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Apple: Probably the most leading Branded Customer Experience Company
What lessons you can learn from it
Mr. Marco De Veglia
Partner, Trout & Partners
G-CEM International Partner (Italy)
www.medius.it
This article is exclusively written for G-CEM.
"We want you to feel smart"
What is a computer that you actually look at? What is a computer store where you feel at home and almost computer savvy? What is a cellphone people look at when you handle it? What is a MP3 player you proudly buy in a pink color and wear like a jewel? What is a computer brand you actually remember and care to say properly?
The answers: an Apple Mac, an AppleStore, an iPhone, an iPod and Apple.
Apple specs are like Rolls Royce specs: adequate. And frankly, nobody cares much about them. What they care is the logo.
Driving a car with a RR logo (or better, being driven) tells people you are rich. Using an electronic device with a Apple logo tells people you are smart.
The ingenious brand positioning of Apple is "the brand for the smart, independent, informally classy person". This is probably the end result of how Steve Jobs see himself, but it's undoubtly in the core of Apple brand.
Any Apple product is unique, follows it own rules (that others then copy) and has the best industrial design you can buy without appearing design obsessed (a la B&O).
And the goal is making you feel smart.
Apple: probably the most leading Branded Customer Experience company
Think about it. A computer you can use by clicking around - as it was the first Macintosh - instead of learning set of commands, makes you feel smart. Today, a computer you can use without worring answering every other second some alert about viruses, trojans, malware and actually letting you just use it, makes you feel smart. A phone interface where you just use your fingers (up to two) for everything, makes you feel smart. A device smaller than a lighter carring all your song library so you can listen to it wherever you want, makes you feel smart.
This is how Apple created a powerful brand: customer experience.
And customer experience is so central in the Apple brand that every little experience with the brand is thought of to make you feel smart.
Think about Apple packaging, so simply ingenious that makes you feel smart about how easily you got to the product, without leaving the table covered by cardboard, leaflets, polystyrene and assorted debris.
Think about the Applestores, designed like a fashion store with product displayed like designer clothes in a fashion store, with shopping assistants designed like fashion assistant, with light and images that make you feel like you belong to such a classy and smart place.
Think about the Apple power plugs that snap into place by magnetic force so they don't carry the computer to the floor when you tramp up into the power cord ("Oh, I have been smart, the plug disconnected and didn't carry the computer to the floor...").
Apple products are never about themselves. They are like butlers, ready to serve and to make YOU feel smart and important.
All the technical complexity is hidden and what is left are smooth surfaces, finger interaction, elegant images, natural interaction with electronic devices.
And, what you have is pure customer experience, so strong and powerful that it can overcome the weaknesses (yes there are weaknesses) of Apple choices.
It's branded customer experience at its best.
What can you learn from Apple branded customer experience?
Ok, you are not a computer or cellular phone maker (by the way, you would have problems in this case), but what you can borrow from Apple branded customer experience and apply to your brand and products?
There are a few factors that any business can borrow from Apple strategy.
1) Make the customer feel better about himself because he chooses your products
This is the key teaching you can get from Apple. Find the way so your customers feel better about themselves because they purchase your products.
It can be they feel smart, cool, cultured, stronger, more beautiful, rich, sexually powerful, desiderable, caring and all the good thing a customer can think about himself or herself.
A few example to clarify this concept:
- Apple chose to make customers feel smart and with a touch of coolness (that can backfire sometimes).
- Starbucks chose to make customers feel cultured ("I know good coffee, I will have a "cappuccinogrande") and rich ("Yeah, it's my $5 morning coffee").
- Harley Davidson chose to make customers cool and stronger ("I am a 50something overweight accountant, but have you seen the skull on my helmet? Don't mess with me buddy when I park my Harley").
- Zara makes customers feel smart ("It looks like a $100 sweater but I paid it $14") and fashion conscious ("This is like the Prada model they presented in Milan one month ago").
- Rolex makes customers feel rich ("I can afford a $5000 watch and you probably not").
The customer experience of your customers buying and using your brand shall be a subtle, almost invisible, ego massage.
Your products aren't cool: your customers are cool and that is why they buy your products.
2) Align the customer experience with the brand goal in any customer touchpoint
You have probably already read about this concept: take care of the customer experience in any customer touchpoint.
It's simple common sense: you have to send a unified message.
What can help you in staying on rout is using the "brand goal".
What you want your customer feel about himself when choosing your brand is your brand goal.
Apple chose "feeling smart". So they aligned the customer experience in all the customer touchpoints with the goal of making the customer feel smart. And they do a great job. We feel smart in Applestores, smart when we buy one from a helpful Apple assistant, smart when we look at the smart package, smart when we unpack it, smart when we look at that beautiful piece of machinery, smart when we use it and people peek at our gadget, smart when we feel we get more accomplished because, yes, our smart choice.
As in all aspect of marketing there is part of reality and part of imagination, but if you keep your customer experience consistent, every touchpoint reinforce the brand goal and at the end the customer believes it's only reality (good marketing is invisible).
Looking at our examples above:
- Starbucks makes sure they shops smell of good coffe, that the color say you are someone who understands this product and actually understand italian terms about it. You feel a sense of "democratic wealth" when you sit at a Starbucks and you are part of this subtle elite.
- Harley Davidson bikes and accessories say you are tough. And cool. You use just the best part of the Hell's Angels and leave the worst. Your bike isn't a bike, it's a beast. And your bike gear isn't anything you see worn by "normal" bikers, they don't get it. It's Harley gear: tough, strong, bad and cool because of that.
? Zara stores aren't about cheap fashion, they are about fashion, period. You go there and find the latest trends and apparel and accessories AND on top of that, you spend a fraction of what you would buying designer brands. You get the best of both world: you feel fashion conscious when walking around the shop and you feel budget conscious when you pay at the cashier.
- Rolex is bulky and heavy enough so you show it or it shows itself to others. The packaging smells Swiss and important so you know you got the real thing. The limitations are in the store where Rolex is competing with other luxury watch brands and customer experience is very limited. But the strenght of the brand can still hold.
Think about your packaging: how can you align that customer experience with the brand goal?
What about the naming of your products? What about design?
If you have stores, how can you align that customer experience with the overall brand goal?
Start with what you want your customer feels about himself and build on that.
3) Price accordingly: price is a key part of customer experience
You can use a premium price. You can use a cheaper price. Either way, you make an experience for the user.
It's not that one is better than the other (however, premium price gives you more space for marketing manouver). But it has to be aligned with the brand goal.
Apple and Zara both want to make they customer feel smart. But Apple is using a premium price and Zara a cheaper price than competitors.
It's correct for both:
- Apple premium price justifies the fact these products are more thought of, better designed, just slightly elitarian. Not too much expensive so price becomes an issue, enough to make it a little aspirational
- Zara cheaper price is the core brand goal. You get designer-like fashion with a far cheaper price so you can indulge more in your fashion shopping without feeling guilty, but at the opposite, feeling smart
- Starbucks is clearly premium price and again, the price is core in the brand goal. Being a coffee connoisseur means you can accept good coffee costs more than the cheap coffee down the street and it becomes a badge for your culture.
- Harley Davidson is premium price again because it's a brand for enthusiasts, love or leave it. The production is limited and so it has to be expensive. Being expensive means you filter out some people and that is good too for the Harley Davidson customer. It's like an initiation: when you can afford it, you're welcome
- Rolex is the epithome of premium price. You even say "it's the Rolex of..." to mean this is the really premium choice. For Rolex, price the most important issue: it is backed by perceived quality, but price is what you buy with a Rolex.
You buy other people envy and respect.
Price is not a secondary issue in any branding strategy. It's key in the brand strategy. And it's a key aspect of the customer experience. Because a customer gives you money only if feeling to get more value than the money spent. And spending money is a very emotional action and you have to take it in great consideration
So use price consciously, aligned with the branded customer experience you want to create.
The limitations of Apple strategy
Is it all good with Apple? Is Apple the best brand strategist in the World? Is Apple making no mistakes?
Of course not. No brand is without weaknesses.
And since we are studying apple objectively, in order to get ideas for our own business, it's worth to have a look at what Apple is not doing well.
1) If you want to do it alone, you will always be a niche brand
The recent battle that is ensuing with Google about the smartphone OS (operative system) market reminds almost exactly the one that happened 20 years ago between Apple and Microsoft about the desktop OS.
In the Nineties, Apple had an operative system with a one generation ahead graphical user interface. Microsoft had not, but was struggling to have a graphical interface to compete with Apple. Microsoft engineer ended up with the first very usable Windows interface (Windows95) and the rest is history. Apple wanted to keep its OS proprietary and so lost most of its market share.
Today, the iPhone is dwarfing all the other Android phones combined, but 2010 is the real first year of the Android and there are already 30,000 apps for the Androids compared to 100,000 for the iPhone. Android is an open OS and the iPhone has a closed OS. Android has several makers making phones and iPhone is made only by Apple. While the iPhone user interface is sleeker, it probably won't be enough to counter the sheer mass of choice and applications that are going to come. History will repeat itself, I am afraid and maybe 1 year from now choosing a iPhone will be considered as smart as choosing a Mac in late Nineties: not much.
2) If you live by customer experience, you can die by customer experience
Recently, Apple launched the iPad with much fanfare, like the new way of using computers. But what is exactly an iPad? It is a tablet computer a concept that was launched some years ago and never got tractions. Apparently, people do like keyboards with their computers. But whatever the reason, what customer problem an iPad is solving? It looks too much as an oversize iPod or a small tablet computer but without all the functionality of a real Mac. Is it really Apple working for the best customer experience of its customer with the iPad? I don't think so. It's the classic solution in search of a problem and this is never a right strategy for customer experience.
Customer experience is a delicate subject because it's really driven by customers, not by makers. If you have good antennas and you actually get your customers, you are a winner (as Apple did since Steve Jobs became CEO again), but if you get carried away by corporate "we know what it's better for you" you can make thundering blunders. With the iPad, Apple seems to do the latter and frankly I don't see how this product can become a winner. And all that in the middle of a strong battle with a rich, powerful and extremely aggressive brand as is Google.
But let's leave Apple with its upcoming problems and see what this lesson can tell you: be over-conscious of your customers and their customer experience. Never give it for granted, always control it and put yourself and your R&D in your customer shoes.
Never forget who is in charge of customer experience
It requires effort to create a winning customer experience, but it can give your brand a great advantage. However, you can spoil it very easily if you make products that aren't driven by your customer experience.
Apple branded customer experience is a great study and gives important insights about how customer experience today can build strong brands.
Unlike branding created by marketing communication alone (think FMCG), branding created with customer experience is much more sensitive to mistakes because there is an immediate reality check by the customer: "this feels ok" or "this doesn't feel ok".
With customer experience you are asking your customers to connect the dots with their daily experience to get their brand message and become loyal to your brand. It can be enormously effective as the Apple success - a small computer brand became the #1 name in some hypercompetitive consumer electronics market - shows.
However, never forget who is in charge with customer experience: your customer.
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About the Author
Marco De Veglia has worked in marketing communications since 1990. He has been Strategiic Planner Director and subsequently Head of Interactive Strategy for the D'Arcy Group and Head of CRM for Leo Burnett. From 1998 he is partner in Trout & Partners, the international network of brand strategy consultants. In over 10 years he has built brand strategies for several kind of business: products, services, Fortune 500 and startups, becoming the most recognized brand positioning expert in Italy. He is one of the historical members of G-CEM International Partners where he helps companies to build or "keep on route" brand with the new customer experience strategies.
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