Last night I watched the final few minutes of Jeopardy – I was just in time to catch the Final Round. The category? BRAND LOGOS. I was excited – excited enough to put down the TV remote.

The clue? “Its original logo, designed in 1976, showed Isaac Newton sitting under a tree.”

Too easy! You don’t have to know anything about brand logos to get that one. All you have to know is that the type of tree Newton is always associated with is an apple tree. All three contestants offered the correct response… “What is Apple?”

Although it was refreshing to see branding in front of a mainstream audience, the clue did not actually require the contestants to have knowledge of the category.

Why was the answer so obvious? It’s because Apple had a really good idea for their identity – a concept that is easy to grasp, relate to and recall. In addition to the 1976 logo, Apple consistently makes smart decisions for their products and marketing strategies, further cementing the Apple brand in the public’s mind.

If only all Jeopardy clues were this easy.