Apple_Strategy

Apple has made a great branding success due to some following factors: Building overall brand strategies Apple has a branding strategy that focuses on the emotions. The Apple brand personality is about lifestyle; imagination; liberty regained; innovation; passion; hopes, dreams and aspirations; and power-to-the-people through technology. The Apple brand personality is also about simplicity and the removal of complexity from people's lives; people-driven product design; and about being a really humanistic company with a heartfelt connection with its customers. Designing branding components Brand name Apple, of course, is the archetypal emotional brand. It's not just intimate with its customers; it is loved. Apple is about imagination, design and innovation. Why did Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak choose ‘Apple’ as their brand name' Surely, this name neither popped out of any creative research nor of any computer software for brand name creation. It is simply the name that seemed plainly obvious to the new creative geniuses. In one word, the Apple brand name conveyed the exact same values as those which had driven them to revolutionize computer science. Clearly, the brand name had in itself all the necessary ingredients to produce a major breakthrough and establish a new norm. What worked for Apple, however, did not work for Apricot. Apple reflected the founders’ values, which materialized into user friendly computers. This is indeed a far cry from just choosing a similar name without prior verification that such values as Apple’s could indeed be conveyed by the brand. Logo The Apple logo is one of the most recognized corporate symbols in the world. The first Apple logo was designed by Jobs and Wayne in 1976, featuring Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree with ‘Apple Computer Co.’ on a ribbon banner ornamenting the picture frame. That Apple logo was then changed by designer Rob Janoff into a multicolored apple with a bite taken out off its right side, better known as the “rainbow apple”. For the last few years, the Apple logo has appeared in various colors (aqua color scheme was famous among all). But now Apple has discontinued the use of bright colors in the Apple logo, instead opting for white and raw-aluminum color schemes. The polished chrome logo seems to fit ideally. The silvery chrome finish in the new Apple logo is consistent with the design scheme and freshens up the icon. For whatever reason Apple Inc. had to revamp its logo, the new Apple logo got a hearty endorsement by the customers and critics around the world. It can widely be seen on all Apple products and retail stores; and has become one of the world’s most renowned brand symbols. Slogan Apple's first slogan, "Byte into an Apple", was coined in the late 1970s. From 1997–2002, Apple used the slogan Think Different in advertising campaigns. The slogan had a lasting impact on their image and revived their popularity with the media and customers, and the grammar caused a bit of discussion (i.e. "think" is a verb, which is modified by adverbs; therefore the adverb "differently" should be used, not the adjective "different"). Although the slogan has been retired, it is still closely associated with Apple. Apple also has slogans for specific product lines — for example, "iThink, therefore iMac" was used in 1998 to promote the iMac, and "Say hello to iPhone" has been used in iPhone advertisements. Now is the iPad with “Bite me”. Design and packaging Apple’s products show some very distinctive characteristics which are typical of the company • simple design • simple user interface • high quality components • coherent hardware and software Registration Apple has very strict rules about its trademarks and images. They have the detail guidelines for Apple licensees, authorized resellers, developers, customers, and other parties wishing to use Apple’s trademarks, service marks or images in promotional, advertising, instructional, or reference materials, or on their web sites, products, labels, or packaging: • Use of the "keyboard" Apple Logo for commercial purposes without the prior written consent of Apple may constitute trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of federal and state laws. Use of Apple trademarks may be prohibited, unless expressly authorized. • Apple’s trademarks, service marks, trade names, and trade dress are valuable assets. By using an Apple trademark, in whole or in part, you are acknowledging that Apple is the sole owner of the trademark and promising that you will not interfere with Apple’s rights in the trademark, including challenging Apple’s use, registration of, or application to register such trademark, alone or in combination with other words, anywhere in the world, and that you will not harm, misuse, or bring into disrepute any Apple trademark. • Only Apple and its authorized resellers and licensees may use the Apple Logo in advertising, promotional, and sales materials. Promotion Apple often launches an annual sale Back-to-school: “Buy a Mac for college, and get a free iPod touch”. It also has “Education pricing” promotion for college student, teacher or faculty member, which makes people have more chances to use its products. On January 27, Apple introduced the iPad, which—before it was released—had already received more press than just about anything ever, except perhaps the president and the iPhone. It was sold like hot cakes because people were so curious and attracted that they want to try it as soon as possible. Apple always has excellent marketing campaigns with attractive commercial ads, brilliant PR to make consumers turn their wants into their needs. Therefore, iPod, iPhone became marker leaders in music player and mobile phone area. Safeguarding and developing the brand By now there is no doubt the iPod family of products resurrected Apple’s fortunes by transforming the company from a niche player in personal computers to a market maker in consumer electronics. Today, no one would question the brilliance of the strategy. But when Apple unveiled the first generation iPod in 2001, few could foresee iPod’s revolutionary impact on consumer electronics, music, and the cell-phone industries. Fortunately for Apple, that’s not the whole story. The initial iPod and iTunes were just the first step in its ambitious “Digital Hub” strategy, where the ultimate goal was to allow users to have all of the entertainment content they want accessible to them whenever and wherever they want it. With this strategic perspective, the Macintosh-only digital music player was therefore a low risk and logical entry into this robust new business space where Apple had limited knowledge. Apple's current line-up of product families includes not just the iPod and iTunes, but iMac, iBook, iLife, iWork, and now iPhone, iPad. However, even though marketing investments around iPod are substantial, Apple has not established an "i" brand. While the "i" prefix is used only for consumer products, it is not used for a large number of Apple's consumer products (eg Mac mini, MacBook, Apple TV, Airport Extreme, Safari, QuickTime, and Mighty Mouse).