Marketing Industry Comparison

Marketing

Different computer makers take different approaches to their marketing. Apple, the industry's #5, and Hewlett Packard, the industry's #1 (no author, 2010), each compete on different dimensions. Both utilize a differentiated strategy, but the two firms choose different tactics to achieve this differentiation. Apple utilizes a brand-focused approach to its advertising, while HP is focused on a product-centric approach. These different approaches are reflected in the advertising the firms choose. This paper will analyze the advertising campaigns of both Apple and Hewlett Packard to identify similarities and differences between the approaches that these two companies take.

Apple

Apple has long believed that the key to successful differentiation is to be different in a wide number of areas. Its products are clearly differentiated from those of other personal computer makers but the primary focus of differentiation has long been the Apple brand itself, and to a lesser extent the primary computer brand Mac (Kahney, 2002). This focus is evident in most of Apple's ads, which emphasize style over substance. The famous series of television spots that Apple utilizes contrast the hipster Mac user with the nerdy PC user, for example, glossing over key performance issues and focusing on image. This reinforces the brand image that Apple has tried to cultivate over the years.

The main point of deviation for Apple is with respect to the direct promotion on the Internet. Given all the time and space it wants to spread its message, Apple.com devotes ample time to discussing the features of its Mac computers. In addition to the same slick visuals found in print and television ads for the company, there is also information provided about the specs and tellingly also the differences between Macs and competing computers, which are effectively lumped into a generic category. Shifting all competitors into a generic category, PC, frames Apple computers as differentiated. The point of differentiation is actually the operating system, but Apple benefits from this framing of the choices consumers face in the industry.

Apple has a clear target market, and this is closely aligned with its advertising, which carries a lifestyle accent. In addition, attributes such as the placement of Macs (company-owned stores) highlight the differentiation that Apple is trying to achieve. With HP, there is no differentiation throughout the marketing chain -- but with Apple there is differentiation in all elements of the 4Ps. With its own stores, operating system, unique ads and higher than standard pricing, Apple's marketing program is much better at achieving differentiation than that of HP, whose program conveys very little differentiation at any level.

Hewlett Packard

HP is a differentiated provider of personal computers. The company makes quality a focal point of its differentiation and emphasizes this more in its promotions than does Apple. However, in television advertisements, HP also utilizes lifestyle marketing, for example in the Happy Baby spot, which is geared to appeal to parents. This particular spot also serves to emphasize functionality, a message that HP often utilizes in its advertisements.

Hewlett Packard's online promotions feature visuals that are basic. These advertisements focus less on features than on price -- learning about features takes more digging than at the Apple site, for example. Thus, the differentiation focus is downplayed somewhat for HP -- the brand is an important element in the promotional strategy, but only when associated with specific functionality and even value. The messages, when compared to the clear messages conveyed in Apple advertisements, and not as clear with HP. By promoting price, and de-emphasizing brand, HP is perhaps not seeking as clear a differentiation as compared to Apple. It may be compelled by the direct competition it faces from a number of other producers to place more emphasis on price and functionality than Apple is.

In each of the four Ps, Hewlett Packard does not do a fantastic job of differentiating its product. The product may be superior to that of some competitors, but the price does not convey that. In addition, the distribution is mainstream through the same channels most of its competitors use. The promotions lack a distinct look and feel as well, with the messages not varying much from those of HP's main competitors. There is certainly nothing of the level of differentiation found in Apple's spots, which have their own distinct look and feel.

Success

Both companies have enjoyed considerable success in the personal computing industry. It is likely that Apple's promotions are more effective, but this assessment could reflect that the goals of Apple's promotions are clear. Apple seeks to create a strong brand image and with that brand loyalty. By those measures, Apple has been exceptionally successful. The success manifests more in Apple's other products than in the computer industry, where its market share is relatively stable. Apple also focuses on product attributes as a secondary message. This message appears to appeal to the company's existing fan base if nobody else. The company has a tertiary message that seeks to convey directly the ways in which its products are differentiated. This message, even if not entirely effective, is very clear and appealing.

For Hewlett Packard, the company has the #1 market share in computers, despite mixed messages in its advertisements. As with Apple, much of its brand image is related to its other products; while HP is a dominant computer maker its business products and peripherals are more noted for their quality than its computers are. HP dilutes its differentiation with price promotions, indicating that it has not differentiated its computers to the same degree that Apple -- which does not discount -- has attained. The utility message that HP attempts to convey is moderately appealing, but ultimately a computer is a device that can be used to perform hundreds of tasks, so it would take dozens of "Happy Baby" -- type ads to convey the full usefulness of the product. This implies that HP's message is somewhat weak in part because it focuses on specific details and takes a long time to make its point.