Voted 2012 overall winner of CMO Survey Award for Marketing Excellence by word’s top marketers, Apple’s success has been subject to a core question: why is it such a great marketer? At time of launch in January 1977 Apple set out its marketing philosophy made up of 3 marketing fundamentals, which has today turned the company into the most valuable company and brand in the world: Empathy, Focus and Impute.

Below Apple’s strategies to rule over Marketing Innovation unleashed:

1 BET ON CUSTOMER-FOCUSED AND SYMPATHETIC WORKFORCE.
Apple employees are so committed to customer’s experience that Apple deeper to build products that exactly matches customers’ expectations; “products that really turn us on”, as stated by Steve Jobs

2 CONTINUOUS CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT.
Apple’s strategy was based on analyzing how its customers use its products and competitors’ products to determine theirs pros and cons. Apple develops its designs and functionalities in line with customer experience, based on an approach called ‘participatory design’ or ‘usability testing’.

3 FEATURE CREEP.
The innovative school of thought of Apple consisted of finding a compromise between engineers geared towards developing innovative products, and business people who wanted to make money. Apple concentrates on the core purposes of its products, betting on their ease of use and user-friendliness.

4 BUILD COMPATIBLE EXPERIENCES.
Well aware of its customers’ expectations, Apple created a system integrating their computing and entertainment devices together: Apple gave birth to a ‘digital hub’ and an ‘entertainment hub’ with combinations of Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod and iTunes.

5 APPLE STORES.
Apple Stores represents a platform showcasing the brand’s wide range of interconnected products together with solutions. Customers are offered a unique personal experience motored by the appealing look and user-friendliness of Apple products.

6 ‘THINK DIFFERENTLY’ PHILOSOPHY.
Since launched, Apple adopted an off-beat image summarized in 3 main levels: the Super Bowl advert introducing Macintosh in 1984; the ‘Think differently’ ad campaign in 1997 and finally with Steve Jobs’ contribution to this maverick movement communicating of Apple’s challenging aesthetic. Furthermore, excluding other brands from Apples Stores has been a key contributor to Apple’s brand moat.

7 BEING CUSTOMER VALUE-FOCUSED.
By creating a business model focused on customer value, Apple’s has implemented a marketing philosophy promoting customer loyalty and cross-category spending. How? By customer-obsessed staff and launching retail stores offering a bundle of devices and content to customers.

8 CANNIBALIZATION.
Apple has understood that to be a great marketer, it should be ready to cannibalize its offers to bring to the market, a superior offer. For instance, launching Apple iPhone and iPods where both play music while the former could have threatened the latter’s sales. Apple quickly understood that “If I don’t do it, someone else would…”

9 LIMITED PRODUCT LINES AND LIMITED OFFERS WITHIN EACH LINE.
As opposed to various companies, Apple limits the number of its product lines and the number of offers within each line. Instead of diversifying its offers, Apple focuses on “a few big bets that deliver customer value and stand out in the crowd. The result is that customers know what to expect from Apple and they usually get”, as stated Tim Cook, Apple’s COO some years ago.

10 BETTING ON VALUABLE OFFERINGS.
Apple introduced iPhone together with an online App Store. However, the App Store depended on the integration of iOS apps by other companies into their strategies. This rocketed app development and strengthen user engagement.

More on this topic:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/christinemoorman/2012/07/10/why-apple-is-a-great-marketer/