner are paying $10.8 billion over 14 years to carry the the Division I men’s basketball tournament, making it NCAA’s most critical source of income.

“Is it worth it?” Scott asked. “Absolutely. The real question is if $17 million was the right number.”

Is Budweiser flexing its brand muscles because they can or do they recognize the power of their brand to help others realize their dream of making it big?

Regardless of the answer, Budweiser announced this week they are launching a reality TV show, “Bud United Presents: The Big Time.” The show’s premise (from a non-brand strategy point of view) is to showcase young individuals with a dream (such as becoming a pitcher or racecar driver) being mentored and coached by one of the world’s best in their respective area. Budweiser is leveraging their brand relationships with sports leagues, celebrities, etc. to help young adults achieve their dreams.

For Budweiser though this is more than helping individuals reach their dreams, it is an opportunity for one of the top consumer brands to enter unchartered waters by being the first alcohol brand to sponsor a TV show. From a brand strategy standpoint Budweiser’s goal is to go beyond traditional product placement, and extend their global brand platform to celebrating and anticipating great times…at the hand of Budweiser.

Budweiser sponsorships include sporting leagues, musical festivals, and even the US Military, spearheading a reality TV is certainly a new sponsorship endeavor for the major brand, and an interesting one at that. If successful, it will show that Budweiser as a brand has the ability and power to extend past their niche and touch a new market, and if successful could be compared to other major brands, like Starbucks, who recently extended past their niche and into music and food.

It is interesting to note that this announcement comes at a time in the beer industry when craft brewery sales have consistently been on the rise over the last couple years, and are slowly chipping away at Budweiser’s enormous market share. Which brings me back to the question at the beginning of this post, Is Budweiser flexing its brand muscles to show others that they are still the kings of the industry, or because they recognize the power of their brand to help others realize their dream of making it big?

Facebook recently introduced a subtle change and for once it won’t change the appearance of your news feed. Facebook introduced a new feature that allows users to identify people or objects that have their own Facebook Pages.

Previously, users could only tag their friends. Now users can tag celebrities or public figures they meet or tag the brands and products they use. For example, if I posted a photo of myself running in Nike sneakers, I could label the shoes with a tag that links to Nike’s official Facebook Page.

For now, this tagging feature is limited to Pages for people or brands and products, although Facebook plans to expand these categories.

If it catches on, this new feature could be great for brands looking to go  viral and spread awareness about their products. Companies will no doubt run contests, forcing participants to tag products. It is essentially free advertising on one the coolest and most popular websites today. At least for now.

The new tagging feature could also be an opportunity for Facebook to monetize the site’s photo service, perhaps adding sponsored tags.

After all, nothing evokes fond family memories like that tagged bottle of soda in the background!