The blog I found is about how high brand items are sometimes lucking in quality. They why do people still buy them? The reason is that such customers are not looking for something that is more efficient or easily useable, rather they purchase such brand items for its appearance. I think such case is usually seen in clothing industry, as clothing does not necessarily relate to one’s life as oppose to car or food industries. In this case, the function of a product is not the main focus of the customers. Customers believe by having a brand item, they can establish social status.
Contrary some brands are known for high performance of their products. Especially tool industries where customers’ focus is more on the quality aspects rather than product design.
It is common for a brand to have one of these two aspects excelled, but not both. It is clear if they could have the best quality at the same time as the exceptional design, they can maximize the demand for their products. Then why do they not do it? The simple answer to this question is that it is very challenging to do so, thus only few companies satisfy both aspects. One of such companies that the blog author mentions in the blog is Apple; the innovative technology company originated in California. Apple has been recognized its high luxury brand image as well as its excellent product performance amongst people. This resulted in the author to think that Apple is potential candidate for being a luxury and high quality brand. I somewhat agree with this claim. I personally am a Mac user as well and I have been quite satisfied with my Apple products. I think I would have completely agreed with his claim if Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple who was in charge of designing its products. The new iPhone was released not long ago. The sales of this new product iPhone 6 has been surging. However, there is a significant defect in this new product. If there is a certain pressure is applied to the device, it could bend. Although this undesirable fact about the product is widely spread on the Internet and mass media, its sales are still booming. I think the major reason for this is that Apple has a substantial and established brand image through other old products.
iPhone 6 was the first product released after the death of Jobs, so Apple as a whole has been facing a major phase change, which could have resulted in such product deficiency. For iPhone 6 only, I feel like that Apple was more like one of such luxury brands, neglecting their product quality. I hope Apple finds a way to return to its established position in the market and continue fascinating us with their innovative products.
Bibliography
McKenna, Shane. “PPC Brand Campaigns | Vroom Digital.” Vroom Digital. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.
ESPOSITO, DOM. “Apple’s IPhone 6 Plus Gets Put through ‘bend Test’ in New Video.” 9to5Mac. N.p., 23 Sept. 2014. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.
Godin, Seth. “Seth’s Blog.” Seth’s Blog. N.p., 30 Oct. 2014. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.