There is no doubt that Apple has been named the king of brands, according to Forbes. From the product to the services, it is everything you can think of branding. How Apple built its brand is not a secret formula hidden somewhere, but why haven’t others followed suit? Branding is a deliberate strategy you consistently live up to. That’s hard work.
Despite the high prices of Apple devices (anyway, that is what you enjoy when you’ve got a great brand), and other concerns of users, like difficulty in finding apps in the app store, etc., users still keep coming back after every new release. This is strong customer loyalty. Apple built this strong customer loyalty. See the article on how to build customer loyalty to see how you can win and keep customers like Apple.
The sense of belonging apple users share, the statement “I am an apple user” gives a sense of pride that customers want to associate themselves with a product. It is only a well-satisfied product that commands such respect. It is not really about the high cost. A user once said, “Buy an Apple phone once and get trapped in the thrill.” This is not magic. This is how Apple built its brand.
User experience:
Branding, in a nutshell, is the experience users get when they use your product. For Coca-Cola, they defined theirs as “a refreshing taste.” No matter how unhealthy you think carbonated drinks are, it’s hard to resist a refreshing experience. Same with Apple, no matter how high the price of Apple devices is, you can hardly resist the pleasure of satisfactory products.
Apple sells a promise and consistently works hard to live up to it. In branding, the product and the associated user experience are priorities, not the colors of the logo and how beautiful it looks. However, your logo should have a connection with your brand. How does Apple create this user experience?
Apple does this by
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- Paying close attention to superior design and packaging
- Providing top-notch customer service.
- By following a premier pricing strategy,
- Exhilarating advertisements feature people trying to radically change the world with an electronic device—their device. Like you see in movies, Apple products are flaunted in offices, homes, and events.
For users, they believe that what you see is what you get when it comes to Apple. Does this happen overnight? No! It happens over time, just like the process of building trust in business. When you have a good product, your customers become your marketers, especially in this social media era. When your product doesn’t deliver on your brand promise, advertising will kill your business faster. Creating an awesome user experience is a priority for Apple. Their products speak for them! Can your product stand as your brand ambassador?
2. Customer loyalty:
Apple has understood exactly what’s most important about building a brand – creating customer loyalty. This is the goal of branding. From product awareness, getting the market to be interested, engaging users, and getting them to repeatedly purchase your product. Which you can achieve through a great product launching. Apple has systematically mapped its way to the heart of the user with every deep sense of emotion.
Related: 7 vital steps to building customer loyalty
3. Leveraging emotion to build a brand identity
Apple has nailed the art of launching new products. As soon as the word about a new launch gets out, it sparks a wave of excitement and stirs debates on what’s new amidst its loyal fan base, prospective customers, and tech-savvies across the world. This is one of the reasons why every product should be launched.
Read also: Reasons why every product or brand needs a launch
Apple appeals to the emotions of the public. Who doesn’t want to be associated with the luxury of using an iPhone? From the product quality to the experience it offers. It’s a feeling to be associated with.
4. Think Different:
Have you heard the popular saying in customer relationships? Customers are always right. Listen to your customers, know what they want, and deliver it to them. This mantra isn’t a priority for Apple. To customers, Apple is always right. When you make this transition where customers think of you as always right then, they will happily follow your lead.
Apple dictates the lead. Customers don’t always know what they want, they want to be directed. So apple upgrades with innovation that wows the market. Customers don’t tell apple what problem their device needs to solve. Apple solves a problem and makes users aware that a problem they didn’t know was an immediate problem has been solved in a recent release.
This builds anticipation and readiness that makes customers hungry for the product. This is the sales secret to more than 2 million sales in less than 3 months for a product that costs about 999 dollars. They make their product market-ready before the product launch. Users are always thinking, about what could be the next new features. Apple tells them, even before customers could think of it. The best form of customer service isn’t attending to their problems promptly but ensuring that no problem comes up. This is the most excellent customer service that Apple adopts.
Does Apple listen to customers? Maybe their appreciation is out of deep satisfaction. Do they know what they want and deliver it? Yes, maybe to put it better, they find a need they’ve not discovered yet and deliver it.
5. User engagement:
No business ever succeeds by staying disconnected from its customers. Apple takes time to tell users about their new upgrade. They announce to the market what new feature they’ve made and most importantly why the new upgrade is better. People want to stay current so take enough time to update them. Be at the front line of your market to answer questions, educate users and lead the awareness. Apple has the best at heart for its customers. They dictate the market but they don’t forget to engage the users.
There could be more on the inside that explains what’s seen on the outside. The result is what the market sees. Build your organization then build your brand.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Apple a great brand?
Apple is considered a great brand because of its interest in talent. Top talent understands the great professional development opportunities associated with the Apple brand, as well as the brand prestige associated with having Apple on their résumé.
How did Apple build brand loyalty?
According to a recent Entrepreneur magazine article, there are three significant elements of brand loyalty—they are persistent innovation, happy staff, and excellent customer service. Apple definitely wins on the first criteria, as perpetual innovation is in Apple’s DNA.
What is Apple’s marketing strategy?
Apple’s marketing strategy presents the brand in simple but effective ways. Apple’s 7Ps marketing strategy emphasises the product element of the marketing mix, and the company’s segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies are directed at premium product users.
- Customer Loyalty Programs & Ideas (+Top Rated Programs in 2022)
- APPLE BRAND AND LOYALTY: Creating a Brand the Apples Way
- PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY: How to Create a Product Development Strategy
- Customer Loyalty Software: Best Free Softwares for Small Business(Opens in a new browser tab)(Opens in a new browser tab)(Opens in a new browser tab)(Opens in a new browser tab)
2 comments
Apple strategy is amazing. It was a deliberate step for them knowing they have the capacity and fund to pull such strategies. How can small business with less fund and low budget for brand building achieve same result?