O2 and Apple- Marketing Experiments
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EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING: APPLE
Apple Computers was in need of a new retailing strategy and a more widespread adoption of its products. The 2005 annual report mentions that “One of the goals of the retail initiative is to bring new customers to the Company and expand its installed base through sales to computer users who currently do not own a Macintosh computer and first time personal computer buyers.” As a result, Apple has undertaken store based retailing with heavy emphasis on making the customer test the products first hand before purchasing a product. A visit to the Apple Store shows that they have a combination of a free flow layout and a loop layout. According to the company “this helps to guide a consumer’s emotional and intellectual experience through the store”. The design is flexible and fit to the space of the stores leaving enough room to walk around comfortably. It has also been said that 25% at the front of the store is devoted to products, 25% to music and photos, 25% for the Genius Bar and movies, and at the back of the store 25% devoted to accessories and other products. Responsive products or new products are placed at the entrance of the store where there is high visibility even to customers just walking past. For example, the new slim notebook, The Macbook Air with its catchy slogan “thinnovation” had a special display at the entrance of the store with a poster beside it. This can be said to be a technique used to catch the attention of shoppers and encourage them to walk into the store where they are able to actually try out the product first hand. The visual identity created through the strong brand image and effective product display technique used would definitely “pull” target consumers towards the store. Once inside the store, the products are displayed categorically i.e. laptops, ipods, ipod nanos and the flow of customers is maintained by product signs affixed to the ceiling. Steve Jobs, the owner of Apple has
EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING: APPLE
Apple Computers was in need of a new retailing strategy and a more widespread adoption of its products. The 2005 annual report mentions that “One of the goals of the retail initiative is to bring new customers to the Company and expand its installed base through sales to computer users who currently do not own a Macintosh computer and first time personal computer buyers.” As a result, Apple has undertaken store based retailing with heavy emphasis on making the customer test the products first hand before purchasing a product. A visit to the Apple Store shows that they have a combination of a free flow layout and a loop layout. According to the company “this helps to guide a consumer’s emotional and intellectual experience through the store”. The design is flexible and fit to the space of the stores leaving enough room to walk around comfortably. It has also been said that 25% at the front of the store is devoted to products, 25% to music and photos, 25% for the Genius Bar and movies, and at the back of the store 25% devoted to accessories and other products. Responsive products or new products are placed at the entrance of the store where there is high visibility even to customers just walking past. For example, the new slim notebook, The Macbook Air with its catchy slogan “thinnovation” had a special display at the entrance of the store with a poster beside it. This can be said to be a technique used to catch the attention of shoppers and encourage them to walk into the store where they are able to actually try out the product first hand. The visual identity created through the strong brand image and effective product display technique used would definitely “pull” target consumers towards the store. Once inside the store, the products are displayed categorically i.e. laptops, ipods, ipod nanos and the flow of customers is maintained by product signs affixed to the ceiling. Steve Jobs, the owner of Apple has
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