IMCO 341

Dr. Patwardhan

24 September 2021

Hindman, Hinson, Speranza, Stansell

Brand Analysis Part 1

The Industry / Environment

In order for a business and companies to thrive, they must have a detailed understanding

of competitors, their audience, their image, and so forth. An essential place to start is to have an

understanding of the industry you are selling in. Apple lives in the extremely competitive world

of technology. Specifically, the Wearable technology industry. 

As we know, technology has rapidly grown and become essential in our day to day lives.

Wearable technology has become a way to further integrate technology into every aspect of our

lives. Wearable technology includes wristwear, headwear, footwear, jewelry, and other body

wear. According to research done by MarketsandMarkets on the wearable technology industry,

“the market size is projected to grow from USD 116.2 billion in 2021 to USD 265.4 billion by

2026; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18.0% from 2021 to 2026” (MarketsandMarkets).

This means the worth of such technology has the potential to more than double in worth in 4

years. One of the most popular forms of wearable technology is the wristwear market which has

made 77.9 billion in revenue in 2021 alone (MarketsandMarkets). 

How has the wearable technology industry and smart watches gotten so big? Referring

once again to MarketsandMarkets research, “The key factors contributing to the growth of the

wearable technology market include consumer preference for sophisticated gadgets, increasing
growth prospects of next-generation displays in wearable devices, and the growing popularity of

IoT and connected devices.” With technology growing everyday, wearable tech also continues to

adapt and get better. Multi-functional gadgets create an easier lifestyle and society requires such

things for our fast lifestyles. 

Part of the drive for this industry is listening to what modern day society wants. As of

late, fitness and health has quickly become intertwined with technology. The wearable

technology industry has continued to thrive as it expands into the health industry. The integration

between the two merge as, “These wearable products can offer information such as blood

pressure, oxygen levels, quality and quantity of sleep, calorie intake, cholesterol levels, heartbeat

monitoring, and other information required by the body for day-to-day activities” (Wearable).

This opens another window of opportunity for the already successful technology industry to

profit from the highly successful and necessary medical industry.

With the wearable technology industry thriving, there are still a few potential obstacles to

watch out for: “As for some bad things Low battery life and high initial cost may also hinder the

industry over the forecast period” (Wearable). Simple things such as battery life and possible

accuracy mistakes may seem insignificant but in such a competitive market, this can make or

break the success of a product in this industry. 

The Brand

Apple has expanded and evolved their brand throughout the years with its products and

services they offer. Apple has gone from the creation and launching of desktop computers to

laptops, tablets, iPhones, watches, and air pods. Now Apple has gone to the next level of creating

their popular Apple Pay service. When Apple was creating their brand they decided to take the

role of a challenger, Marketing Minds, says Apple’s brand is “bringing easy to use computers to
consumers and small businesses in a way that is focused on the needs, individuality, and style of

ordinary people, rather than the conformity and technical mandates of big business”(Apple's

branding strategy). Just like the products Apple launched, their brand position has also evolved

though the brand is still consistent with the promises that Apple has made in the beginning of

their company.

Apple’s core competence remains to deliver exceptional customer experience with using

their interfaces. The distinct feature of the Apple Pay and Watch is the customer experience of

the elegant network and simplicity of use. When Apple revitalized their company in 2001 when

they launched their newest product the iPod, they wanted to integrate and migrate the brand and

product strategy together for today’s position. When Apple had the chance to rename their

company instead of naming it after what they focus on which was computers, they chose to

rename it Apple Inc. instead of Apple computer. Now that Apple has more services and devices

it is defining its brand more broadly. Marketing Minds states, “It has blended its digital content

[ e.g. Apple Music, iTunes, iBooks and App Store] to be a key part of the value proposition to

Apple device owners, and [with iCloud and Siri in the background]”(Apple's branding strategy). 

Apple’s branding strategy focuses on the emotions of their consumers. Marketing Minds states,

“The starting point is how an Apple product experience makes you feel. The Apple brand

personality is about lifestyle, imagination, liberty regained, innovation, passion, hopes, dreams

and aspirations, and power to the people through technology”(Apple's branding). Apple's brand

identity is also about removing complexity from people's lives, human-centered product design,

and being a really humane firm with a sincere connection with its customers. Apple is positioned

as being tremendously beneficial to people (and businesses) as they attempt to attain their

objectives thanks to these features.

 Apple has also been dominating the watch business in the first quarter of 2021. Forbes

states “ According to a Counterpoint Research report Apple grew its Apple Watch shipment by

50% year over year in the first quarter of 2021, increasing market share slightly as the overall

market grew 35%”(Koetsier). The current market share is split three ways between Apple, four

different second-tiered brands, and 40% of the market is split between dozens of smaller

vendors. Apple's device market share of 33.5 percent presumably corresponds to a revenue share

of more than 60%. The Apple Watch Series 6 can cost anywhere from $400 to well over $1,000,

depending on features, case type, band style, and other considerations. A Fitbit Sense costs $300,

a Samsung Galaxy Watch is $200-400, and many Huawei and smaller brands are significantly

cheaper. The smartwatch market is growing quickly for even giants like Apple, Samsung, and

Google but selling smartwatches isn’t just about device profits. Forbes states in an interview with

Shah “Wearable devices and services are going to become important for companies such as

Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon as they increasingly expand their reach in healthcare,

pharmaceutical and insurance verticals directly or indirectly,” Shah said. “This can include

selling services such as Apple Fitness+, predictively cross-selling medicines and healthcare

solutions, or attracting marketers to their ad platforms based on the health profiles built with the

enormous amount of data generated via the number of sensors on these wearable devices”

(Koetsier).

Unique Brand Benefit / Proposition

One aspect of Apple’s brand in regard to the Apple Watch that allows it to rise above the

crowd is the perceived value that an Apple Watch has, caused by its perceived technological and

general product superiority, as well as its ability to foster connectedness. The brand in general is

associated with the cutting-edge as well as with the creation of high-quality content—Apple’s
iPad commercials, for example, frequently feature consumers using them in the creation of art

and of business materials (iPad, 2018; Introducing the, 2018). The Apple Watch in particular is

associated with the high-end and with the cutting edge, as evidenced by its advertising and

prices. The unique brand benefit is introduced to us by the fact that the Apple Watch’s prices are

often above those of competitors, and yet the demand is high—Apple was labeled as the world’s

most valuable brand by Forbes in 2020, with a perceived brand value of 241.2 billion dollars

(Forbes). Why is it that despite high prices the brand does so well? According to

ChangingMinds.org, under the Veblen effect a good’s being expensive causes it to, against

expected behavior, increase demand for the good (Changing Works). According to Robert

Cialdini’s professional development book for marketers, Influence, there is also a perception

among consumers that a good that is expensive is better than a good that is cheaper simply

because it is more expensive (Cialdini). 

Apple’s watch being more expensive than other brands, then, is likely to create a

perception of superior quality. In addition to this perception of superior quality, Apple presents

an ideal for its consumers to strive to in the ads for the watch that the company presents. This

association with an ideal is often used by the sellers of luxury goods—commercials for high-end

perfumes and cars frequently depict a larger-than-life association that the audience strives

towards, whether it be a life of luxury, or a persona associated with grandeur. Apple’s

associations with its watch for its audience seem to be similar, with the advertisements for the

brand as a whole seeming to promise a unique brand benefit of being among those who own a

technologically incredible Apple product—perceived as being something to strive for, something

to be proud of, and those owning an Apple watch to be especially cutting-edge and part of

something to appreciate.
 The product solves the consumer need, then, to be perceived as a part of something

bigger than themselves, as provided by the brand’s associations with being a superior group,

given its high prices and its depictions of its users as almost “a step ahead” in advertisements.

The product also solves more basic consumer needs—the need to be connected to the world

around them, solved by the shareable nature of the data generated on the watch and by the ease

with which one is able to view one’s messages and receive calls, and the less common but still

prevalent need to possess a machine that allows the user to carefully monitor health. Both needs

are solved concurrently with the introduction of the watch’s Apple Research app, which allows

the user to submit their data to attempt to solve various health problems (Apple) — something

that furthers Apple’s brand perception as furthering that which is generative and new and as

contributing to the furthering of personal development and health through technology—recalling

the ads depicting, among other things, using the watch to monitor the specifics of activity (as

when running or swimming) and inactivity (as in meditation) and, it is implied, using the watch

somehow encourages these behaviors (“Apple Watch”, 2021; “Introducing Apple”, 2020). 

 While the majority of smartwatches purport to solve basic social and health needs, Apple is

uniquely positioned in that the brand is so ubiquitous the world almost seems to revolve around it

in certain ways— the watch boasts of Apple’s music library of 75 million songs on Apple Music

on its website (Apple), a number that reminds users of just how massive the company’s reach is,

further cementing the brand benefit of value through connectedness and superiority.

Apple, then, differs from competition by offering intangible benefits by its being perceived as a

superior good and additionally by offering apps that are carefully created and curated to be

beneficial to its users.

  When purchasing an apple watch, the consumer, then, expects to receive the intangible

benefits of possessing a “superior” technological product and means of connection.

Advertising

The Apple watch’s website serves as a microcosm of Apple’s advertising and

communication strategy for its smartwatches, with its website appealing to the rational and with

a sense of carefully curated aesthetics, as well as to the emotional side of consumers. The site

features a large, largely negative-space image featuring two apple watches side by side, floating

in the negative space, with one’s screen featuring an aesthetically pleasing clock and the other’s

screen featuring the face of a happy young woman over top of the time and date. Seeing the

smiling woman makes the viewer associate the Apple Watch with happiness, and so appeals to

the emotions of the viewer. Scrolling down, the site features another largely negative-space ad,

with a collection of Apple Watches organized into a circle and organized after the fashion of the

rainbow. This ad appeals to the rational, stating “Heavy on features. Light on price” and

advertising the price of $279 (Apple). The site further features rational appeals, offering free

delivery, monthly payment, and time with a specialist, as well as apps that the watch offers

(Apple). The quality of the website is high, with HD images and careful design.

         In addition to on its website, Apple offers rational and emotional appeals in its tv and

YouTube ads, such as in its “It Already Does That” ad, which advertises the fact that the watch

performs technologically advanced functions (a rational appeal) and associates it with beautiful

and exciting imagery, creating an emotional association with the product in the mind of the

viewer (“Introducing Apple”). The brand is further advertised in magazines and on websites and

in apps, with high-quality digital and print images that further its trend of both rational and

emotional appeals backed by beautiful design. The current advertising is, in general, high-quality
and a mixture of rational and emotional appeals done well and in such a way that the brand is

advertised successfully, as the brand is at the forefront of the world in that it has been listed as

the world’s most valuable brand by Forbes (Forbes) and because the ads are well-done

aesthetically and conceptually, and have created a sense of value associated with the brand in the

mind of the consumer.

The Competition / Other Players in the Market

As technology grows and becomes more advanced, the industry only gets more and more

competitive. Smart watches have become a day to day essential for many people. What often

happens when a product becomes popular is that other brands begin to make similar products and

competition is born. The Apple watch is no exception to this.

The biggest competitors for the Apple watch include Fitbit, Samsung, Garmin, Sony

corporation, HTC corporation and more (Wearable). Apple continues to dominate the world of

technology and wearable technology, but its competitors are still there and something for Apple

to keep an eye on. Statistically, “Apple controls about a 49.7% share of the global smartwatch

market. The company is the clear leader in the market. Samsung, the closest competitor, only has

a 13.4% share. Fitbit (NYSE: FIT), which agreed to sell itself to Google for $2.1 billion, controls

an 11.3% share of the smartwatch market” (Gupta). 

Although Apple is the superior watch at the moment, the competitors exist because they

may offer different features, prices etc. For example, Fitbit and Apple share many similarities but

the differences are what create competition. Apple costs about $400 dollars while Fitbit ranges

from $150-$400 dollars and has a better battery life (Kozuch). Fitbit has further heated up the

competition with its changes to its brand image: “Recently, Fitbit has pivoted to elevated

smartwatch and activity band designs. The new Fitbit Luxe band comes in metallic finishes,
while the Fitbit Sense smartwatch opted for sleek capacitive touch controls over protruding

physical buttons” (Kozuch). No longer is Fitbit just for the athletic customer and Apple watch for

the fashionable one. Regardless of the competition, Apple is still the leader in the wearable tech

industry. 

Target Audience/s

Apple is targeting younger to middle aged individuals from established areas who make a

steady income and have families. Their target audience is people in their mid-twenties to mid-

forties: however, the younger audience would hopefully be married or settled down, out of

college, working a steady job and making savings to afford the product and product line, and

starting a family. As Apple continuously rolls out updated versions of products, they would

hopefully be able to keep purchasing and upgrading as well.

Looking at it from a wider lens, Apple targets individuals of all genders who are

hopefully familiar with tech, own Apple products, or plan to buy them. The watch syncs with

Apple’s other products to receive messages, app notifications, and notes, making them a

necessary pair. In a research document by John Dudovskiy analyzing Apple’s target audience

and segmentation, he lists that in Apple’s accessories category, the individuals targeted are

upper-class people who live worldwide, are from urban areas, and who work in professional and

high-earning occupations. These people are also brand-loyal to Apple, or would be willing to

switch over (Dudovskiy).

Due to the fitness capabilities and statistics the Apple watch offers (such as heart rate,

activity tracking and logging, activity detection, and competitive fitness options), they also target

active and tech-friendly individuals, given that the fitness aspect is one widely advertised and

promoted. But not only is the target currently fit individuals, but also health conscious people, or
people looking to keep track of their basic heart rate and breathing. Apple also expands their

network of watch-related products by offering customizable watch bands with slogans, mantras,

and designs on them. Their watch products and accessories can easily go into the thousands with

add-ons like gold or silver bands, cases, or expensive leather. 

Project Recommendation

For the project recommendation of the Apple Watch we would recommend that our client have

their target audience focus on primarily consumers in their thirties. The target audience would

focus primarily on thirty-year old’s because this group of consumers would be financially stable

to afford one of our luxury watches. The price for the Apple Watch would most likely be

between three hundred and four hundred dollars to keep up with our competition. Samsung

watches are slightly less expensive than an Apple watch, but they are not as luxurious as the

Apple watches. For the options to buy one of our new luxury watches we will start at our Apple

Store and then push them out to the phone companies like Verizon and T-Mobile. When the item

is at its climax of need from consumers, we will make a deal with Amazon to have our watch on

their site. When it comes to the promotion of our product, we would push the product to be

shown on commercials for cable as well as streaming sites like Disney plus. Once we have

established ourselves on the tv and streaming services we would then move to social media. We

would make ads on Tik Tok, Snapchat, and Facebook.

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