MoneyWatch Tech

Apple's Big Marketing Danger: Losing its Identity

By Erik Sherman

Updated on: May 17, 2010 / 7:00 AM EDT / MoneyWatch

Apple (AAPL) sits at the crossroads of contradiction. On one side are the accolades for brilliant management. On the other are cracks in the image: the fight with Adobe, the iPhone developer agreement that has angered many software companies, heightened interest by regulators, and even losing ground in handsets sales to Google (GOOG) Android. One problem is that a long-standing strength of Apple -- its corporate identity and connection to users -- has started to dissolve. It could reduce the company to the status of mere corporate mortal, but ultimately Apple doesn't really have any other choice.

The market advantage that Apple has often demonstrated has seemed mysterious to many competitors. As marketing consultant Simon Sinek says in a video that's been making the online rounds, other computer companies have access to the same talent, technology, media, and the same consultants. He postulates that the difference -- and the thrust of his consulting as well as a new book -- is that Apple knows why it does what it does.

As Sinek suggests, if Apple worked like any other computer company, this would be its marketing message:

We make great computers. They're beautifully designed, simple to use, and user-friendly. Want to buy one?

The difference, he thinks, is that Apple starts with why it does what it does, progresses through how it's different, and then talks about what it offers:

Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?

He then goes on to claim, "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it." People are comfortable buying various products from Apple because Apple sells to people who believe what the company believes.

His point is good in terms of internal leadership. Apple sets a direction, has a clear view of what it wants to accomplish, and then creates products that fit the vision. But I think the marketing message is different. Apple has differed from all its competitors because it evoked a sense of identity among its customers. Instead of Sinek's version of the marketing message, try this:

Apple's customers identity with their perception of the company and what it represents. By purchasing Apple products, they reinforce their sense of how they want to perceive themselves.

Historically, Apple emphasized fine industrial design, both hardware and software, that appealed to the designers, artists, and other creatives in the company's core audience who appreciated aesthetics. As the famous 1984 commercial indicated, the company framed itself in opposition to corporate "stiffs," which also resonated with the group. Third, there were many art, graphic, and media work you could do on a Mac that was impossible on a Windows machine. Apple became the physical embodiment of the customers' self-identity.

This wasn't an unknown business phenomenon. It was the same type of brand identification you could find with Harley-Davidson motorcycles or Patagonia outdoor gear. Each company had a relationship with a well-defined consumer niche that unconsciously saw a product purchase as external support of their lifestyle ... in other words, themselves. How could they not come to fiercely love the brand?

Such a company eventually gets to a crossroad. It can try to expand use of the brand and increase its revenue and size, or it can stick with more moderate ambitions. Apple chose expansion. For a time, customers for product line extensions such as the iPod and iPhone could co-exist with the traditional core customers. The long-term buyers were among the first adopters of new products. But when a company expands enough, it necessarily dilutes the identity message because it now addresses broader audiences and, literally, cannot be all things to all people. There are too many conflicting images, characteristics, and qualities. It becomes an attempt to merge an opera company with a rodeo.

The cracks in Apple's image are a necessary result. Apple can't grow significantly larger on the old customer base. But there are consequences. For example, at our sister site ZDNet, senior editor and Mac fan Sam Diaz finally thinks that Apple has lost its "cool":

Lately, it doesn't feel like the same Apple, the cool Apple. It feels like corporate Apple and, if it gets called to Washington to answer allegations of anticompetitive behavior, it could get harder to differentiate Apple from Microsoft.

Nick Bilton in the New York Times asks if Apple has lost its cool. Even Jon Stewart wonders if Apple is no longer the rebel underdog:

All three are examples of Apple losing its identity. To compete in new markets, Apple had to give something up -- in this case, the strongly personal sense of brand. It's a different type of business, and the company must market itself differently. The risk is that, in losing its public identity, Apple might lose its what made it special, and the major advantage it had in bigger markets.

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