What is Apple? Is it a computer maker? Or is it something far more profound? After all, what other company in the world can put on a press conference and seemingly automatically have it transformed into an event, one in which millions of people tune into, all over the world?
The reason Apple is so successful all comes down to the fact that it is much more than just a company. It’s a marketing specialist, a publishing house, and, perhaps most importantly, a movement. Apple gets so many things right that other businesses get wrong that it provides educational material for us all.
Ignore The Naysayers
If there’s one thing that you hear a lot of when you become an entrepreneur, it’s criticism. But Apple doesn’t bother with the critics, especially when it comes to its events. This year, big news outlets, like Fortune and the New York Times, criticized Tim Cook’s iPhone 7 launch event for being too boring. It was a “yawn fest,” according to one commentator. But Cook didn’t care, and neither, it seems, did the fans.
Apple decided from the start that 2016 wasn’t going to be the year when it made its next big breakthrough, unlike what many observers expected. Instead, it doubled down on its policy of producing premium consumer electronics, despite the perceived cost. And, given the company’s healthy profits this year, it seems as if the strategy is working.
It should be remembered that when Apple showcased its new iPad back in 2010, critics said it would fail. But, of course, the numbers said otherwise, and the product went from success to success.
Justify The Price
A key part of Apple’s event marketing is justifying the price that it charges for its products. The first thing that they do is make their products look as beautiful as possible. Sure, Samsung might make tablets with better internal components and higher performance, but it’s Apple whose products look the best. When it comes to the rest of the market, there is nobody who can compete with the anodized aluminum finish that graces Apple’s lineup
The next thing that Apple does at their events is it gives people hands-on experience of the benefits their products offer: benefits that can’t be matched by their competitors. Apple understands that customers need to be able to see and feel a new product or technology themselves before they really understand how it can benefit them.
Small businesses should do this too, providing customers with real life examples of their products and services in action. This can be as simple as giving people free tasters of your latest homemade jams, or as complicated as offering CV writing assistance, there and then.
Talk To Your Audience In Their Language
Have you ever asked yourself how Apple crossed the “geeky chasm?” After all, it is a tech company, and tech companies have a habit of not being cool. It managed to do it by talking to its customers in the language that they wanted to hear. For instance, rather than listing display resolutions, like 1920x1080, it says things like “edge to edge display” or “LED backlighting.”
