Iphone Positioning Statement

The owners think the brand is…

This is interesting because…

1. Apple is the owner of the iPhone brand. Apple’s mission statement, concurrent with the iPhone, is to make great products with a constant focus on innovation. The company also believes that they reinvented the mobile phone with their revolutionary iPhone brand and will continue to define the future of mobile media.^[1]

As mentioned by Simon Sinek, Apple does not market what they do or what they sell, rather, why they do what they do. ^[2]

1. Founder of crombie.design, Andrew Crombie, described Apple to be a “remarkably strong brand” and is a luxury brand in the tech space.

1. The iPhone has been an evolutionary brand that resonates with its mission statement. Apple has launched 20 iPhone models to date and continues to improve on their product. What is interesting is that the iPhone 6 and models after that have not changed immensely. The company more or less changes small aspects of the product but innovation has remained at a stand-still. The brand perception is what keeps the brand ever-lasting.
2. That fact that Apple has positioned their iPhone brand as a luxury lifestyle brand was a great way to position the brand using a key aspect of their pre-existing key associations.

Our current consumers perceive the brand to be…

This is interesting because…

Consumers of the iPhone have long believed in Apple’s mission statement that they create the most innovative phones in the market. Through their products’ style and design, they have achieved ‘innovative’ and ‘luxury’ as their main brand associations.^[3]

In a research study using surveys with a ordinal and likert scale, consumer perceptions showed that 78.6% of the sample (128) perceived the iPhone to be better than other brands in the category.^[4]

The shift of brand perception of the iPhone being ‘innovative’ to ‘luxury’ over a ten-year time span is fascinating. The association of being ‘innovative’ still remains but because of the price premium on the product, they could also create ‘luxury’ in the tech space. In addition to this, it seems as though the brand awareness, brand recognition and brand recall is strong enough that consumers across the diffusion of innovation are willing to pay the price to have the product.

Our potential consumers (current non-users) perceive the brand to be…

This is interesting because…

In this day and age, all if not most people have a phone. Potential customers would be those that do not own an iPhone. Consumers of brands like Samsung, HTC, LG and Sony resonate with their choice.

Android users have strong opinions about the iPhone and its users. Mike Elgan, a consistent phone review blogger, elaborates on the most common perceptions Android users have of iPhone users and its brand.

-The iPhone is a status symbol.

-The iPhone is a smart phone for dumb users. 

-iPhone users are ignorant

-iPhone users are suckered in by skillful marketing.

-The iPhone is the most popular phone and most recognizable brand.

-The iPhone is associated with a famous person.

-iPhone users will buy anything Apple sells.

-The iOS interface is familiar. 

-Apple just happened to get "there" first.

-iPhone users don't like technology.

-iPhone fans are easily paralyzed by choice.^[5]

After listing the current brand perceptions of non-iPhone users, it is clear that they do not hold Apple in high regard. It is looked at as a mass produced product targeted to users interested in mainstream trends and aesthetics. The potential users care for the customizability they already find in the phones they already use. They believe the iPhone user interface to be relatively simple to use, but they think the mass is being persuaded by “skillful marketing”. As they insinuate that iPhone users are less intelligent, they make an interesting claim that ‘iPhone users don’t like technology’. When the brand perceives itself to showcase ‘innovation’ in every step, this claim contradicts the iPhone’s intended brand meaning. Elgan believes all these claims to have some truth in them as Android phones have shown significant leverage in innovation compared to Apple in recent years.

This can be concerning for the brand moving forward if they want to keep that ‘innovation’ association alive with their current consumers but it can also be seen as an opportunity to delve into a new association. That of ‘luxury’.

              Insight 1

This is interesting because…

In this section, information is based on the total Vancouver population of 2.24 million people and a sample size of 3396. (Q4 of 2016 on Vividata)

1)  A majority of current consumers in Greater    

Vancouver are between the age of 35-64 years of age.

Demographics of iPhone users as of Q4 of 2016^[6]:

Age 18-24: 11%

Age 25-34: 16%

Age 35-49: 27%

Age 50-64: 25%^[7]

2)eMarketer suggests that from 2018-2022, 18-24 year old smartphone users will see a negative percentage change.

Out of the data I collected, current consumers of ages 35-64 are the majority consumers.

It is interesting because iPhone used to be the brand associated with the young, tech-savvy generation. After understanding our potential consumer brand perceptions, it is evident that the younger generations are now focusing toward products that have new and unique processing hardware, functions, design and applications.  As predicted by eMarketer, iPhone users age 18-24 will continue to decrease till 2022. They may substitute the iPhone with Samsung/HTC/Sony.

Insight 2

This is interesting because…

How do iPhone users buy?

When the iPhone came out on June 29, 2007, Apple had already established their company brand name through their Macintosh computers and iPods. When the first iPhone came out, customers lined up at stores all over the world.^[8]

• 57% of all smartphone users expect locations to be within 5 miles of their location^[9]
• 77% of smartphone users complete their purchases in person^[10]
• 90% of iPhone consumers intend to buy the newest iPhone when it’s time to upgrade.

The Apple ecosystem is another aspect that increases people’s willingness to buy. The most common laptop is the MacBook and with their integrated software, buyers uphold this quality as it makes the products user-friendly and efficient for use.

It is interesting that 11 years later, the trend still exists. Early adopters and Early majority consumers still act accordingly when Apple products come out.  

It seems as though the path to buying the product remains relatively similar to how people bought in 2007. Consumers still prefer to buy smartphones in person. Since, more than half of smartphone users buy within 5 miles of their radius, it seems as though Apple has accomplished having stores in most major locations. This is interesting because when the consumers/potential consumers enter the store, Apple can define their brand physically hence influencing the customer to buy. The Genius Bar and the multiple employees also aid with this attempt at conversion.

Through precise brand marketing when new products come out, Apple continues to sell accordingly. When there is a new iPhone, there is usually a new laptop or iPad as well. This further enhances their ecosystem. Loyal consumers are also, comfortable with the IOS interface after so many years, it is easier for them to use as they believe it is the best product in the market.

Insight 3

This is interesting because…

Out of 2.24 million people and a sample size of 3396, all stats shown are specific to the Vancouver CMA in Q4 of 2016:^[11]

• 87% of the Vancouver population have iPhones, 13% do not.
• 45% of iPhone users have a household structure of being a couple with children at home.

• The largest majority of household income is 36% of the population that earn $60,000 – 124,999. But interestingly, for personal income, the largest majority is 26% that earn less than 25,000.

• 65% of iPhone users have a basic university certificate, bachelor’s degree or post graduate degree.

• 52% of iPhone users are employed full-time and 13% are employed part-time. This means, 35% are unemployed.

While the majority of smartphone users being iPhone consumers, Apple has a lot of leverage.

The fact that the largest majority of iPhone users in Vancouver earn less than $25,000 annually, is concerning but it is possible to assume (not concur) that they may have not bought the iPhone themselves. It could have been a parent that bought it or it could have been a gift. Could this spending power be with the 35-64 age group shown in Insight 1? Could they overlap?

Knowing that more than half of iPhone users are educated can decipher that they use the iPhone to aid with work/school. This means that they trust the iPhone with important duties.

Assuming the 35% of the unemployed users are majority students, they may have more products within the Apple ecosystem.

Insight 4

This is interesting because…