J.D.
apple brand analysis
Why is Apple Inc. popular and well known?
Demographics
Apple Inc. was a corporation founded on April 1st, 1976 in the state of California by Steve jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. The corporation was known for its innovation and design, and selling of electronics across a specific market. The company faced much competition against organizations such as Samsung, which began to do as Apple did -they upgraded their technology to keep up with changing consumer interests. The company owned several products including the cloud, itunes, iphones, macbooks, and more. Below is a more detailed perspective into the Apple corporation:
Apple's vision and mission statement
"“We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing. We are constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the simple not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. We believe in saying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot. And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self- honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change. And I think regardless of who is in what job those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well (Rowland C., 2017).”
"Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices (Farfan, B., 2016)."
Value Proposition
According to an article by Think Marketing, Apple's core value is not Think Different. Apple's value proposition stems from being fast and reliable to the end consumer. The company values innovation. "It’s core value is to make the best products in the market and focus on selected products so that they can develop and innovate (Think Marketing, 2016)." Innovation is all about thinking outside the box, doing analysis, and coming out with the best alternative solution for improvement to meet the changing consumer interest.
"These core values are the reason that Apple products have been so consistently excellent, and they are the reason that you can walk into any Apple store across the world and get the same experience. From sales associates to top executives, Apple is united by a common culture. And it is that culture that ensures that Apple customers enjoy the experience that they have come to expect whenever they interact with Apple.
“Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that — it is in our DNA” Tim Cook
Breaking down Apple’s mission statement (business philosophy) and this quote from Tim Cook:
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We believe that we’re on the face of the Earth to make great products.
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We believe in the simple, not the complex.
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We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make.
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We participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution.
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We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us.
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We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot.
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We don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change (Think marketing, 2016)."
Apple is unique int he fact that it research the ever-changing consumer interest. The company maintains consistency and strives for excellence. In doing that, Apple should be very successful in the industry it targets.
Goals
Some of Apple's main goals, based on the analysis above are listed below:
1) To be innovative
2) To maximize net earnings
2) To have high-quality, high-priced products and;
3) Be the number one company in design and device industry.
References
Anastasia, (2015). Why is the Apple design so successful?. https://www.cleverism.com/why-apple-design-successful/
Evans, J. (2015). The untold story behind Apples 'Think Different' campaign.
Farfan, B. (2016). What is Apple's mission statement? https://www.thebalance.com/apple-mission-statement-4068547
Gould, S., & Yarrow, J. (2014). Here's where Apple really makes money.
http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-where-apples-money-comes-from-2014-12
Hoxe, H. (2015). Young marketers. http://www.slideshare.net/hieuhoxe/young-marketers-elite-2013-assignment-31
Jurvicius, O. (2016). Apple SWOT Analysis. https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/swot-analyses/apple-swot-analysis.html
Petten, Z. (2015). Apple Company Financial Analysis. http://www.slideshare.net/ZelPetten/apple-companys-financial-analysis
Rowlans, C. (2017). Apple's vision statement and mission statement. http://panmore.com/apple-mission-statement-vision-statement
Think Marketing. (2016). Have you ever read about Apple's core values? https://thinkmarketingmagazine.com/apple-core-values/
"They look clean, the interfaces are free from clutter, and the fonts are elegant and clean as well.
When Apple designs a good-looking product, you can tell that it really is good-looking. Other brands and manufacturers shamelessly copy the design features of Apple products, and they are rarely able to do it right (Anastasia, 2015)."
Part of the reason why it takes a considerably long time for the design teams at Apple to come up with new products is how they pay a lot of attention to every detail of the design.
A lot of people are trend chasers, especially the younger segment. People always want the next best thing and Apple takes advantage of that and hits those markets.
They have loyal customers who have been a customer since the original iPhone.
Higher income earners is their target and they have high potential for Apple to make a profit.
People love the design and conveniency.
MacBook layout ergonomic friendly
Higher quality
Higher advertising spending
Brand Analysis
Strengths
1. Advertising
Even though Apple spends less on advertising, it still achieves greater brand recognition and more revenue for the money spent than Samsung.
2. Strong distribution channels
Having multiple distribution channels gives Apple Inc an advantage. It provides grater amount of products and reaching more consumers, resulting in greater sales.
3. Brand reputation and awareness
Apple's image is printed in the minds of many people around the world. Word of mouth is a great advertising scheme when the company is producing high-quality products that many people enjoy and find convenient.
1. Focus is too much toward iphone sales
Because the focus in much on iphone sales, other potential areas get ignored.
2. Low research and development expenditure
R&D is needed in a company to be able to analyze consumer interests and without it, the business has barriers to the potential it could be reaching.
Weaknesses
Opportunities
1. "internet of things" is growing quickly and even more over the next decade
"Currently, more than 20 billion devices are connected to the Internet and this number is expected to grow by 50% to 30 billion by 2020." The company is going to be able to earn an even bigger profit as more devices will be demanded. It just has to develop the "next best thing."
2. Health-related wearable gadgets
Expected to grow by 35% rate on average each year until 2019.
For example, they could introduce a smartwatch that analyzes calorie intake.
1. Intensifying competition
This puts pressure on Apple to maintain its image and stay competitive in the industry. Apple has trouble maintaining its revenues by focusing on competition. Although, competition is what makes Apple updated and high quality. Without competition, what is Apple?
2. Rising US exchange rate
With the rising US exchange rate, Apple’s revenue and profits generated outside of the U.S. are likely to decrease when converted to U.S. dollars.
Threats
Ovidijus Jurevicius , 2016
Personality
Position Map
Apple is known for its high-quality, high-price characteristics. The photo above is a position map. A position map is a marketing tactic that shows where a company is in comparison to its competitors. In the case here, apple is in the 4th quadrant, which is excellent. It is just above Sony, and way above Acer, known for low quality, low price.
Promise
"As an innovator in technology, we give people the power to define who you are: live the lifestyle you want, to imagine amazing things, to be free, to follow your passions, your hopes, your dreams through simple but sentimental products (Hiếu Hôxê, 2015)."
To deliver reliable technology.
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Reliable,
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Innovative
Identity
Position
Apple positions its brand as "design at its best, the future of devices." It tries to be the biggest competitor in the technology industry.
"Target
Age 18-40, both genders
Income above 50,000/yr
Big cities worldwide
Elegant, simple, luxury, high-class (Hieu, Hoxe, 2015)."
Since Apple devices are higher priced and of higher quality, it makes sense that higher-class, higher income segments would purchase theses items. They have more disposable income than that of a lower-class, lower-income segment.
Position
'Think Different' came along because of the fact that Apple was running out of ideas. was writing down slogans until one clicked. This was one that brought Apple back in the market in 1997.
The 3 P's
Revenues
Expenses
Highest area of revenue is the iPhone technology that targets many consumers ( a weakness because other areas of potential profit get ignored). Other areas included:
iPad,
MacBook, and the lowest being;
the iPod(one of the older versions).
Some major areas of expenses were:
Research and development(even though they have a low expenditure),
Operating costs, and;
Sales, General, and Administration
Apple targets both genders, higher income earners, aged between 18-45, married, and professional workers. The products that this company produces are higher-priced products of high quality. It makes sense that it was target higher earners because these people want luxury items and enjoy good quality materials.
Example: The iPhone targets both genders, aged 20-45, higher earners, and professionals who are married. Makes sense because people want a simple and convenient device to keep track of everyday tasks.
"Target
Age 18-40, both genders
Income above 50,000/yr
Big cities worldwide
Elegant, simple, luxury, high-class (Hieu, Hoxe, 2015)."
Since Apple devices are higher priced and of higher quality, it makes sense that higher-class, higher income segments would purchase theses items. They have more disposable income than that of a lower-class, lower-income segment.