Apple, Position of a Leader
by LucyStephenson
One of the most recent areas of study has been Value Propositions, which takes introduced me to the Article “Positioning” by Al Ries and Jack Trout. In this Article, they discuss how brand imaging and a companies effort to develop their products and company more are difficult in the long run, due to the first impressions of the consumers. Something that is continuously discussed in the article is how a brands name is the upmost important factor affecting its sales and the desire for its products. Taking Apple as an example for a company with one of the most prestige and popular names in the world: “Ries and Trout argue [that] the success of a brand is not due to the high level of marketing acumen of the company itself, but rather, it is due to the fact that the company was first in the product category” (Ries and Trout, 2010) Relating this to Fang Fang’s Blog post (https://connect.ubc.ca/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_45357_1%26url%3D), where she discusses the new iPhone 6 being imported into China and sold for a ridiculous sum of $1800, is simply due to Apple’s already outstanding reputation. It is popular, easy to use and stylish, making people attracted to it and therefor willing to pay more that what is reasonable and stand in queue’s for days. Whats more is that Apple was one of the first companies to come up with the no keyboard/ one button phone, making it as Ries and Trout say “the first in the product category”. Apple constantly upgrades it’s products, making it a kind of addiction for consumers of Apple to always buy the newest software, phone or laptop.
Ries, Al, and Trout, Jack. “Product Positioning.” Product Positioning. QuickMBA, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014. <http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/ries-trout/positioning/>.
Fang, Fang. “Chinese Smugglers Make Big Bucks on IPhone 6.” Web log post. FangFang’s Blog. N.p., 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 28th Sept. 2014. <https://connect.ubc.ca/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_45357_1%26url%3D>.