CONSUMER

n 2004 Steve Jobs told Bloomsberg “I get asked a lot why Apple’s customers are so

loyal. It’s not because they belong to the Church of Mac! That’s ridiculous.” It’s now 2012, and our loyalty to technology brands holds more similarities to a religion than ever before. According to research performed by Shirley Cheng, Tiffany White and Lan Chaplin, we as a consumer incorporate brands we love into our own self-image. When someone else criticizes or attacks a brand we love, we feel as if ourselves are under attack. That’s why so many people respond passionately to attacks on brands, it’s a matter

of self-defense. You don’t have to look far

for an exemplary model of such behavior, which has

appropriately been defined as the ‘fanboy.’ Whilst a generic term generally used to describe someone who loves something beyond rationality, its appliance is most commonly associated with followers of the technology titan, Apple.

Apple, one of the world’s most prestigious and accomplished brands standing today, has journeyed from dwindling bankruptcy to become a force to be reckoned with in the last two decades. Their marketing is without a doubt the foundation of such an uprising, creating an almost cult-like fan base and

building a reputation that even technology critics are cautious to criticize. With the introduction of revolutionary software and hardware such as OS X Lion, the iPad, iPod and iPhone, it’s no wonder that their success doesn’t solely come from their impeccable business model. Thanks to their outstanding track record, it’s become common practice for the consumer market to be sucked into their rapidly expanding eco-system. This is all very good and well, but it’s not all daisies and smiles. There is an ugly bi-product of those that solely buy Apple products contained in this system. It’s a described as a relationship that they build with the brand. Fanboys of Apple are stereotypically known, for good reason, to be arrogant, narrow minded and bigots in the way that they think. Let me clarify in the respect of not categorizing the entire Apple user base, that this trait is only found in the minority. The irony is, Apple has produced these characters from doing everything right, not wrong. The fanboys that once were an asset as passionate, educated supporters, have now become as primal and instinctive as a pack of hungry wolves,

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HOW APPLE HAS GONE FROM ECO-SYSTEM TO RELIGION

PEOPLE RESPOND PASSIONATELY TO ATTACKS ON BRANDS – IT’S A MATTER OF SELF-DEFENSE

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pouncing on anyone willing to slander their brand. Needless to say, Apple doesn’t need this type of support anymore, and they are now becoming more of a liability than of use.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of fanboys batting for other teams. Microsoft, Apple’s biggest rival, unsurprisingly is sporting a battalion of disciples that fittingly find themselves as the perfect counterpart for Apple’s. The infamous ‘Mac vs. PC’ war, which has reined for the last decade, just goes to prove the extent of loyalty that can be achieved by simple marketing. At the time, even the brands got in on the action on a more competitive level, which is debatably where the more enthusiastic portion of Apple’s user base, found their stereotype, and set the OS war in stone for decades to come. To recall one of the most influential brand attacks in this ongoing crusade, Apple released a series of 66 videos to the world, known as its ‘Get a Mac’ campaign, over the course of 3 years from 2006 to 2009. The idea: compare the simple, fun mac experience with PC’s frustrating complications. The campaign personified both operating systems and the result was groundbreaking. Market share grew by 42%, Apple had record sales and the campaign became culturally influential. By juxtaposing the brands, and addressing true to life problems with Windows, it projected ideologies of a problem free, simple and convenient operating system that just ‘worked.’ On the other hand, it gave birth to a new kind of tech geek, the Apple fanboy. The videos promoted Apple and manifested their stereotype as the trendy hipster whose optimism only overshadowed the dated work attire and dreary, almost depressed attitude of Windows. In addition, the campaign couldn’t have been better timed, Windows’ reputation plummeted with the release of Vista in 2007, which opened up a whole new realm of privacy, security, performance and product activation holes for the user. It was no surprise that Apple leaped to the ‘rescue’ and used Microsoft’s vulnerable moment as an anchor into the consumer market. Whilst the campaign may have been the catalyst to bring Apple to the icon it is today, and their primary purpose was to convert frustrated Windows users, I’m confident they didn’t expect the repercussions of such a statement, which now plagues the tech community to this day.

It’s no mystery how Apple has manufactured such extremists, however their methods are clear and open for the world to utilize. What is a mystery is why such major corporations such as Nokia, Sony Ericcson, HTC and Google haven’t caught onto any of these marketing strategies, such as an annual update to their lines as opposed to every month or so. We can all connect with the exhilaration of an Apple announcement event, confident as we all are that it will contain significant progressions for their technology and not the nearly unnoticeable ‘bump’ that Android, Apple’s largest competitor in the smartphone market, regularly abides by. This is the difference between products being released annually as opposed to monthly, so much more can be evolved and as a result, the consumer’s perception of that brand will be that of advancement. It’s similar to that of cleaning a room, if you put away one item a day for a month, you’d never really notice a change, and thus – never really truly care. However if you cleaned the entire room in an hour, such a significant and sudden change would be rewarding. Its has got to the stage where learning of an upcoming Android phone is becoming tedious and not exciting like it should be. This is exactly what Apple have avoided. By giving consumers the satisfaction of having the freshest product available, they’ve made it so the consumer isn’t merely purchasing a piece of hardware, but a social statement. More importantly, with the previously mentioned research about how we make our smartphone part of our own self-image, wouldn’t it be logical to assume that we build a relationship with that product? The fact that for an entire year, there will be far more people with the same phone, the same operating system and the same brand means you not only are joining a brand, but a society, and for the enthusiasts among us, a cult.

It’s not that brand associated societies didn’t exist before; they have for as long as we can remember. From Bentley cars to Betamax, brands have managed to build huge support groups that would stand by them, rationality regardless. In fact, brands want this, they want for their brand to be integrated into the lives of their consumers. The reason why Apple’s fanboys have become

forgotten how far they’ve come, and in such a small period of time. Let’s not forget their iconic design, it’s the forefront of the Apple revolution. Without the cutting edge aesthetics that they employ in their products, they would have never have become the corporate giant they are today. Strategic decisions targeted at making Apple stand out from the crowd include white cabling, annual refreshes to their product lines and of course, the elaborate yet simplistic marketing jargon. The latter may be a technique common to all brands in the industry, but Apple has managed to perfect how they communicate with the market with clean guides, simple explanations and informative videos. It’s got to the stage where Apple can release a feature already existing in its competitor’s products, such as voice recognition, and then make it sound as if they’ve revolutionized the industry. Google voice, a piece of voice recognition software built into android, has existed well over a year previous to Siri, yet remains interestingly unknown the majority of the average consumer. Unless competitors start to pick up the pace and sort out their game, Apple will continue reign the industry leader. Only recently, Apple became worth more than Microsoft and Google combined, their trading at almost £314 per share. It’s statistics like this that should ruffle some feathers and reboot the downtrodden marketing of the opposition.

When Apple have such a lead, and such a hold on their consumers lives. It begs the question, how far will we let this go? It’s not necessarily a disadvantage to have every device work seamlessly with each other, in fact, it’s proven to be exceptionally useful. The direction of technology is clear in that respect. Soon we will able to walk into our house with the power to automate lighting, speakers, social networks and even our car and door locks with solely our smartphones. Apple has managed to take the lead, on what is described as the technological revolution. What I do find worrying though, is how that future will affect us. With our phones quickly becoming so vital to our everyday lives, and the clear relationship between our phones and us that exists today, how much will we become part of this ‘system’ that brands so easily control?

THERE IS AN UGLY BI-PRODUCT OF THOSE THAT SOLELY BUY APPLE PRODUCTS CONTAINED IN THIS SYSTEM

so much more prominent than those of other brands is because Apple’s products become a part of our lives in so many fundamental ways. Laptops, smartphones and television have taken such an active role in day-to-day life that we eventually become dependent on them, putting our trust and social lives into not only the product, but subconsciously, the brand. A growing worry among the tech community is that this trust will evolve to a level where our privacy is permanently compromised. This is evident in Google’s recent transition to use our search history to provide increasingly personalized results. Even Apple recently got on the surveillance bandwagon by implementing policies that meant they would constantly track your location through GPS from your phone. It’s not necessarily an evil encroachment on our lives, but it is something that we as the consumer must watch carefully.

It’s not hard to think how Apple could so quickly become a way of life when their devices handle our calendars, knows who we talk to and for how long, and, thanks to Siri, knows about many of your web searches and purchases. From the starting blocks of the restricted computer market to becoming a fully synchronized ecosystem, ranging from phones, mp3 players and eventually the construction of the tablet industry, it’s often

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