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Here’s an old Steve Jobs video talking about branding. He’s unveiling the “Think Different” campaign from 1997 and then shows the first TV spot at the end of the video. It’s a really great campaign, but pay attention to the very beginning of this talk:

The big takeaway is in the first few seconds of video:

“This is a very complicated world. This is a very noisy world and we’re not going to get a chance… to get people to remember much about us. No company is. And so we have to be really clear on what we want them to know about us.”

The whole branding thing is just like selling or pitching…

• Lunch pitch: ~15 minutes
• Bar pitch: ~5 minutes
• Elevator pitch: ~30 seconds
• ?

That last pitch is your brand. It’s the ultimate distillation of what you do. Someone just cold-surfed to your site or maybe they’re standing in the aisle at the supermarket looking at you and 20 other competitors. You’ve got five seconds, a logo and one-half line of copy. What is the one thing you want them to know about your business?

If you don’t know, then you’re in trouble.

Steve Jobs Collage by Charis Tevis for Fortune Magazine

Apple’s stock goes in the tank every time someone publishes a rumor that they saw Steve Jobs sneeze at the local Pinkberry. And with Job’s unprecedented bow-out of the 2009 Macworld Keynote tomorrow it was bound to happen again; Apple stock dipped 2% on Dec. 30th after Gizmodo published a sensational story quoting an unnnamed source about how “Steve’s health is rapidly declining.”

So the man himself has stepped in with these words:

Letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs
Dear Apple Community,

For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.

Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.

I’ve decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.

I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.

So now I’ve said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.

Steve