Abstract
In this age of globalization and digital media, companies with innovative marketing strategies and tactics have been able to maintain and sustain the brand’s equity in the eyes of the consumers in a profitable manner.
In view of the requirement of the project, the brand selected to study a consumer’s loyalty factor is ‘Apple Inc’.
The target segments of Apple are the millenials who are more into technology and also those demographics who are able to pay the premium price for the phones, the strategy of Apple to create a brand niche in the minds of the consumers with iPods and Macs, resulted in the strong sense of affiliation with the launch of the iPhone series and have been growing strongly ever since, as evidenced with Mr. XYZ position on the Apple mobile phones.
With the numbers shared in relation to consumers wanting to switch to Apple, it is quite clear that Apple is leading the race amid competition when it comes to brand equity and have carved a very special niche in the minds of the consumers and with the constant introduction of new services and products the equity is stronger than ever.
The Importance of Brand Building
Introduction
In this age of globalization and digital media, the consumers are more in control with regards to their needs and requirements for brands and the loyalty factor with brands has diminished, and with intense competition, amid all the sectors, brand building has become very difficult, however, with innovative marketing strategies and tactics, many brands have been able to maintain and sustain the brand’s equity in the eyes of the consumers in a profitable manner.
In view of the requirement of the project, the brand selected to study a consumers loyalty factor is ‘Apple Inc’.
The following interview was conducted with an old friend, Mr.XYZ, who has been an Apple mobile phone user for the last 7 years and is a strong Apple loyalist.
Primary Research
The first question that was asked, was specifically as to Why Apple mobiles and not other brands, the response was very interesting as it started with a rhetoric, once you have tasted the ‘Apple’, you don’t want to taste other fruits, the reference of course to other mobiles.
The second question, What about Apple Mobiles that drew him to be a staunch Apple loyalist, the reply was, Apple is a game changer in the mobile industry and besides, the features and attributes of the mobile it is the status and an emotive connect with Apple that attracts towards the company.
The response highlighted the brand name and the logo, the style and design of the mobile phone, technology, and features, and most importantly, innovation at its best and guaranteed quality for the premium price being paid.
The devotion with which Mr. XYZ, revere Apple Mobile phones, can be gauged from a statistical viewpoint and as stated in an article in BGR, referencing a survey by RBC Capital Markets, pooling more than 6,000 consumers, that resulted in Apple mobiles as the runaway leaders in both brand loyalty with 83% endorsing iPhone and Smartphone purchase intent (Epstein, 2015).
The third question in the interview was in relation to Apple’s innovative marketing communication and tactics playing a role in the brand loyalty, to which the interviewee, replied in the affirmative, the reason being that Apple’s marketing and advertising campaigns always connects with the consumers.
The recent advertising campaign is a testament to Apple’s tactics in view of the answer shared above, the company recently relaunched the ‘Shot on the iPhone’ campaign, with the premise being the photos selected are all shot with the iPhone by amateur and professional consumers and the selected pictures were showcased globally on billboards in 26 countries (Hardwick, 2016).
The last question was, Will you ever contemplate changing the brand for rival brands, and the reply showcased the brand loyalty of Mr. XYZ, to Apple, he explained that he was presented Samsung S7 series recently by his Father in Law, and he had to politely decline, since he won’t be using the product, and once it dawned that he is an Apple fan, he was given the Apple 6s plus.
The interview showcases the depth of Apple’s connect with the consumers, and the brand building of Apple mobile phones that is moving forward in spite of a very challenging and dynamic mobile market.
The most important pointer that is taken from the interview is the blind faith in the Apple products by consumers such as Mr. XYZ.
Secondary Research
Apple as a brand is listed in the top 10 list of fortune 500 published last year, the brand value of the company is nearly $200 billion, and the most impressive aspect of the company is constant innovation by introducing new products and services, to develop new revenue streams (Apple, 2015).
The brand loyalty of Apple mobile users can be gauged from the fact that iPhone 6 had a record breaking launch and in the first 3 days 10 million units were sold, across all segments.
The strategy adopted to build the Apple brand is very strategic, since the primary target segments are teens and young adults, and with premium pricing of mobile phones, Apple started by targeting the segment with iPods, that were affordable and a new technological innovation of its time, and subsequently the launch of smart phones converted the iPod users to iPhone in a very profitable manner (Gaille, 2015).
The strength of Apple mobile phones equity is tremendous; the faith on Apple products is blind by the loyalists, and only half of the Apple target demographics are impressed with the phone, still they prefer to stay with Apple rather switching to the much better window phones (Gaille, 2015).
The best customers for Apple brands and specifically mobile phones are the young millennial with high incomes, and the ones with strong interest in technology, in relation to the numbers shared in his blog by Gaille (2015), the average age of an Apple consumer is 35-44, and in relation to the mobile phones, 40% of the company’s revenue is credited to the iPhone.
Apple as a brand has always positioned the company as the innovator in all the genres that they participate in, the most recent addition of services such as Apple Pay and Apple Watch is a case in point that helps the company to keep the brand equity positioned strongly in the eyes of the core Apple consumers.
The most significant milestone of a brand can be measured from the switch, it garners from a competitive brand; in this regard Apple mobile phones are leading Samsung, since more than 10% of Samsung phone users responded in affirmative over plans to switch to an iPhone, on the contrary on 4% iPhone users planned a competitive switch (Epstein, 2015).
Customer satisfaction is the key for a brand to position its services in an effective manner and Apple has been able to score high on the satisfaction index even in South Korea, Samsung’s home that showcases Apple’s strength in reaction to its strong equity and the impressive brand building process to stand in the position it is currently.
Conclusion
The significance of the brand building process and its impact on the brand equity is the key for any product or service, and in relation to the aforementioned discussed company, i.e. Apple and the interview done, it is quite clear that Apple has carved a very special niche in the minds of the consumers and Apple understands the pulse of the consumers, that helps them to keep introducing new services and products that impacts the equity strongly from a profitability standpoint.
References
Apple (2015). Fortune 500. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/fortune500/apple-5/
Epstein, Z. (2015). Apple continues to Crush Samsung Where It Matters Most. BGR. Retrieved from http://bgr.com/2015/06/29/apple-vs-samsung-brand-loyalty-survey-rbc/
Gaille, B. (2015). 18 Key Apple Target Market Demographics. Brandon Gaille.
Retrieved from http://brandongaille.com/18-apple-target-market-demographics/
Hardwick, T. (2016). Apple Relaunches ‘Shot on iPhone’ Marketing Campaign for iPhone 6s. MacRumours.
Retrieved from http://www.macrumors.com/2016/02/01/apple-relaunches-shot-on-iphone-6s/
