project

Apple

Prepared For: Prof. Carlene Rose

Principals of Management

Research Methods-

The Apple company has always intrigued me. The way that they have been able to

maintain on top of the technology world for so many years goes to prove that they must be doing

something correctly. I have always been an Apple user myself because I enjoy the simplicity of

their product, along with the ease of being able to connect all my devices. I initially started my

research for this assignment by trying to find out what it was that really made Apple so

successful. I started on Google and searched, “what makes Apple so successful.” Most of the

articles that appeared in my results mentioned Apple’s management style, the ease of use of their

product, and their marketing strategies. For this assignment I chose to narrow my focuses to

these three topics. After I developed my keywords, I was able to gather my research by using

multiple search engines and the keywords I developed to narrow down my search to cover only

the topics I was looking for. After sifting through multiple articles, I started seeing similarities

which helped me to develop what I was going to talk about in my paper and how I should

structure each section. With this new knowledge, I got right to work analyzing what it was that

kept Apple on top of the competition over all these years even with a change in CEO.

The History Behind Apple-

Since Apple was first founded in a garage by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, they had a

goal of becoming the top selling computer brand. Since April 1976, Apple’s products continue to

evolve as do the needs of their users. Since the launch of the Apple I, which was sold without a

monitor, keyboard, or casing, (Terrell) Apple has worked to improve their products to satisfy

their customer’s needs and to give them a great experience while doing so. With each decade,

brought new and great things for Apple, which changed the way they advertised, marketed their

products, and managed their company.

When Steve jobs first invented Apple he dreamed of being at the top of the market. His

goals were brand recognition, being known as the best and most popular computer brand, and to

remain on top of the market. With these goals in mind Steve Jobs set out to operate a successful

company.

As Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started down this journey, Steve Jobs focused on

developing his company to become the biggest and the greatest. He had visions of his brand

becoming so well recognized that they would become the greatest computer brand to be known.

He was able to do this by building much of his persona right into the company itself.

Jobs is a leader that believes in developing not only his company, but his employees as

well. He was known for being a harsh but passionate leader and CEO who demanded perfection

and excellence from those who made up his team. Jobs believed in supporting his employees and

encouraging them to do what they were good at and what they loved, but he also held all

employees to an extremely high standard.

With a driven leader like Jobs, Apple was able to kick it into high gear when it came to

product release. When it came to Jobs, he was known as a world’s true visionary, because he was

always looking to constantly innovate new products.

Apple’s goal was to create a brand that would be recognized by all. Their main goal was

to develop a brand and products that would lead them and then keep them at the top of their

market. Their first steps in achieving this goal was to use an approach that focused on premium

branding. According to Roberta Greenspan, Apple was able to do to this by capitalizing on a

premium brand and by ensuring that their product, place, promotion, and price would help to

maintain a strong brand image. (Greenspan)

In the following years of the 1980s, Apple became the first PC Maker to reach $1 billion

in annual sales. They joined the Fortune 500 and released AppleWorks software and the

ImageWriter printer.

Apple chose to introduce the Macintosh by using a TV advertisement during Super Bowl

XVIII. After experiencing great success from this commercial, Apple chose to introduce their

software, Macintosh Office, the following year during Super Bowl XIX. This commercial was a

complete dud and was not able to produce the sales they were looking to obtain.

With the introduction of the Apple III, sales began to plummet, due to the computer’s

rushed production. While wearing a price tag of $4,300- $7,800, users could expect to experience

performance problems and missed ship dates. In December 1980, Apple went public.

Changes Need to be Made for Apple to Survive

Over the next few years, Apple continued to produce and introduce new products to the

market. They were able to improve each new product by taking the complaints about what their

product was missing and by adding it to the next version of the computer they produced. (Staff)

After many failed attempts at increasing the sales of their products, the founders of Apple

knew something had to change. After reviewing their marketing strategies and their leadership

styles, they discovered that there was a better way to go about it and that what they were doing

wasn’t cutting it anymore. At this point Steve Jobs had a rocky relationship with the company he

had started and was eventually let go from Apple, and like a true entrepreneur started another

competitive computer company called NeXT.

After years of low sales numbers, Apple decided to take a different approach. Instead of

using advertisements that were way too busy with words, and that contained too few images,

Apple began to take a simpler approach. Their ideas for their marketing strategies changed and

developed, and they began to see the benefits of this new approach with their rising number of

sales.

With Jobs no longer being in charge of the company and with the changes being made to

Apple’s management style and their marketing style, Apple chose to also change their slogan to

represent their new goals. Apple’s slogan changed to “Think Different” in the year 1997. With

this new slogan, Apple changed more than just the slogan on their advertisements, they also

applied the concept to their entire marketing strategy. They took a different approach than the

one they had been following for years and started to “think different.”

As Apple continued to grow, and their management styles shifted, so did the focus of their

main goals. As their company further developed, their main goals changed to concentrate on:

 Being the top competitor in the entire electronics market

 Producing and improving on products that already existed on the market

 Developing their brand recognition

 Providing their customers with a great customer experience

 And giving their consumers the products that they asked for

As Apple’s brand recognition grew and their consumer following grew, they were better able

to figure out how to reach their customers. They learned who their target market was and how to

best advertise to them. Apple chose to keep it simple. By making their brand and their products

so well-known they are able to use simple ads and almost everyone who sees the ad would know

what it was for.

After many years of being out of the Apple world, Apple decided to purchase Steve Job’s

new company NeXT, with the intentions of bringing Steve Jobs back into the management fold

as Apple’s leader. With the merger of the two companies, Steve Jobs was back on top of Apple,

and was again doing great work to lead them to achieving their goals of maintaining on top of the

competition over the next few years.

In 2011 Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO of Apple and hand selected Tim Cook to replace

him as Apple’s new CEO. Tim Cook approached leadership and management with a different

approach then Jobs did. Cook’s unique approach to management continues to seek to achieve

excellence at Apple. With a very calm demeanor, making him more approachable than Jobs was,

Cook has made an immediate point to stress transparency and teamwork within the Apple

organization.

Though these two leaders have two very different management styles, the end result is still

the same: massive success for Apple. (Staff Author)

Changes to be Made to Apple’s Management Style

Tim Cook’s focus on Apple’s core business and his decisions to pump the breaks on new

products is typical of a man of his style and ideology. While his predecessor was always looking

to innovate new products, Cook has decided to focus their attention on developing products that

are already on the market and doing well. (Staff Author)

With a shift in management, Apple’s goals changed. They went from being the top

computer company with the best products on the market, to becoming a company that offers a

variety of mobile electronic devices. All of their devices are viewed as top of the line products

that offer their users a top of the line experience. By keeping their products similar and by

designing them to interconnect with each other, their consumers are able to have a better

experience overall. It doesn’t matter what device they are using, they are able to access their

information through the iCloud from any device making it extremely convenient.

Apple started listening to their consumers. Rather than believing that they knew what

their consumers wanted in a product, they decided to ask their consumers what it was they

wanted in a product and then gave them what they asked for.

By creating simple products that have a familiar feeling to them, and that are easy to use,

Apple has been able to develop a loyal following of users. Consumers like the idea that they can

access their information from their phones, tablets, computers, and iPods all from one device.

This convenience factor is what helps Apple to develop and maintain their loyal following.

Apple Changes the Way They Advertise Their Products

Through the years, Apple’s advertisements went from being filled with lots of words, to

hardly using any words at all. Instead of trying to use words to describe what their products are

capable of, and instead of trying to fit all the details about their products into their ads, Apple

found other ways to demonstrate what their products were capable of doing.

One of the major things that Apple doesn’t talk about in their ads is their pricing of their

products. Instead of placing their focus on the pricing and the features of their products, they

present their products by showing how people use them in their everyday lives. They do this by

using commercials that are funny, relatable, and ties into why their consumers would want to buy

and own their products.

According to Jayson, DeMers, by taking out all the words and by lessening the confusion

about why someone should buy their product, Apple has actually increased their likelihood of

making a sale by 86%. Studies have shown that companies who simplify and streamline the

decision-making process for their consumers wind up making the sale more often than not.

(DeMers)

Apple continues to see an increase in their sales. Each new phone that comes out has

something that is greater than the last version. It includes whatever the last one was missing and

eliminates the parts that are no longer needed. As you can see over the years, Apple’s products

and advertisements have changed, but the core of their advertising has remained the same.

Apple Currently

The development of Apple’s marketing has led them to remain on top of the market. By

evolving with their consumer’s needs Apple has become one of the most recognized brands. By

building their brand recognition, they have built a community and have built a level of status

amongst this community. They have been able to do this because of the loyalty that they have

created by using simple ads. Throughout the years and the changes within Apple, they were

finally able to get their marketing strategies figured out.

The average consumer will see commercials for Apple products on their TV, on their

social media news feeds, and in their magazines. Apple’s ads pop up everywhere including on

the side of your screen when you are looking at websites online. By keeping them short and

usually fun, Apple is able to catch their reader’s attention and may be able to convince them to

buy an Apple product without bombarding them with information like some other ads we see.

Apple still follows the techniques that they have been following for the last decade or so

now. Their commercials are fun and engaging, are usually flashy and eye catching, and they are

rarely information overload like they used to be. Instead some of them don’t even use words, and

a good majority of the time the advertainments demonstrate how the product can be used and the

benefits that it can add to your life. By using these types of techniques, Apple is able to use their

commercials to highlight one of the many features of the product and use that as their selling

point. Using techniques such as this helps to grab the attention of their consumers and makes the

consumer excited to try out their new products.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Apple has seen many changes over the years. From starting out as a two-

man operation out of Steve Job’s parent’s garage, to becoming one of the world’s greatest

recognized brands, Apple has made great strides at conquering their market. Even with changes

made to their management and leadership styles, Apple never fell from the top of the

competition.

Even with the very different management approaches from Steve Jobs and Tim Cook,

Apple has still done extremely well. While many people have criticized Cook for not running

Apple the same way Jobs did, Jobs reportedly told Cook on his death bed, “Never ask yourself

what would Steve Jobs do?” This gives indication that Jobs knew exactly who it was that he was

hand selecting to pass his legacy down too. Jobs had faith in Cook and knew that even with his

totally different management approach, he would still be successful at getting the job done.

(Eadicicco)

Cook, much like Jobs, has built much of his persona into the way he leads the company.

Being as mild mannered as his public persona might indicate, but also relentless when it comes

to tackling issues, Cook uses effective techniques to keep his team progressing and growing

forward. He is not a screamer or a yeller, instead he is known as a quiet leader who will try to

wear you down and catch you off guard by asking you a million questions. He uses this approach

to keep his employees on top of their game and familiar with all the newest things that Apple has

to offer. (Eadicicco)

His employees have found this to be an effective technique, because they feel they are

always left on their toes never knowing when they may get interrogated by an endless barrage of

questions. Though this method is different than the one used by Jobs, Cook’s employees and

management teams have found this to be a useful tactic. This method caught on in Apple’s

operations division as the employees in charge have started using the same techniques of

questioning their subordinates about all the information they need to know to be successful at

doing their jobs. It has been said that questioning your team leaves other leaders empowered to

find the answers themselves and act on them. In a round about way, Cook is developing his

employees to be the future leaders of tomorrow. (Eadicicco)

References DeMers, Jayson. "Here's The Simple Secret To Apple's Marketing Success." 8 July 2014.

<https://www.forbes.com>.

Eadicicco, Lisa. Here's the Management Tactic Apple CEO Tim Cook Uses to Keep Employees on Their

Toes. 16 April 2019. http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-ceo-tim-cook-managment-style-

2019-4. 24 April 2019.

Greenspan, Roberta. "Apple Inc.'s Marketing Mix of 4Ps (An Analysis)." 13 September 2018.

<http://panmore.com/apple-inc-marketing-mix-4ps>.

Staff Author. How Does Tim Cook's Management Style Differ from Steve Jobs? 28 October 2015.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/professionals/081715/how-does-tim-cooks-

management-style-differ-steve-jobs.asp. 26 April 2019.

Staff, Macworld. "Apple: The First 30 Years." 30 March 2006.

<https://www.macworld.com/article/1050115/macs/30timeline.html>.

Terrell, Ellen. "Apple Computer, Inc." April 2008. Business Referene Services.

<http://www.loc.gov/rr/business/businesshistory/April/apple.html>.