Marketing strategies you can learn from Apple to improve your brand
Have you ever looked at an iPhone, and wondered how Apple manage to sell so many? Have you ever wondered how Apple are able to brand themselves so well to a point in which they’re able to charge thousands of dollars for a phone? Apple’s marketing department is filled with creative geniuses which are able to understand human psychology in order to create effective branding. In this article, we’re going to look at several branding strategies that the company uses, and give practical examples of how you can apply these techniques towards your music career.
Although Apple could spend millions of dollars in advertising on Facebook ads & Google Adwords etc, the most prominent forms of advertising within the company are product placement and media consumption. For example, Apple uses influencers in the entertainment (and other) industries to promote their products. If people’s favorite actors & musicians etc are using something, there’s a good chance that their fanbases will do the exact same. Here’s an example of product placement on DJ Khaled’s YouTube channel:
Of course, many producers within the industry do not have the financial resources to afford promotions with large personalities such as DJ Khaled. Therefore, it’s worth looking into influencer advertising on the likes of YouTube & Instagram. Let’s create a scenario in which 50 gaming influencers use your song on YouTube, and feature the Spotify link in the description. If each video is able to generate several hundred thousand plays, there’s a probable chance that your music will also gain a lot of traction due to their fanbase wanting to save the track for their own gaming sessions. This in turn creates strong word of mouth that can easily allow a track to go viral on a certain platform. After all, if lots of big influencers within a niche are promoting something, their fanbases will want to engage with your content as well.
Next, many producers believe that they have to compete on price when it comes to selling tickets for shows etc. After all, they think that people would much rather pay $10 for your show than $20 for a competitor. Thankfully, this is pretty far from the truth. As Apple’s pricing model shows, consumers are willing to pay pretty much almost any price if the value for money is there. With an iPhone X costing upwards of $1k, the branding that Apple implemented towards the product managed to generate a lot of sales.
Likewise in the music industry, you should be generating a strong brand image around your career, and developing pricing models for shows that maximize profit. eg. Offering a basic ticket price, and then a higher charge for meet & greet with the artist (or something similar). This immediately allows your event to be appealing towards people of different income levels – therefore generating even more revenue from the exact same event. Possible options include tickets to the soundcheck, meet & greet, private performances in front of a small audience etc.
Apple understands that consumers within the technology market are often overwhelmed by complicated jargon and unnecessary facts during an advert. Instead, they offer simplified language that almost anybody can understand – as well as a lot of energy behind each advert in order to make it feel like less of a commercial. In the below example, the fast-paced editing and vibrant colors, accompanied by simplistic text allow the viewer to be immediately attracted to the video. Also, the use of personal pronouns such as “you” make the viewer feel as if the commercial is speaking directly towards them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW6hFttt_KE&frags=pl%2Cwn
During the promotion campaign of a song, producers should try creating an engaging storyline around their track. For example, they could film how it makes people feel, and creating a compilation of people listening to the track. As humans are able to establish an emotional connection within a piece of content when they see other people similar to their demographic (such as in a TV show), it allows the product to feel more attractive. Therefore by telling a story of how a song makes fans feel and uploading it to social media sites, it will certainly create strong engagement within your fanbase (if the content is good). Of course, this is a much better form of promotion than just spamming a Spotify link. During this example with Beats By Dre (owned by Apple) & DJ Snake, he talks about growing up in the Parisian suburbs, and his rise to fame. As a lot of people viewing the video are people within the music industry (possibly in a similar situation), it allows them to generate a connection with DJ Snake so that the headphone product feels appealing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBbHSO2G0Iw&frags=pl%2Cwn
In conclusion, Apple’s product advertising is done in a way that allows consumers to visualize how it will affect their lives. Whether it’s high-quality photos for festivals or the flawless integration of Apple Music into people’s day, there is no doubt that Apple is able to efficiently use psychology to sell products on a consistent basis. With the ability to translate these strategies into the music industry, there are hundreds of opportunities for producers to create an extremely strong brand image with their music career. Good luck!