Did you ever wonder what those famous brands do to stay relevant over such long periods, rock the market, and keep topping the charts in their industry? Apple is one of those brands that you see always coming up with new strategies to stay on top of their game. Overall, the average household has 1.6 Apple devices, with almost one-quarter planning to buy at least one more in the next year. So how do they do it? We looked at Apple’s business strategy as it’s one of the Top 10 Tech Companies. Here are the lessons that any business can learn from this market-conquering brand. 

A branding strategy that focuses on emotions

Lately, the world’s most famous brands are changing their marketing strategies towards connecting with their customers through emotions. After Covid-19 this has been an even more common strategy since peoples’ needs are rapidly changing. Apple has always been aware of consumers’ needs offering solutions as if they knew what people need before they even voice it. They craft their selling strategy on the basis that customers “need” their products for a better, more quality, simpler life, and a sense of being part of a community. Also, researchers say that a long time spent using or wearing products creates a stronger bond with the brand which is also a strategy that Apple uses.

Simplicity

Steve Jobs based the idea of Apple on the removal of complexity from people’s lives. Apple created a people-driven product design. Every platform, including desktops, laptops, phones, watches, tablets, and music streaming, is all about the brand’s idea of simplicity. It’s not just a simple, stylish design, but also a simple use of products and a simpler life when you use Apple’s product.

Sense of community among users

Apple plays on people’s need to feel they are part of something and in this case, something very cool. Apple, as well as many famous brands, formed a tribe around its brand. Owning their products means you’re joining Apple’s team. You become part of their collective identity. Just think about all those mirror selfies where a finger is never hiding the Apple logo but on the contrary, it’s important to people for the logo to be clearly visible. That’s how you show off to the world who is your tribe.

One in four Apple customers says they have chosen products by Apple because their friends had the same products.

No tech talk

It’s a fact that Apple’s technology is great, and they have a lot to brag about and shower you with tech information. But they don’t. Why is that? Selling and marketing are about customers, feelings, and emotions. You purchase Apple because of those, not because of configuration. Consumers already trust the brand and its technology, so they need to be presented with something new to create interest in new products.

Apple decided not to mention any features of their new product, yet convince its audience that this is the ultimate tool for creativity.

They use words such as ‘the thinnest ever’, or ‘the most advanced yet’ which makes people feel like they have a very special product in their hands, without crowding the presentation with tech terms that will get most people to scratch their heads.

Consumer experience

Apple delivers the same experience on the website, app store, all products, software, ads so when you purchase their products you always know what to expect. You don’t need countless hours to figure out how the system works. If you had one Apple product you will know how to use others intuitively. Devices interact with one another allowing you to use them at your convenience and not be restricted by their technical capabilities.

“Apple added the ability to use iMessage and FaceTime from an iPad, for example, allowing you to carry on your iPhone conversations on a tablet. Then it introduced a similar feature to Macs, also adding in support for full phone calls. The more Apple devices you used, the better they worked together.”

Also, when there’s a problem, they take responsibility and resolve it quickly. This directly affects customer trust in the brand since people know what they are buying, they don’t have to wonder if the technology will not be user friendly and customers know that there’s someone who will help them at the end of the day if they have any questions.

Pricing control

While many brands often do sales, big discounts, Black Friday sales, Apple chooses to stay perceived as a luxurious brand. For instance, the average household income of a Mac owner is $98,500. Although you don’t need the fortune to purchase their products, you do need money investment planning ahead. Once the customer pays a little more than an average price in the industry, they feel like they have something worthy, long-lasting, and better quality.

Apple doesn’t focus on acquiring new customers through price or by presenting a ratio between price and quality. They do it by making consumers loyal to Apple products, by offering amazing and outstanding customer experience.

Name and domain

The company’s name was the idea of Steve Jobs, inspired by his visit to an apple farm while on a fruitarian diet. Jobs explained that he thought the name “Apple” was “fun, spirited and not intimidating”. Even Apple’s first logo depicted Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree based on gravity invention. They started with the name Apple Computers. Later on, the company expanded its offering products beyond computers, so it changed the name to Apple Inc., reducing the number of letters and becoming easier to remember. The company owns over 25,000 domains. Apple.com was secured on February 19th, 1987, as a top-level domain. Just like other big brands, they also registered names of their products, names with added words, dashes, typos, and a lot of country extensions for their country-specific operations. With a very strong domain strategy, they make their customers feel safe. Consumers can be sure that they will end up on the website owned by Apple, not some scam sellers using Apple’s name, since they did such a good job on brand protection.

It’s interesting how many aspects of Apple’s marketing strategy are there. Taking care of product quality, customer experience, brand trust, brand protection, attention to detail is what distinguishes this brand from others. That’s what makes them one of the best. These lessons can be used and interpreted for every brand, as well as serve as inspiration for new ideas and solutions.

Which of those lessons will you implement in your business strategy?
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