Apple is one of the most valuable brands in the world. They are well known for having customers with high levels of brand loyalty, with customers queueing up for hours outside their stores to buy the newest products.
There is a great deal of brand loyalty for all of the products that Apple produces, especially the Mac and iPhone, but also the iPod in the past, and the Apple Watch more recently. Apple focuses on design and innovation, ensuring that before any product goes to market that it fits with the brand’s theme and that it has the biggest chance of impressing its fans.
Steve Jobs as the figurehead of Apple for many years had a big impact on branding. His name still carries weight with the company today, with tech reviewers commenting on whether a new product would fit with his ethos and his ideas about the brand. As the face of Apple, he was integral to the branding of the company and its products, and will always be synonymous with Apple.
Apple’s retail stores also play a big part in its branding strategy. Having physical stores ensure that their brand is in front of people in the real world as well as in media. This differs to other similar tech companies like Samsung, who are not known for their physical retail presence. Also, the unique style of Apple stores benefits the brand, with supposed ‘geniuses’ working in the stores to advise customers, and products on show to try out. Around the launch of new products, Apple’s retail stores are a popular place to be.
Apple works on a people-driven basis. It focuses not on making new products that are the most outlandish or the most technologically advanced, but instead on what customers want and need. They put the customer at the heart of everything they do.
