Apple's Use Of Social Media

Their message to consumers is “its so soft” and they have promoted this message from the beginning

It is quite obvious from the case that Apple is facing many obstacles. It has way more competitors today than it had two or three decades back. Part of it has to with the highly globalized environment that companies are operating in these days. Another major obstacle is the technological environment which is rapidly changing compared to the one that Apple experienced when it first emerged on the global scene. But the most important of it all seems to be a mental thing. It appears that Apple, over a period of time, developed a rigid mental model that related success of Apple with sheer innovation. This same mental model has lead to demise of many companies in the past, Xerox Corporation being the prime example of that.

Apple Inc. has provided many innovative and creative products to consumers over the years. Many industry analysts want to know if Apple can sustain its growth and defend against new competitive threats. Apple lost their CEO Steve Jobs in 2011 to

Appears that anywhere you look today you will find someone using social media. With advertisements and commercials even billboards Social Media appears to be anywhere you look. Social Media is such a big thing today, according to study provided by the website Socialnomics, individuals devote 700 billion minutes every month on Facebook (statisticbrain.com). Social Media has now become so much better for advertising that it is changing how business is done.

To determine the alignment between the stated values of Apple Inc. and their actual plans and actions we first need to review their mission and vision statement. According to "Investor Relations: Frequently Asked Questions" (2013), Apple’s mission statement is " Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple

Apple Inc is an American multinational organization located in the middle of the Silicon Valley, California. It is focused on designing and developing the personal computers, related software products, and electronic products such as MP3 players and iPods. Apple Inc’s main products are iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. Apple Inc was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. Steve Jobs resigned as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Apple and was replaced by Tim Cook who was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) before he was named CEO. Apple has approximately 92,600 full-time equivalent employees and an additional 4,400 full-time equivalent temporary employees and contractors.

Apple has prospered internally and it is necessary to consider both strengths and weaknesses. Apple has lots of strengths, the major of them being it’s impressive brand reputation, Apple managed to position the brand as “premium products” for “elite” people. Customers are loyal and tend to stay in Apple’s ecosystem. Apple’s self-reinforcing ecosystem, it has a diverse ecosystem which integrates various hardware and software products into one large interactive space. Status of top innovator, Apple is perceived as the leading innovator and its products are highly anticipated. Apple’s very strong financial performance, high profit margins and very high liquidity. It’s network of retail stores, high-quality customer service helps to create advanced user experience. A powerful marketing strategy, Apple’s team masterly uses various marketing techniques to create a hype for their products and to strengthen the brand.

The success factors of Apple are obtained through meeting the appeal of the corresponding aspects of consumer behaviour that are Perception, Learning and Memory, Motivation an Values, The Self, Personality and Lifestyles, Attitudes, Attitude Change and Interactive Communications, Individual Decision Marketing, Buying and Disposing, Group Influence and Opinion Leadership, Income Social Class and Family Structure, Subcultures, Cultural Influences on Consumer Behaviour, and Creation and Diffusion of Culture. During the course of the 41 years of existence for the company, as the history background detailed above states most of these aspects were surely addressed in one way or another in order to maintain the on-going and everlasting success of the brand along with being able to recognize the failures and later turn them into successes as well. Apple has established its brand to meet the consumers’ perception by setting a standard that involves selection, organization, an interpretation of it sensations. This is made possible through the eye grabbing aesthetics’ characteristics of most its products and the logo that were designed to be visually appealing to create and immediate response of sensory receptors such as basic stimuli like light and colour. Through the aspect of Learning and Memory the use of repetition from associative learning to the brand name Apple is easier to be familiarized with. As it constantly being repeated, the term increases learning and generates more

I learned that Apple is a juggernaut when it comes to their technological products and marketing goals. Apple focuses on the needs of customer’s light years ahead of their competition and even before most consumers have realized they want Apple’s products. Through their innovative marketing involving social media, word of mouth, Apple Stores they have convinced consumers about the high value of their product even lending to the formation of a “Mac cult” for its diehard fans. The way ahead for Apple is not to lose sight of its brand loyalty and continue to service the customers and entice them with the brand’s prestige. Even with the death of Steve Jobs, I believe Apple forge ahead to differentiate itself from the markets they are in.

The way that individuals and businesses communicate and interact has radically changed. With the development of technology and the internet, people can connect almost instantaneously and with very little effort. Social media has come to play a huge part in the way that the world communicates with each other. In fact, a recent report shows that in a single month people spend over 25 hours on social networks (“The Digital Consumer”). With consumers committing that much time to social media sites, social networking has become an important aspect of everyday life for individuals—and businesses. Like most marketing activities, social media marketing poses some risk. However, it is advantageous for businesses to exploit this opportunity, and develop an effective and ethical marketing strategy that includes using social media as a marketing tool.

“Apple uses promotional and advertising tools to capture the attention, interest, and desire of the consumer. Apple captures our attention and interest through innovating and sleek imagery of their products on Apple's official website as well as keynotes and other publication” (Villefranche, 2011). For example Apple just released the I phone 5 which was highly anticipated and the publicity that Apple had prior to the release was tremendous and also brought in many new customers. It has been said that the first weekend the I phone 5 was available they sold 5 million phones. Apple made a plan and set up objectives and goals that they desired. Through integrated marketing they have met those goals and it allows for them to set higher goals and reach them as well. Apple also knows their competitors very well and this allows them to be in this market and compete very well.

Apple is a technology leader with its innovation, and it reflects all of its unique products. The company understands consumers’ need, and its clever marketing strategies continuously developed the wide product lines and advanced the competitors in its dynamic industry. This paper will analyze the strengths and opportunities that the company can utilize to the marketplace, and weaknesses and threats that the company faces and has to overcome in order to survive and succeed. Also, it will focus on how the company targets and appeals its customers and the various business environments that can have an impact on the future of the company.

While Apple generally distances itself from social media on a corporate level, the company 's CEO Tim Cook and many of its flagship services, including the App Store, Apple Music and Beats1, take a more active and meaningful approach to the medium. The pervasive strength of Apple 's brand means it can break rules other marketers must follow on Twitter, Facebook and other networks without consequence. Though Apple has more than 13 million Twitter followers on various accounts, not one represents the official voice of the company. "Tim Cook is on Twitter, and that is good enough for now," Belus Capital analyst Brian Sozzi told CNBC. "Apple has nothing to gain by creating an account. Apple has nothing of real interest to tweet, he added.”

Apple prides itself on offering innovative technology to a society that has become dependent on it. In markets inundated with companies offering similar products and services, Apple has had to rise above and distinguish itself from the masses. While their products have a cultivated a devoted-customer following (our family is one of them), their organization and the values it espouses are what will help them to remain a relevant and successful company in the tech world.

Apple Incorporated, formerly known as Apple Computers Incorporated, and more commonly known just as Apple, has lead the way in technology and innovation for consumer electronics with their slender storage capacities, vibrant displays, and incredible touch screen products. When they first started, their focus was more on personal computers for customers, but as the company has aged, so has their focus expanded towards this idea of consumer electronics as a whole. Seeing as they now offer popular devices including, but not limited to, computers (Mac Book), home theater (Apple TV), phones (iPhone), tablets (iPad), and media (iPod), it can clearly be