Most of us today are well aware of one of the biggest wars of our lifetime, the war between Apple and Microsoft. Microsoft is still winning the war against Apple, but Apple has gained ground over the past five to ten years. Microsoft dominated the operating system market since Windows saw rapid growth in market share in the 1990s. Due to the nature of the product, gaining market share early was extremely important in making it the standard for the market. Consumer’s preference for Microsoft applications such as Microsoft Office compounded Microsoft’s success since these applications could only run on Windows. A customer’s preference for certain applications often has a huge effect on which operating system the customer will choose. This recent Apple iPhone advertisement aimed to capitalise on its attractive range of applications (Apps).
Apple also has reputation for being less vulnerable to spyware and virus attacks, easier to network and just plain simpler. Aside from those reasons, Apple’s marketing strategy clearly aims to brand its products as “cool”. Trying to define “cool” is a task beyond my capability. Therefore I shall refer to the authority in this field, the “Urban Dictionary” (http://www.urbandictionary.com). According to the “Urban Dictionary”, cool is:
1. The best way to say something is neat-o, awesome, or swell. The phrase "cool" is very relaxed, never goes out of style, and people will never laugh at you for using it, very convenient for people like me who don't care about what's "in."
2. Laid back, relaxed, not freaked out, knows what's goin on. Has come to mean anything popular
3. An adjective referring to something that is very good, stylish, or otherwise positive. It is among the most common slang terms used in today's world.
We all know that work is not cool. Work is boring. Work is “lame”. Nobody really wants to do work. The following advertisement shows how Apple Macs are marketed as being better at “life stuff”, not work. It is one of many advertisements you may recognise from Apple’s successful marketing campaign from 2006 to 2010. People did not mind watching the videos even though people knew they were advertisements since they were funny. As a result people posted them all over YouTube.
So are we all buying Apple products because they are cool? Was this the key to Apple’s rise to power over the past decade? I know apple has thousands upon thousands of Apps, but so does Google Android. Do you really need so many Apps? I also recognise that Apple Macs have fewer attacks from malicious software, but surely the money saved by buying any other brand could be spent on a good anti-virus program. As a PC gaming geek, I have to side with Bill Gates in this parody of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
My question to you is what are the top 5 reasons you bought your Mac/Macbook/iPhone over all the other brands? Is the cool factor one of the reasons?
Doesn't it all come down to their products better meeting their customers' needs? Even if those needs are superficial and intangible (i.e. coolness)?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, my work is cool. I never find it "lame"! ;)