Apple's Brand Positioning – How Apple Became the Most Valuable Company in the World

Apple's brand positioning is based on three key elements: innovation, design, and customer experience. These three factors allow Apple to stay ahead of competitors while maintaining a strong sense of identity.

They have a culture of innovation.

Apple's culture of innovation is evident throughout the company. Apple employees are encouraged to think outside the box and develop new ideas from the products to the people who work there. This helps Apple stay at the forefront of technology and keep customers returning for more.

An incredible brand

With its roots intrinsically linked to Steve Jobs and his paradigm, Apple is a pioneer in marketing and communication on many levels.

In 1984 Apple launched the Macintosh with a Super Bowl ad, directed by Ridley Scott, that decommoditized the computer category by breaking the mold with the current standard.

In the ever-changing world of tech, where the pace of change is faster and faster, Apple's brand strategy has been consistent since the beginning:

Apple has a branding strategy that focuses on emotions. The Apple brand personality is about lifestyle; imagination; liberty regained; innovation; passion; hopes, dreams, and aspirations; and power to the people through technology. The Apple brand personality is also about simplicity and the removal of complexity from people's lives; people-driven product design; and being a really humanistic company with a heartfelt connection with its customers.

And this strategy paid off. For years Apple has ranked among the topmost valuable brands globally, according to the BrandFinance valuation methodology.

Behind the company's success, brand, design, and innovative retail strategy are the three driving forces:

Design is the starting point of Apple’s whole product development procedure. It is considered as the foundation principle of Apple, Inc. It all began with the vision of Steve Jobs, when he set up a company that will produce computers. Jobs aimed for the best design. As far as he was concerned, he was not willing to settle for just any design; it had to be excellent. In the early 1980s, Steve Jobs wanted to elevate Apple through design. “I only care personally about design, but I see that it can be a way to differentiate Apple’s products from the PCs of the day…” says Steve Jobs. The Apple Macintosh and the first-ever iPod were selected by the world’s top designers among the twelve best designs in the last century during the celebration of World industrial design Day 2015.

On the retail side, the company's vertical integration has created unique opportunities to create the desired brand experience and control the customer journey. Moreover, the retail operations offer the chance to own technical support as well as educate and train existing and prospective customers in Apple's ecosystem of products and services:

The next thing, maybe one of the most important, is that they do not focus on profits but rather leaving their customers satisfied. Of course, most people go to Apple Stores to buy products, but there is so much more you can do over there. There is the Genius Bar where you get technical support with your products, the forum (centre of the store with the large screen) where they have community events and sessions with experts on how to maximise your experience with your product, the board room to help developers learn how to get the most out of their products, Today at Apple offering sessions for free and The Plaza (select locations only) space outside the store with free wifi that occasionally hosts events.