Apple Case Study: The Making Of Devoted Followers

Established in California on April 1, 1976, Apple was named the world’s most admired company in 2009 by Fortune magazine. From Macintosh, to Ipod, to Iphone and several other popular software products, Apple Inc is an inspiration for many.

Apple the religion and Steve, the prophet

Having been in direct competition with Microsoft and PC in the past (and still is), it’s important to note that Apple was not always successful. But even through the ups and downs of the company over the course of the years, there is one thing that did not change; The Apple fans are still as devoted and evangelistic as ever.

If you could recall, in April 2009, Steve Jobs underwent a liver transplant. The surgery turns out to be a public concern for many. And although by nature it should be, as stock is largely affected by poor health of the head of company. To be fair, many Apple fanboys have been voicing concern, online and offline on a regular basis as well.

Now one may wonder, what is it that Apple has, that others (Microsoft) do not?

Simplicity

This is the selling point for Apple. The company has been promoting simplicity since forever, and it is evident in the design philosophy of its product.

As much as I hate to be Mr. obvious, people actually love simplicity. In life, blog, business, services, writing, etc, always opt for simplicity because they sell like hotcakes over complicated bs that does the same thing. To better demonstrate the claim, which of the two remote controls do you prefer?

That’s what I thought as well. Although it wouldn’t come as a surprise for many, the garbage above is made by Microsoft…

Do take note however, that while simplicity is awesome, it should never be in the expense of usability. That’s just wrong.

When all is said and done, although simplicity sells, it does not help you make devoted followers. This is where different comes in.

Different

First things first. Simple is different. There are too many complicated things that we don’t need, that others are promoting and we have to deal with. So, the first step to being different is to promote simplicity, in your products, writing (using easy to understand words in this case), etc.

But why different is such a big deal?

Every man wants to be a part of something different. We don’t want to be crowded along with the masses. We want to associate ourselves with something special. And although simplicity is different, it’s sometimes not enough to make a big impact.

I remember learning about Apple for the first time when I watched Blank Check back when I was a kid. And even though I have made aware of the brand, I did not really pay attention to it. It wasn’t until Ipod first hit the market back in 2001 that I started to pay close attention to Apple. Although Ipod was not the first portable media player, it is small, elegant and simple to use compare to the rest. In short, Ipod is different.

But Apple does not stop there. The ads were intelligently and creatively produced to strategically position the company’s image of being different than its competitors. Interesting if you will.

A healthy image

Company vision, philosophy, catch phrase, and design matters. This also applies to people who represent the company, blog, etc.

For example, imagine a salesperson who dress in a slobbish manner trying to sell you a high end car. He probably won’t be making a sale anytime soon. The same couldn’t be said if he was smartly dressed.

On a side note, for blogging, the “About page” is extremely important, as readers generally want to get an idea on the person behind the blog. We are more likely to trust a person who we can connect to. So, be sure to put your best picture. And smile.

Be consistent

Once you decide which type of image you want to convey to your customer (through your products, company’s philosophy, services, ads, writing), you want to be consistent to avoid any confusion. As long as the quality of products and services are satisfactory, word of mouth will spread, sooner or later.

Any opinions? Objections maybe? I love to hear it.

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Editors note: While I’m an Apple supporter (my sister use Mac), please don’t mistake me for a Microsoft hater. I don’t actually own a Mac. And to be precise, I’m using Vaio to type this. But that’s only because many games do not support Apple.