Media relations by nour elhagi

Corporate Communications: Focus on Apple Perspective: Head of Media Relations Introduction As Head of Media Relations, my task is to determine how Apple informs different media channels so that the messages reach stakeholders like investors, politicians, suppliers, and so forth. Different stakeholders are reached by different types of communication media. Some stakeholders are in touch with the company through direct, dedicated or formal channels, such as investors, the government (whether as customers or as regulators of Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business), institutional clients, employees, partners and suppliers, existing customers and distributors. These relationships are established by contract and are therefore governed by law, including the good faith requisite to inform the other party of the truth of all matters affecting their interests. Other that these, however, there are communication channels which are directed at the public in general, in the course of which they also reach those potential as well as existing stakeholders. Media channels act as public address systems by which subtle messaging may be extended to those stakeholders, who reconcile (either discredit or corroborate) what they hear over the media to the information they obtain through formal communication channels. Stakeholder messages from media channels Apple makes use of a variety of media channels to reach a variety of stakeholders, but there are common undertones that thread through all of them that create a cogent message for all stakeholders. According to Vertygo (2013), Apple communications are intentionally

designed to be simple and minimalist. The media producers do not employ famous celebrities, such as were done by L’Oreal in hiring Andie MacDowell, or George Clooney in the “No Martini, No Party” TV advertisements. In contrast, the “I am a Mac, I am a PC” TV ads were simple, smart, understated, and resoundingly humiliating for Microsoft, the competition. The understated and minimalist style is replicated in the TV ads, in print ads, in online communications, in packaging, and in any aspect of Apple’s business operations (Vertygo, 2013). It is said to be reflective of the reclusive personality and simplistic style of Steve Jobs, Apple’s late CEO who inspired the company’s creative revolution (Isaacson, 2012). Investors Of all the stakeholders, the investors are the group to which Apple devotes much of its efforts and resources at communicating vital information about the company, ensuring that they are provided with complete and accurate information through the annual executive report as mandated by law. More than that, investors are provided other publications (in print and online) not required by regulations, such as the Corporate Social Responsibility report which is undertaken principally on a voluntary basis, rather than compliance with regulations. The message extended to investors by Apple is one projecting solid financial performance and strong market leadership. There are three goals in media messaging to Apple investors: to counter past negative publicity and re-establish Apple’s image as an honest and profitable company; to ensure investors of the ability of the firm to resolve communication concerns while still maintaining a profit; and to convince current investors to maintain their support for the firm. Its objectives are: to create awareness, acceptance, and positive action in shoring up Apple’s equity capital backbone (Chaffin, 2005).

Institutional customers This group of stakeholders include the large institutional clients of Apple, such as government agencies and other big business corporations. The communication channels to the large customers are formal and entirely within the control of Apple in so far as the terms of service and delivery are concerned, therefore explicit commitments override any implicit marketing messages delivered through the mass media. Institutional customers, however, are concerned with their public image, and therefore the public reputation of their partners and suppliers are of great interest to them. The implicit assurance attached to institutional service contracts, therefore is that there would be consistency and compliance with ethical practices in the course of doing business, and a perception of exceptional corporate citizenship and environmental sustainability in dealing with consumers, labour, the community and the environment. This would be the necessary messaging that institutional customers will be expecting of the company in all its media releases to the general public. Consumers and SMB One of the crucial concerns of long-time Apple brand enthusiasts is the direction and sustainability of the company after the death of Steve Jobs. Jobs was seen as the iconic driver of Apple’s innovative success, for which reason there was understandable anxiety about how the company can maintain its progression of revolutionary devices consumers look forward to. It is in order to address these concerns that Apple’s ads began to reflect a new design-focused campaign to orient consumers and SMB to the new Apple under CEO Tim Cook. For this, Apple made use of a cross-media ad campaign, “Designed by Apple in California” that was intended to

convey the core values of the company to the buying public. The different media formats included a TV commercial (“Our signature,” created by @radical.media), an animated short film (“Intention,” produced by TBWA/Media Arts Lab), matching double-page newspaper spreads, and other formats. The message conveyed to the consumers, existing and potential, is one of minimalism. The message is the same, in that it “poetically communicates the company’s product design ethos: ‘Every idea we touch enhances each life it touches’” (Andrews, 2013, 1). The minimalist approach was likewise employed in the now famous campaign, “I am a Mac, I am a PC” TV video ads series. The TV ads draw attention to the differences between the Mac and the PC, a message that the ad aims would create in viewers’ minds the broadening performance gap between Apple and Microsoft technologies. The TV ads use irony and ridicule to create mental images of why the PC is a poor comparison to the Mac, through a smart and intriguing yet humorous way. The ads have been likened to the comic styles of the Marx Brothers or that of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, but rendered in a 21st century context. This is also evident in the Apple T ad “iMovie” (Vertygo Team, 2013). Creative employees and Digital content providers These are two stakeholders who shall most probably have the same interest in dealing with Apple, despite the fact that creative employees are internal stakeholders and digital content providers are external stakeholders. Their similarity lies in their roles as providers of intellectual assets to Apple. Creative employees within Apple are those who work towards the design and innovation of products for the firm, while digital content providers are external firms which collaborate with Apple on the provision of digital music or books and similar content.

For these stakeholders, Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main message is one of continuous innovation and incorporating the principles of simplicity and minimalism combined with sustainability and ethical practices in research and development. This message is implicit (and at times, explicit) in most publications and pronouncements of Apple concerning its operations, such as its Form 10-K 2013 report and its 2013 Annual Report for end of fiscal year 2012. Digital content providers are also held to the same standards as suppliers and outsourcers as discussed in the succeeding section below, as well as its contractual obligations. Employees in General Employees are one of the most important stakeholders in the company because they provide the motive force behind the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s production and operations. They are also the most intimately affected by the internal processes of the company. Employee engagement is undertaken by the HR department who employ their own internal media releases directed at the workforce. However, Apple employees also seek consistency between the internal conditions to which they are exposed, and the external messaging of the firm to the public and the consumers. For employees to feel engaged to their work, they must feel a sense of pride in their firm and trust that they are valued and dealt with fairly. Suppliers and Outsourcers Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s supply chain includes hundreds of local and international suppliers, such as Ambit Microsystems Corporation, ATI Technologies, Inc., Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, IBM Corporation, Phillips Co., Matsushita, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, Samsung Electronics, Synaptics., Inc., Toshiba Corporation, and more. Apple also relies for its

product manufacturing, in whole or in part, on third-party manufacturers located mostly in Asia; these are its outsourcers in Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea and Singapore (Van Dijk & Schipper, 2007). The principal publication that informs Apple suppliers and outsourcers is its annual Apple Supplier Responsibility Progress Report. Published in print and digital form, the Report provides a clear and detailed statement of the principles and policies of Apple regarding the Code of Conduct it expects its partners and suppliers to abide by. The Report begins with a statement of the Supplier Responsibility at Apple, covering specifically: worker empowerment, workers’ rights, workers’ health and well-being, and suppliers’ impact on the environment. The Report also explicitly provides that Apple jointly holds itself and its suppliers accountable for any infraction of the accepted norms and standards of conduct, and commits to ensuring compliance with the Supplier Code of conduct by conducting hundreds of CSR audits per year around the world. Where problems are discovered, Apple commits to working with the suppliers until such problems are resolved (Apple Supplier Responsibility 2013 Progress Report). In the same document, Apple makes a commitment to ensure transparency throughout its supply chain. Problems found in the supply chain are fully disclosed in the Report, including such contentious issues as underage labour, excessive work hours, and environmental violations. Apple also commits and requires its suppliers and partners to undergo audits from third party assessors, and to join industry groups in order to share and to gather ideas and best practices. These are undertaken in the spirit of candour and transparency, particularly in the matter of workers’ rights (Apple Supplier Responsibility 2013 Progress Report).

Social media habitués The uniqueness of the social media among other types of media channels is not lost on Apple. Social media has the capability of addressing consumers as individuals, targeting specific needs and wants among a variety of social groups, through a powerful, time-independent, mass-audience network, sans the inflated costs of broadcast media (radio and television) and the limited reach of costly print media. Social media aficionados who are not yet customers comprise a potential pool of future Apple buyers because of Apple’s best-selling mobile and digital communication devices – the iPhone, iPad, iPod, and the Mac – and the online stores such as the highly popular iTunes. Those already into social media will find natural affinity with the products of Apple, or at least wield great power in terms of WOM (word-of-mouth) advertising among others connected to them in the network. To take advantage of this, Apple was one of the first to launch branded “groups” on the Facebook network in 2007, by which it targeted the nearly 4 million internet users who visit the site each month. The company rolled out a UK-specific version of its existing Facebook group, in the course of which it offered consumers free downloads from its iTunes music store (Jones, 2007). The message to the Apple Facebook groups is clear, that the Apple culture is capable of bonding e-communities together. The key message conveyed is that Apple brings people together and creates friendships in profound ways that conventional communications methods could not. The Communities and Society in general Apple projects itself to society in general mainly through print and TV ads. Apple regularly publishes information on its stand on the environment, both in its CSR online report

which is available to all viewers, but also through print and TV ads. The mass media serves the purpose of emphasising the company’s excellence in providing innovative products as well as its corporate citizenship in contributing to the attainment of social goals. Media messaging to communities where Apple stores are present would pertain to the local store’s (or plant’s) own releases directed at local residents, and would do well to link Apple’s concerns with those of the community such as participation in their cultural affairs, or Apple’s extension of assistance during times of calamities in the locality. The important message for communities will have less to do with Apple’s business successes (although because Apple is a publicly listed stock it may have some stockholders or investors in the locality), but more with Apple’s community citizenship. Conclusion Apple, Inc. is benefited by a brand with a strong association to product innovations that have broad mass appeal and a reputation for revolutionising the way people live and work. The benefits to the consumer of its technological breakthroughs overshadow the need to project itself as a corporate citizen, and this is its strongest message through the various media channels linking the company to its many stakeholders. The overriding message to all incorporates the values of simplicity, minimalism, and essentialism. Messages intended for the public are delivered in ways that are understated, direct to the point, at times humorous, but with a fundamental mass appeal that is effective for the general public. Many of Apple’s internal stakeholders, such as employees and investors, and its external stakeholders with whom its relationship is governed by contractual relations, such as suppliers, outsourcers, and institutional clients, rely for their messaging on the terms of the contract

which are actionable and enforceable, rather than on the implied promises of advertising and media pronouncements. While this may be so, contractual co-parties have a stake in Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reputation and good public relations, because their own supply chains are linked to Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and their reputations also compromised if Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s external image were sullied by the wrong or inadequate messaging. Hence, there is importance in monitoring the release of information among the more public stakeholders.

Reference Andrews, R 2013 “What apple’s indulgent ads say about life after Steve Jobs.” The Guardian. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013 from http://www.theguardian.com/global/medianetwork-blog/2013/jul/17/apple-indulgent-life-steve-jobs Apple Inc. 2013 Form 10-K Report. Retrieved 20 November 2013 from http://investor.apple.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1193125-13-416534&CIK=320193 Apple iTunes 2013 Content Providers, available 20 Nov 2013at http://www.apple.com/itunes/content-providers/ Apple Website 2013 available 20 Nov 2013 at http://www.apple.com/ Chaffin, M 2005 “Strategic Plan for Apple, Inc.” CO 469V-03 Capstone. Retrieved 20 November 2013 from http://chaffinmmworksamples.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/capstone-apple1.pdf Isaacson, W 2012 “How Steve Jobs’ Love of Simplicity Fueled a Design Revolution.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Magazine, September 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2013 from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/How-Steve-Jobs-Love-of-Simplicity-Fueled-ADesign-Revolution-166251016.html Jones, G 2007 “Apple & H&M set up ‘groups’ on Facebook.” Marketing. (00253650), p. 3, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 20 November 2013. Van Dijk, M & Schipper, I 2007 Apple: CSR Company Profile. Stichting Onderzoek Multinationale Ondernemingen (SOMO) Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, Amsterdam. Vertygo Team 2013 “Apple Communications Strategy: I am a Mac, I am a PC” Mac Analysis. Retrieved 20 November 2013 from http://www.vertygoteam.com/apple/apple_communication.php

Appendix A Detailed Shareholder Map

APPLE STAKEHOLDER MAP

Influence/ Power of Stakeholders

Meet their needs

Key player Investors Enterprise & Government Customers Creative Employees Consumers and SMB Other Employees

Social network habitues

Third Party IP and Digital Content Prov Outsourcing Partners Other suppliers

Least important

Show consideration

Foreign governments where outsourcers are located

Third party distributors Communities in store locations

Society in General

Interest of Stakeholders

Appendix B Possible Responses of Apple to Debate Questions With the insight gained from Apple’s annual report, its CSR reports, media coverage, social media, online articles and point-of-sale communications, the following are speculated to be the probable answers to certain debate questions:  “Shareholders are more important than customers” It is Apple’s position that its success depends on how well it meets its customers’ preferences and how well its products fit their lifestyles, even in a manner that they are not yet aware of. Steve Jobs, during his pendency as CEO, seldom even entertained shareholders, preferring to devote his time to developing innovative ideas for the company. The company reasons that if it creates products that sell well in the market, the profit it earns will satisfy the shareholders’ expectations. While current CEO Tim Cooks is more considerate towards shareholders and duly attends to them, it is clear that Apple will continue to concentrate on innovative products, satisfying customers first, in the course of which it satisfies its shareholders.  “What ‘the public’ thinks doesn’t always matter” Steve Jobs’s philosophy, which dominated in the company during his time, was that the company would be able to produce goods and services that the public will want, though this is oblivious to them at the present. Therefore, what the public thinks of at present does not matter, as long as the company continues to create and innovate; the public acclaim will eventually follow.

 “You don’t always have to tell the truth to the press” Steve Jobs was a minimalist, and as such adopted a low profile when it came to matters of public posturing. Apple therefore abided more by a policy of divulging only what was necessary to be disclosed. This is understandable, because of the extremely competitive industry it was in, and the highly innovative products it was required to produce. Clearly, it could not tell all the truth to the press, but keep much of its operations in confidence.  “All publicity is good publicity” All earlier answers point to the aversion of Steve Jobs, and thus Apple, to publicity. Even at present, although CEO Tim Cooks is not quite the recluse that Steve Jobs was, the reluctance to engage in publicity, much more bad publicity, still remains. Apple would not agree that all publicity is good publicity, and prefers secrecy until the release of its next product or innovation when publicity will be justified and necessary.