Apple Marketing Strategy: A Brief Overview
Apple marketing strategy is based on the founder Steve Jobs’s philosophy that customers do not always know what they want. Accordingly, instead of conducting marketing researches to identify customer needs and wants, the multinational technology company prefers to install innovative features and capabilities in their products, making customers to want Apple products.
Under the leadership of Tim Cook since 2011 certain aspects of the business such as management style and company’s stance towards CSR have changed. However, the dismissal of marketing research remains to this day.
Apple marketing strategy expresses the brand in minimalist, yet highly efficient ways. The world’s largest IT company by revenue is one of the first companies to successfully associate the brand image with being innovative, rebellious and non-conformist.
Apple 7Ps of marketing is marked with a particular focus on the product element of the marketing mix and the company’s segmentation targeting and positioning initiatives are aimed at targeting users of premium products. Moreover, marketing communication mix of Apple Inc. places greater emphasis on print and media advertising and personal selling in Apple Stores and the company rarely uses sales promotions as part of its marketing strategy.
Generally, Apple marketing strategy integrates the following:
1. Focusing on attractive value proposition.
Apple’s value proposition is “beautiful design that works right out of the box with ever-smaller packaging”[1] The world’s largest IT company by revenue has been able to avoid price wars with competitors by emphasizing its unique value proposition in its marketing communication messages. Apple is a unique company in a way that it is a design firm, a media platform, a publishing company, a software powerhouse and a computer manufacturer – all at the same time. Such a position allows the company to communicate its value proposition to target customer segment in a cost-effective manner.
2. Effective use of product placement
An important feature of Apple marketing strategy is that the world’s largest IT company by revenue does not use Pay-Per-Click (PPC) online ads on with Google or Facebook. Instead, marketing strategy of Apple relies mainly on two pillars – product placement (especially with celebrities and in popular shows) and the buzz created by positive reviews in the media.
The most notable cases of Apple’s product placement include the movies Transformers 4, Birdman, The Verge, Birdman and Boyhood, as well as, prominent TV shows such as Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show.
3. Positive reviews in the media
Apple systematically benefits from the buzz created by positive reviews in the media – both, traditional, as well as, social media. The company achieves positive reviews due to high quality and advanced features and specifications of its products and services. Thousands of customers waiting in lines and some even setting up tents near Apple Stores to get the new iPhone is not an unusual scene whenever the company announces the release date of a new model. Extensive media coverage of such occurrences is a highly effective promotion that comes the iPhone maker with no cost.
Moreover, the multinational technology company proactively contributes to the creation of positive reviews in the social media. For example, Apple usually sends new iPhones to selected technology and mainstream media outlets to allow them to publish reviews before the phones went on sale.
4. Storytelling through video and viral marketing
Storytelling through video and viral marketing is an important element of marketing strategy for Apple. The world’s largest IT company by revenue conveys its marketing message through aspirational storytelling that resonate with members of target customer segment. Famous “1984” ad, first aired during 1984 Superbowl communicates the story of Apple as a rebellious company that challenges the status quo.
“Share your gift” ad is a more recent example of storytelling by the tech giant, where a young artist locks away her works until in a box, until one day wind coming through the window takes papers with her art to the town below. These and other storytelling videos have proved to be viral and hugely popular with positive impact on Apple brand image.
Apple Inc. Report contains the above analysis of Apple marketing strategy. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis, Ansoff Matrix and McKinsey 7S Model on Apple. Moreover, the report contains analyses of Apple leadership, organizational structure and organizational culture. The report also comprises discussions of Apple business strategy, ecosystem and addresses issues of corporate social responsibility.
[1] Patel, N. (2018) “7 Key Strategies That You Must Learn from Apple’s Marketing” Neil Patel Digital, Available at: https://neilpatel.com/blog/7-key-strategies-that-you-must-learn-from-apples-marketing/