What is the relationship between branding and the consumer self? Kate Hulme, Level 4, context of practice essay
Looking around my bedroom I can see a plethora of objects that I once wanted and now have, many of these things are unimportant and make no real impact on the process of my day to day life; a replica Chanel 2.5 handbag purchased in Turkey after a mild obsession I had with their film Coco Chanel featuring the beautiful Audrey Tautou. An Oral B electronic toothbrush after being promised by Holly Willoughby on day time tv ads that this would reduce my plaque build up by 98%. A multitude of shampoo and bath products recommended to me by women sat behind their computer screens who manage to include the words ‘holy grail item’ in every other blog post. Like I said these items make no real impact on my life, but, I sleep a little sounder knowing they're there and when disaster strikes I will rise from the flames of social expectation ; glorious, stylish and with a very clean smile. Which brings me onto my first point, persuasion, there are eight forms of persuasion used in advertising the first; emotional security, the fear of not fitting in, not succeeding, fear of how others may perceive you…as I expressed earlier, the fear of greasy hair.. the list is endless, making us an easy target for anyone in the market to sell us something to boost our confidence, Edward Bernays was the man behind the marketing revolution often referred to as the ‘farther of public relations’ . He realised the only way to control the masses was to make them believe they were getting everything they wanted or needed through materialistic goods, I believe Apple is a company that has been extremely blown out of proportion due to their advertising. The definition of ‘Branding’ states ‘the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers’ mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme.’ the main consistent theme in Apples advertising campaigns is FaceTime a concept created ‘uniquely’ for the brand, the concept first launched 6 years ago on 8th of September 2010 and since its initial release virtually nothing has changed, though Apple still manages to create regular advertisements such as the 2013 ad entitled ‘Face time Everyday’ plugging the feature to its consumers emotional insecurities or desires. Founded in 1976 April 1st as a small group of technology driven minds selling printed circuit boards at their local computer club , now an internationally recognised product line with more than 14 billion in sales, the companies product line began with the original Macintosh though much too expensive to be available to the average salary it wasn't until 1998 that the brand was revitalised and the Macintosh became much more finically available to the consumer self, the macintosh began appearing in peoples homes instead of being reserved for their places of work. Apple has what I see as being a rather addictive relationship or major selling point with the consumer self, after the company ran into trouble due to its operating system, unlike Windows Microsoft which will run on any software Apples ran on only macs, a massive reason not to purchase a mac due to the limitations, I see this as one of the main reasons apple has taken such an aggressive approach to persuading people the buy into the complete brand, you cant just buy one apple product, you have to buy them all, within minutes you can sync all your gadgets and live a totally encompassing mac way of life, an easier hassle free way of life…or so it is sold to us in this way.
Although the Apple iPhone does have its cool slender stylish build to thank for its success i believe it is the sidelines of the brand such as iTunes, FaceTime, Find iPone, App store that the company has to thank for its addictive success with the consumer self, a recent article in The Guardian online entitled ‘Marketers should stop ignoring instant messages’ written by Tom Goodwin which talks about how the fastest growing technology isn't the smartphone, live video streaming or blogging its instant messaging. The instant messaging numbers currently at 2.5 billion people around the world are expected to grow to 3.6 billion by 2018. Whatsapp currently standing at the most successful with over 990 million users with Facebook messenger a close second with 800 million, Apps seem to be the future and pretty much encompass everything we do from travelling the world to buying your groceries to meeting the love of your life. Apps are the virtual prodigy, spawned by none other than Apple.
The adverts are extremely family orientated and have many underlying themes of success, therefor tapping into many of the eight forms of persuasion referenced in the book ‘The hidden persuaders’ by Vance Packard. An advert begins a couple on a beach with their infant son, all crouched around the screen of a iPhone 5 greeting presumably a family member, it then cuts to a woman sat on the patio steps of her house surrounded by a luscious green garden face timing a friend, then to a mother and toddler in their front room the toddler mumbles ‘hello grandpar’ at the screen, I pause the advert and notice that it has only been playing for 5 seconds, already Apple has sold its audience emotional security and set the stall out for the sort of people that will be buying their products, middle class happy families whom are succeeding in life, they have nice gardens, regular holidays and healthy relationships with other relatives, they’re ‘living the dream’ so to speak, or at least some form of it. An article from the guardian website states ‘ Up to 90% of spend goes to advertising and retail promotions, yet the single most powerful impetus to buy is often someone else’s advocacy.’ although i can completely understand this point as most of the items (especially technology related) i have purchased due to raving reviews from friends or family i disagree that this is a wasted expenditure for the brands, without masses of advertising, products would simply disappear into the abyss of similar items constantly being released without a whisper unless they can afford it.
Apples logo is another major selling point of the brand, the apple with a bite taken out of it is unlike other more corporate technology brand logos making it appear fun, more youth friendly therefor increasing its target audience, it is clean and fresh i believe the bite out of the side has underlying themes of if you purchase our products you’re almost biting into a new wave of more exciting, more advanced technology. the logo also has connotations with the story of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit, it appears more uniquely exciting… the first of its kind. Apple loves to be associated with creatives many of their more recent billboard displays are breathtaking photos taken by ambassadors of their products and customers of their brand whom also happen to be world renowned photographers. Everything about their brand is aesthetically pleasing, from the products themselves to the stores they are sold in, the talent of the people who use them and the well turned out and polite employees that work for them; working at the forefront of the relationship with the brands consumers, of which i myself am one. The company recently recorded an all time sales high selling 5.7 million Macs in 3 months, they have made a name for themselves as ‘reassuringly expensive’ states an article from The guardian newspaper online website entitled ‘How apple made itself cruch-proof’ . Apple makes more than 3 times more profit from the iPhone than the next leading super brand Samsung does from all its mobiles.
Entering the apple store to buy my laptop was overall an extremely pleasant experience other than the aspect of parting company with my overdraft for the year, it is unlike most other shopping experiences, firstly their are no tills, transactions are carried out using, you guessed it, iPhones with built in scanners ,all products on sale are neatly displayed on clean wooden tables for customers to play and interact with, one of the main things i noticed about shopping at the store was it was an extremely un independent experience, I often tend to conform to the group of shoppers who when approached by sales assistants antisocially mutter ‘i’m just looking’ and drift off away from social interaction, though in Apple this is not possible, to purchase any product you must get the attention or if busy book an appointment with one of the employees, who will then talk you through the products you're interested in, which i agree is a great way to ensure customer satisfaction and make you feel a little less dubious when handing over your credit card. Looking around the store you can see several people buying four times the amount that you have had various sleepless nights over, the company makes two thirds of the 1.8 billion profit made by the six biggest manufactures despite their laptops being double the price of the average laptop or pc, this is something i have noticed about the relationship between apple and the consumer self, customer loyalty is never rewarded. Unlike other companies Apple never has ‘deals’ they wont do the third item for half price if you've already bought two, they don't have sales, i believe this is because they don't want to give customers any reason to doubt their products, everyone knows theres nothing more frustrating than buying something and then finding out the next month that its on sale for half price, it makes you feel cheated out of your money, as though the item was never worth the amount you paid in the first instant. By never succumbing to these simple things i feel it makes the company appear more powerful and their products more desirable than that of their competing companies that decrease the value of their stock, i believe this vasty improves the trust relationship between the consumer self and the brand Apple. In fact apples biggest mishap in the technology market was introducing the iPhone 5C the “cheaper” version introduced alongside the more expensive, more typical to apple price range , finger print reading 5S, although the 5C was the exact same model that had been released just the year earlier except in a plastic casing of a range of ‘fun’ colours. Ben Thompson owner of consultancy stratechery said ‘To buy a 5C was to show that you couldn't afford a better one.’ the product was a complete flop and a much less desirable product from apples range a far cry from what the market had predicted a more affordable iPhone would be. Although this seems completely absurd, the public are turning down an opportunity to have the exact same product for cheaper… it also completely makes sense, humans are programmed to want to be desired, desired by the opposite sex, desired by the same sex, to have their life desired by friends and family around them, from the films we watch to the food we eat we are constantly being told that be be desired, is to have succeeded. So after their stumble with the more bank account friendly iPhone 5C Apple introduced the Apple watch, but not just any apple watch, a $10,000 edition smartwatch for the 1% of Apple consumers willing to pay it. The company well and truly seem to have cracked to code of ‘affordable luxury’ . Celebrity endorsement is rare for the company as again i feel this is a tactic often used to draw consumers into weaker products. Though in one of their advertisements the actors Zoe Deschanel and Samuel L Jackson were employed to interact with the apple iPhone 4s new Siri feature, the advert caused a bit of a stir on the internet due mainly to surprise of the fact Apple had resorted to celebrity endorsement to sell their products after having persuaded the consumer market for the companies existence that their products were that good they would sell themselves, and anyone whom believed otherwise, well, they were simply missing out.
The 2013 movie ‘Her’ staring Joaquin phoenix playing the part of a lonely singleton in New York city whose wife has just died. Phoenix’s character forms a relationship with the computerised voice of his smart phone, which slowly becomes extremely sexual and the two fall in love, despite the voice being a computer (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) therefor naturally being more sexually appealing than that of the iPhones more robotic Siri feature, though still a little unnerving to watch, over the years Siri has been developed from just answering simple questions with simple facts until more recently responding with much more ‘desired human traits’ such as humour when asked to beat box Siri performs a very simple understanding of beatboxing, when asked how he is feeling he responds with a basic but again humanised response of ‘i am very well thankyou’. perhaps this is just an extension of Apples great customer service and how every employee must be an ambassador of this including the computerised personality built into each of our phones.
At times this great customer service front seems ironically inaccurate with Steve Jobs himself (founder of Apple Inc) being disliked by many whom have worked with him. Perhaps we could just see this as a misunderstood genius of technology ? The most recent film portraying his life ‘Steve Jobs’ released in 2015, directed by renowned genius of film Danny Boyle had mixed reviews… An online article by Mac World (already seems slightly bias) called the film ‘an inaccurate portrayal of events’ , though then goes on to say ‘we also feel that Jobs is portrayed “in full jerk mode” which isn't exactly an inaccurate portrayal’ it sounds like the writer is having a hard time deciding which side they sit on of the Steve Jobs fence. The general impression we get from movies, documentaries, interviews with work colleagues is that Jobs was a lot less popular than his computers, strange, as this can usually lead to consumers boycotting a brand if they do not favour the brains behind it, in the 2013 film of his life. A scene among many, where jobs loses his temper, as the company wont agree to program the computer so that it says ‘Hello’ when the users log on. A strange concept invented by a man who is described in a way that constantly suggests him being slightly socially inept. Though I believe it is important to give Jobs the benefit of the doubt at times, if you had created one of the most famous technology companies of all time it might be harder than the media would have us believe to keep your feet on the ground, there is an incredible amount of public pressure on a man who's gift in life was computers, not to be a celebrity. I believe that Apple is one of the best and certainly most innovative technology brands there has been, they have tapped into pretty much everything that a human could desire from a computer, their products are not necessary but their clever and almost hypnotic approach to advertising makes them seem indispensable. As mentioned earlier I agree with the article ‘How Apple made themselves crunch-proof’ as I see them as a brand that will be here for a very long time and not the sort of brand to go to ruin due to bad marketing or money decisions. As for their relationship with the consumer self i think you only need ask yourself, have you ever thought of purchasing one of their products, why? Was it the endless easy opportunities to set yourself up with the last app social crazes, was it the FaceTime connecting with loved ones face t face, maybe you just liked the way they look. This is a brand that has made almost everything about themselves open to being personalised by the individual owner and consumer market, versatility is clearly the key into peoples pockets. Their brand is all about connecting with an individual, with them, you or ‘i’.