Apple’s success in recent years has mystified those that follow the tech market. No other hardware company has ever managed to do what Steve Jobs and Tim Cook did in Cupertino. Those comparing Apple to the tech world have been looking in the wrong place, they should be looking at soft drink giant Coca-Cola

Branding, Branding, Branding

Both Apple and Coca-Cola have managed to stay on top because of their great marketing. That branding power is so strong that the companies have become synonymous with the product categories they created.

The Real Thing

When many people see a Samsung Galaxy, they call it an iPhone. When people see a Google Nexus, they call it an iPhone and when people see a Nokia Lumia, they call it an iPhone. All the way from Pepsi down to Walmart’s own brand cola, they’re all called Coke.

A Family Affair

Families break along branding lines because of the strength of Coca-Cola and Apple marketing. If your parents drank Coke, you’re probably a Coke person. If they used a Mac, there’s little chance of you crossing into PC territory.

It’s All About Margins

What really has the world mystified about Apple is its profit margins. The company has sustained gross margins of around 40 percent for years as margins in the rest of the electronics industry collapsed. Coca-Cola has done the same, albeit more effectively. That company’s gross margin is around 60 percent.

Manufacturing Is A Loser

Both Coca-Cola and Apple stay away from actually making things as much as possible. Coca-Cola makes its famous syrup and sells it to independent bottlers around the world. Apple designs its smartphones in California and sends the instructions across the world.

Platform For Growth

Apple may have an ecosystem and software synergy to encourage users to keep using Apple products, but for a long time consumers heading to a vending machine couldn’t get away from Coke products. If you didn’t feel like a Diet Coke, you could have a Vitamin Water or a Fanta.

Recession Has No Power

The 2008 financial crisis initially hit the stock of both Apple and Coca-Cola, but the companies’ investors soon returned once they realized the recession had no power over them. Both companies had cash-strapped consumers lining up to buy their products in pretty rough times.

American As Apple Pie

Apple is the only big American phone manufacturer out there, and the company is coming to rely on its American heritage more and more. It’s even moving (on a very small scale) manufacturing back into the country in order to get that “Made in the USA” sticker. Compared to Coca-Cola, just about the most American brand of all time.