As you all know, Apple is probably one of the best at marketing their products to consumers. I personally, think that they’re products, such as the iPhone, Macbook, etc. are great, but they aren’t the MOST technologically sound. Yet, they seem to be eating up more and more market share. If it isn’t solely because of the product, then what is it? Well, I think marketing plays a majority role in how well their gadgets sell.
For example, iPods and iPhones. The change in technology from one generation to the next isn’t really that significant. A video camera mounted on a phone has been around for about 10 years now. But since apple decided to put a camera on the next generation of iPod nano’s the public seems to be in utter awe from this “advancement”. People then start buying the NEW nano because of the “neat new gadget” that is has on it. Same thing goes for the touch screen, video chat working only in an area with Wifi. As we learned in marketing, firms want to create a sense of value in their product to the customers and Apple has done exactly that.
Another example of why Apple has done a superb job marketing its product is the famous iPad. It is almost exactly the same as the Kindle, but since it is associated with the Apple Brand, consumers are willing to pay more because they “value” that brand’s product more than its competitors.
Apple has done a great job targeting the younger generations who will ultimately run the corporate world in the next few decades in hopes to change the status quo from PC to Mac. Their promotions such as the back to school sale where students receive a free iTouch and printer along with their macbook purchase is one of the best ideas I have ever seen. Since they hook all the young students onto using the Mac interphase at such a young age, these students, as they grow older will prefer mac over PC because of the consumer loyalty that mac has invoked upon them.
At the moment, I think that if Apple’s marketing campaigns keep up the same quality of work that they are doing they will most likely over run RIM, and the PC operating system in no time. This is why marketing matters so much in the business world.