A lot of work, effort and expectations goes on building a brand to monetizing it. People often think success is escalated with minimal work, Marketing efforts or none. Today we would like to share how Steve Job with Apple, the first American company to exceed $1 trillion in market capitalization, and in 2020 it doubled. It wouldn’t have happened if the company didn't do an incredible job in marketing its products.
Steve Jobs managed to build a brand that still remains one of the strongest company till today. No one can replicate his legacy but it’s possible to learn some lessons. Here we'll share his best marketing principles that you can apply to your own company or personal brand.
1. Don’t Sell Features
“We don’t stand a chance of advertising with features and benefits and with RAMs and with charts and comparisons. The only chance we have of communicating is with a feeling.”
The best you can learn from Apple’s co-founder is, in my opinion, to sell emotions, not features. Steve perfected it in Apple and we can still see his influence to this day.
You don’t buy an iPad to draw or watch movies, Apple sells a belief that people who buy an iPad will be able to learn, express themselves, and change the world anywhere they go with an iPad. Oh, and yeah, you can watch movies there too.
But how do you achieve this level of product’s value? You will have to set a goal of what feeling you want to achieve and work backward. Your features should also align with the belief you sell, for example: if Apple says that an iPad is a device that will help us to study, work, play everywhere we go, it should be portable, i.e. compact, thin, and light. iPad achieves that, which makes customers believe in its portability.
You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology — not the other way around.
A different way to show your values is through collaborations. For example, Nike sponsoring athletes, or Apple collaborating with artists like Selena Gomez, Drake, or Taylor Swift. Brand ambassadors also make a difference. What would you associate a brand with if George Clooney was the ambassador vs if it was Billie Eilish? Completely different images. That’s why it’s important to understand what will an ambassador bring to your brand.
2. Build a Tribe
Turn Consumers Into Evangelists, Not Just Customers.
People who buy Apple products are not just customers, they are treated differently. The culture behind Apple evolved through the years. The anticipation before an Apple is unique, the hype after the new iPhone’s release is just unlike any other product in the world. By turning people who buy your stuff into fans, it automatically becomes a free tool to make your brand more recognizable.
We always wanted to belong, we are social animals, it’s our nature to be a part of a tribe. Whether it’s personal or company brand building, it’s clear that the most successful ones are a community, I think that we can see it in a lot of car brands, like Porsche or BMW where car owners are true fans of the brand.
3. Show Who You are Selling To
Apple is famous for its unique commercials. One thing that I find interesting about them (apart from the filmmaking and editing) is that they are constantly telling who are their customers. They are selling their products to artists, professionals, creative people, and those who think differently. As I mentioned before, we love to associate ourselves with something, Apple uses these commercials to show who are the products made for, it also helps to build up that brand image.
4. Convenience
Perhaps the most important thing about Apple products is that they are really easy to use. And this alone is a unique selling point that got Apple the first place in tech. It is easy to use from the moment you buy it. You don’t need to wait in a queue in the Apple store, no one rushes you, spend as much time in the store as you want to. When you open the box, it’s incredibly easy to set up an iPhone. MacBook turns on itself when you first open the laptop. iCloud makes it easy to sync all of your devices with each other. And buying a new product is as easy as using them. People don’t buy AirPods because of the sound, they just work seamlessly with an iPhone and other Apple devices, that’s it. Maybe you can’t design your products as Steve Jobs did for Apple, but you can get rid of friction. Make the experience of buying your product frictionless and enjoyable, people will choose you over the competitors who didn’t prioritize this.
5. Customers First
Another thing that can win your competition is the relationship with the customer. Steve Jobs also set this value and we can still see how Apple treats their customers. I won’t go in-depth into this because Apple really tries to get the best experience for customers possible, from their stores to their services or support, it’s simply pleasant when a company tries to help you with your problem and treats you as an individual.
Conclusion
We can see how brands all over the world are trying to replicate what Apple has done. If you want to get your company to the next level, then you can use the strategies Steve Jobs used to make his company the greatest:
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Sell emotions.
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Build a community around your products.
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Show who you are making your product for.
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Make it frictionless.
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Customers above all else.
People often say that Steve Jobs didn’t do anything in the company except marketing, even if it is so, he absolutely nailed it. Apple is criticized for the price of their products, but I think that when you get this type of convenience, customer support, quality, and emotions, it’s worth paying for.
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs
