Apple’s Award Winning Marketing Strategy
After years of dominating the technology market, Apple has become synonymous with the words ‘brilliant, ‘creative’, and innovative. Apple is one of the greatest marketers of all time, with the iPhone becoming arguably the most popular and recognizable Smartphone in the world. Apple’s consistent marketing excellence is built on a series of core values, which others would benefit from learning from and applying themselves.
Products
Apple has mastered the art of being ahead of its competitors. One of the primary reasons how they continue to be leaders within the industry rather than a follower is their amazing ability to innovate and keep things fresh. With every release, there is always some new technological advancement that strives to push the industry forward. Whether it’s a new chipset allowing their products to be more powerful, or the wireless AirPods that have become ubiquitous around the world. Apple’s dedication to the customer experience and its ecosystem of products is the key reason people flock to Apple stores and line up for hours just to get their hands on the new release.
Aesthetics & Features
The Importance of a first impression can not be understated within the marketing world. Much like in person, the fact is that you make a judgment about something in approximately four seconds, and this is finalized largely within 30 seconds of initial contact.
Apple knows this, ensuring that they master the art of minimalism—product aesthetics, user interfaces, the brand’s logo, support functions, and even advertising are stripped down to the fundamentals.
Apple’s obsession with minimalism isn’t solely about aesthetics; rather, it’s a crucial piece of their overall business strategy and the Apple ecosystem.
Every component of this minimalist network is designed with related components in mind. The Apple TV interface isn’t too different from that of Apple music; whilst Apple music itself borrows the basic feel of Apple’s operating system. Meanwhile, the gadgets also take up that same sort of family feel: The iMac, MacBook Air, iPad, and iPhone are all radically different devices but they’re immediately recognizable as cousins thanks to their shared detailing and material palette. This highly integrated minimal aesthetic is priming you to enjoy Apple’s other products, ensuring that when the new iPad is released you already know how it works and that it will fit within your own personal home environment.
When Apple brought out their first iPod back in 2001, the response from the press was apathetic, MP3 players were already around and this new release was nothing new. In fact, most MP3 players were better than this first iPod, they had larger storage space, replaceable batteries, and were cheaper.
So, what did Apple’s new iPod have to offer that other MP3 players didn’t? The iPod looked cool. It had a sleek aluminum shell half the size of its competitors, and a physical scroll wheel that could zoom through the trademark “1,000 songs in your pocket”. This easy-to-use, sleek iPod made the entire process from downloading your favorite song to the listening experience a simple and enjoyable experience.
Create an Experience Ecosystem.
Apple has a legendary focus on customer experience. Every customer touchpoint from the products, through the user interface and even the retail store yields a consistent Apple experience. This clean, seamless, “just works” mantra ensures that every layer of the ecosystem works straight out of the box, providing a logical experience that makes the users life easier and more enjoyable. Apple’s consumer base buys into their ecosystem, expecting a high quality polished experience from start to finish.
When pairing this high-quality experience with Apple’s aggressive expansion into every facet of our lives it is no surprise that their products, apps, and technology have become an integral part of our modern lives and routine.
Apple’s approach to the harmonious integration of external developers, manufacturers, and services with their own catalog of products creates a thriving mesh of technology. Creating a sort of ubiquitous computing, all around us, all the time. This interface is the very world we live in.
A key example of Apple integration outside of their traditional devices is theirs seamlessly into the fitness industry. Wearables have become far more than a fashion accessory in recent years, with their ability to play your favorite high-energy playlist whilst also collecting valuable biometric data for those who are serious about their progress and development.
This now vital bit of kit can play an essential role in your daily life and is often the difference between lounging on the couch and finishing that 10k. When a piece of gear has this much influence on your life and routine, you will be sure to place a lot of trust and belief in the product. Further solidifying Apple into your daily life.
Control Pricing
Much like Louis Vitton or Chanel, Apple is associated with high-quality, luxurious and trendy products. To ensure they maintain this image, Apple carries out a range of marketing practices to ensure they look like the premium luxury company they claim to be. This brand identity is reflected in the pricing strategy of Apple, with all products undergoing fixed pricing.
Due to Apple’s unique market position and their ability to market their products through other channels, they can avoid dropping prices. A process that ensures they maintain that luxury goods appearance.
This strategy also extends to the microcosm of Apple retailers, dealers, and resellers, where Apple implements a minimum advertised price. This sets a lower limit on the prices its resellers may advertise for Apple’s products, keeping prices relatively comparable to its own stores and minimal wholesale discounts. This maintains the static high prices that Apple sets, distancing themselves from low-cost inferior products.
While most other technology retailers utilize product discounting to drive demand, Apple focuses less on acquiring new customers through price and, instead, aims to convert them into loyal Apple fans by offering an outstanding customer experience.
Foster a Community of Evangelists.
As we mentioned in our video talking about Tesla’s marketing success, having a small community of Evangelists that support your brand through thick and thinn is a vital step for brand longevity. They will support you during your hiccups and will push you through the other side.
This group won’t dare stray away from the Apple ecosystem ensuring full integration and making sure that their friends and family are aware of its benefits. Marketing through word of mouth is a priceless marketing strategy for any business and is hands-down the most effective and reliable type of marketing.
According to the Wharton School of Business, a customer you acquire from word of mouth has a 16-25% higher lifetime value than those you acquire from other sources. Word of mouth will bring in loyal customers and increase customer retention rates. What’s more, this highly valuable marketing strategy has no price attached, as it is a side product of the “It Just Works, High-quality product” that Apple strives for.
Competing in today’s world can be tough. Being able to establish any kind of advantage can set you up for success over the competition. However having a dedicated group that ensures your product is talked about in a good light, is shared on social media, and welcomes itself into everyone’s life goes far beyond paying for adverts or product placement.
Apple has continuously strived to create great products with a great experience attached to them. This dedication to the customer has paid huge dividends, making Apple one of the biggest companies in the world. Apple is not just changing an industry: it is changing the world, reshaping it into a “customer-focused economy and planting itself in the middle of it.