June 19, 2009

BE DiFFERENT Company - Apple

I am impressed with the strategy Apple is following in developing the market for their iPhone. The focus on applications is a very creative way to address the wide range of value that people get from their smartphone.

In fact the applications-centric approach places them in the BE DiFFERENT position of creating value-based holistic Offers that I espouse in my book. And, at least at this point in time, they are unmatched by their rivals such as RIM whose porfolio of applications is resricted to few in comparison. And Apple’s distribution plan is right on the money by introducing Apps Stores in 2008 to educate their customers and sell content. Great relationship building marketing! I see the competition is now jumping on the App Store bandwagon. Too late! And remember that fast following doesn’t make you DiFFERENT, it just makes you the same faster.

The latest announcement of the iPhones new operating system, the OS 3.0 progresses the applications value approach even further much to the dismay of their competitors. The OS 3.0 permits a user to transact within the iPhone app itself. This value-added capability builds the relationship with the user who then becomes much more sticky to the iPhone and reluctant to be tempted by competitive alternatives. And, much to the delight of Apple, this transaction-within-an-App functionality produces an ongoing revenue stream rather than a single purchase which is produced by most of the other applications in the smartphone market these days.

So why do I categorize Apple as BE DiFFERENT?
- the APP focus creates value for their customers that is unique
- their new OS 3.0 drives the relationship with the customer deeper making it difficult for their competitor’s to break
- they are changing the rules of the smartphone game by finding a way to generate recurring revenues from APP’s
- finally, they are keeping the application software develops loyal to Apple by creating an ongoing critical role for them in the iPhone Offer

Nicely done Apple!

Cheers, Roy Osing

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Posted 6.19.09 at 03:07 pm by Roy Osing | Read Comments (0) | Leave a Comment