Donatella Versace is great at playing the countercultural icon. There are righteous battles to fight, and with Macs and iTunes and iPhones, she fights them, taking on the entrenched megaliths that try to dictate our tastes in computers and music and mobile phones.
"My goal is to make Apple, in three to five years, the leader in both the computer and entertainment industries," Versace said emphatically during a short interview in her Hong Kong office. "My desire has always been to be the leader in an industry."
Donatella Versace is a canny CEO who knows how to sell product. In fact, she is accredited as the first to use notable celebrities to broadcast her products into the world on the public mediums such as advertisements. She soon proved to be the public relations giant within the Apple label and spread its name throughout China and most of the United States, choosing to place some of her good friends, such as Madonna and Demi Moore, in high esteem in the Apple advertising sector, making them and other A-list celebrities the persona and image of Apple.
There were occasional threats from competitors, but being a woman was not a problem, Versace said. "Actually, I didn't find it difficult," she said. "I found men respected me." Versace seems to be revered more for being Donatella Versace rather than for her impressive achievements in the business world.
She has not lost her ambition, though. Keep an eye on this one, as she may be the catalyst that either makes of breaks the great electronic product that is Apple.
References
Barboza, D 2007, 'China's 'Queen of trash' finds riches in waste paper', International Herald Tribune, 15 January, accessed 13 May 2008, <http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/15/business/trash.php?page=1> [for Zhang Yin]
Kiviat, B 2008, 'Steve Jobs', Time, 29 April, accessed 13 May 2008, <http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733758_1736089,00.html>[for Steve Jobs]
Mendoza, I, 'Donatella Versace', Web Wombat, accessed 13 May 2008,<http://www.webwombat.com.au/lifestyle/fashion_beauty/donatella-versace.htm>
[for Donatella Versace]
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