The Clever, Deceitful Apple
"Apple blah blah blah blah blah blah blah" is probably how some people may read the preceding paragraph. Indeed, the tech world has become divided in their views of the company known as Apple Inc. Some consider Apple a religion, while some people are morally against Apple, doing everything in their power to make sure they never set their eyes on the iconic logo. It's no secret that Apple products are not cheap: The most inexpensive Mac computer you can buy is the Mac mini, which starts at $599. The cheapest iOS device you can currently buy (without having to sign a 2-year contract) is the iPod touch, which is $229. To upgrade or repair your product, you have to fork over hundreds of dollars. It's been a longstanding mystery amongst Apple-haters why people buy $1500 MacBook Pros when there are other high-end laptops with better specs for under $1000. Why should someone spend hundred of more dollars on something that merely bears a symbol for an apple? Why does Apple have a cult following? Well, it's all due to marketing; clever, deceitful, ingenious marketing.
From Apple's very beginning, they have taken ideas that already existed and changed their design and purpose. The Apple II, for example, was one of the first successful personal computers, computers that an ordinary person could learn to use without having to learn complicated computer science. The original Macintosh was one of the first successful computers to have a graphical user interface. But all of these ideas existed before Apple came along to exploit them. Apple has rarely ever come up with an original idea on their own for a product. What is their justification? Steve Jobs once quoted Picasso: "Good artists copy, great artists steal." Jobs related that quote to Apple as being part of its DNA. After Jobs died, several Apple executives were asked what they thought about Jobs' statement. The general agreement was that when Jobs said "steal", he really meant make it your own. There is a large difference between simply copying something and making something your own. When you make something your own, you actually care about it, and you will protect it from people trying to copy it.
Naturally, companies looking to sell their products will overly embellish them in their advertisements. Apple is no exception. Pull up any Apple promotional page. Chances are, the page describes the product as revolutionary, magical, or phenomenal. Apple's marketing is different, however, from conventional technology marketing. It is modelled (or should I say stolen) from Nike's ad campaign. In a speech given at the turn of the century, Steve Jobs told an audience of Apple employees that Nike's advertising campaign was ingenious. In summary, Jobs noted how most tech companies try to tell its consumers about all the totally rad hi-tech features and specifications in their products. He then pointed out how Nike never actually goes in-depth about their own products in their commercials. Instead, what they do is honor great athletes, which is the reason they exist: to build a foundation for athletes. Jobs connected this marketing strategy to Apple. He said that Apple's purpose is to build a foundation for people to invent new ideas and bring about change. That is how the notorious Think Different campaign started, and this type of marketing still exists in Apple's commercials today. The latest Apple advertising campaign is called What will your verse be?, and it surrounds basically the same concept that Jobs envisioned with Think Different. Your Verse commercials don't go into detail about the iPhone, iPad, or Mac; rather, they show scenes where these products are in use for an artistic, educational, scientific, or otherwise fundamental purpose. It all comes down to how humanity is able to do many things in a way like a story. And by purchasing an Apple product, you can add your own verse to this whole global story of creativity. It's a very intelligent marketing strategy that appeals to the end-user emotionally, above all else.
Apple sells its products through emotional appeal, which may explain the almost cult following some Apple fanboys exhibit. To top it off, Apple takes great ideas crafted by other people and makes it their own (admittedly stealing them). These marketing techniques are at the core of the Apple debate. Apple-lovers will argue how Apple products have beautiful and simplistic design, while Apple-haters will argue that these descriptions are simply a manifestation of Apple's deceitful marketing. The truth, in my eyes, has elements of both views. Apple's marketing is powerful, emotional, and motivational. They support the goal of technology to serve the creative interests of humanity, something other tech companies aren't selling as strongly. These maxims may hold to be true: technology does serve for the purposes of creativity, and Apple will design their products surrounding this philosophy for the purposes of marketing. The marketing strategy won't work if they don't take at least something out of it.
A final thought I might controversially add is one of Google. Google exhibits the same commercial qualities as Apple. While Apple's campaign revolves around creativity, Google revolves around innovation (some may argue that innovation and creativity are actually synonyms!). Google commercials will honor the innovative and revolutionary humanity that surrounds us, and this also affects the end-user emotionally. This may explain how Google is sometimes perceived as being more innovative than Apple; it's all a manifestation of clever, deceitful marketing.