Use of Strategic Stories by Apple Inc. in Brand Positioning

This report examines Apple Inc.'s brand positioning strategy, focusing on the use of signature stories or myths to establish and reposition the brand, particularly in Mexico. The paper begins by defining brand and brand positioning, emphasizing their importance in a competitive market. It then elaborates on signature stories as a tool for achieving strong brand positioning, highlighting their role in clarifying brand identity, improving customer relationships, and formulating business strategies. The core of the report is a critical analysis of Apple Inc., illustrating how the company has employed strategic stories, such as the 1984 Macintosh commercial and narratives surrounding Steve Jobs, to build a unique brand image and foster customer loyalty. The report also provides recommendations, such as emphasizing Tim Cook's story to revamp Apple's brand positioning strategy, and concludes that signature stories are a powerful marketing tool influencing stakeholders and driving brand success. The paper references several academic sources to support its claims.

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Use Of Strategic Stories By Apple In Brand Positioning
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1USE OF STRATEGIC STORIES BY APPLE IN BRAND POSITIONING
Executive summary
The paper focuses on examining the use of signature stories or myths to position Apple Inc.
in Mexico. The paper focuses on the concept of the brand as a whole and how brand
positioning plays an essential role in the success of the brand. The paper focuses on the use of
signature stories or myths in brand positioning. The case of Apple Inc. is critically examined
in the paper. How Apple Inc. has used strategic stories to establish the brand and reposition
the brand is explained. Some of the signature stories are also addressed in the paper and
exemplified by Apple Inc. The paper also has particular recommendations for Apple Inc.

2USE OF STRATEGIC STORIES BY APPLE IN BRAND POSITIONING
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Brand And Brand Positioning...............................................................................................3
Signature stories.....................................................................................................................3
Case of Apple Inc...................................................................................................................4
Recommendations......................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

3USE OF STRATEGIC STORIES BY APPLE IN BRAND POSITIONING
Introduction
In today's society, a brand needs to build a unique brand positioning strategy to
compete in the market. A brand positioning strategy is used to build the brand image and
positioning and it is essential to have a strong one as it adds values to the brand(Sarmaniotis
2014). The paper focuses on the signature stories as a tool to achieve strong brand
positioning. The following section of the paper firstly talks about the concept of brand and
brand positioning, followed by brief elaboration on the concept of signature stories. The last
section of the paper critically examines the case of Apple.Inc. The paper focuses on how
Apple Inc. has used signature stories or myths to the position in Mexico.
Discussion
Brand And Brand Positioning
The way its target audience perceives an organization, a company or an individual is
called a brand. A brand is the familiar sensation of a product or a business. Corporations
realize the value of brand positioning. A strong corporate branding strategy adds value to the
entire image of the corporations to help them in achieving their long term goals and can
empower the brand to influence its non-tangible and tangible assets towards branding
excellence in the corporation (Hatch and Schultz 2001). Some of the unique brands are
Apple, Intel, Google, and many more (Fournier and Lee 2009). A strong brand always builds
stable perception in the thoughts of the purchaser. This process takes much time to achieve
and a lot of market and competitor research (Bilgili and Ozkul 2015).
Signature stories
Due to globalization, the competition has increased, and each brand is fighting to
achieve a unique brand position to gain a competitive advantage (Bechter et al 2016 ).

4USE OF STRATEGIC STORIES BY APPLE IN BRAND POSITIONING
Hence, achieving brand positioning is becoming challenging each day and brands are using
unique strategies to position their brand and one of them is relying on signature stories or
myths. A signature story can be defined as a narrative that is interesting and reliable that
contains a strategic message. A signature story is used to clarify or enhance a brand, improve
the customer relationship, and formulate a rigid business strategy. Thus signature stories are
the cornerstone in marketing, branding, and advertising (Aaker and Aaker 2016). Signature
stories give out the reason behind the existence of a brand, its ideology, and why customers
should choose it over other brands. Stories not only influence the customers but the
stakeholder as a whole. The signature story is an effective strategy as it draws the attention of
the customer. The customer gets related to the stories and brand loyalty is built through a
compelling narrative of the signature stories. The brands are able to build a customer loyalty
base.
Case of Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is a multinational company which was found by Steve Job, Steve Wozniak,
and Ronald Wayne in 1974. At present this the second most valuable brand in the world with
a brand valuation of $146 billion. Apple overall, the decade has successfully created a niche
market and developed a brand image which no other product has achieved in that particular
category (Khan, Alam, and Alam 2015). All this has to be possible because of the brand
positioning strategy of the brand. Apple has created a positioning by which it follows an
affinity which no other brand was able to crack.
Apple is a brand which has incorporated signature stories in its brand positioning
strategy. The Apple Macintosh commercial during the eve of Superbowl 1984 is a classic
example. The first step in creating a signature story is building an identity. As apple during,
that time was not an established organization, it could not draw from the corporate history or
story so they as an organisation created a narrative from scratch. The tagline of the “ why

5USE OF STRATEGIC STORIES BY APPLE IN BRAND POSITIONING
1984 will not be like 1984” was taken from George Orwell’s Dystopian Novel and set a
narrative that the new technology created by Apple would be used for freedom. The goal is to
create a customer-focused story. The second step in creating a signature story is to evaluate
the story. A strategic story need not be a great story but it should have had a high narrative
quality. In the year 1988 after Apple faced download it strike back with its powerful
storytelling through a short film. The name of the short film is “pencil test” which highlighted
the feature of the Macintosh to create animation. The third most important step in creating a
signature story is to formalize a strategy for the same. Apple has a strong storytelling
narrative where it not only uses internal storytelling through its employee executives but uses
mass media like articles, books, blogs, interviews paid advertisement to present the strategic
stories. There are several instances like all the media attention on Steve Job as a figure and
emphasising how the company has bounced back after its collapse (Payne 2017). These
stories are highlighted continuously in paid newspaper stories and widely gains television
coverage. The fourth step to create a great signature story is to maintain and feed the stories
to attain long term success. Apple has used the event as a platform to highlight its brand
story. Apple has strategised this in the planning. Apple organised a party for 30th birthday of
Mac. Employees were treated with the legendary Superbowl commercial and also showed a
film which demonstrated how people are using iPhones to improve their daily lives.
Recommendations
Apple is always remembered for a good reason; however, the company in some areas
have weak storytelling. The wall street iPhone 5 was actually not met; Samsung was also
coming into the picture as the iPhone was losing the brand loyalty. As a result, Apple was
struggling to maintain its position. Steve Job was part of Apple brand story but the
resignation of Steve Job and hiring of Tim Cook in the company changed the overall brand

6USE OF STRATEGIC STORIES BY APPLE IN BRAND POSITIONING
position strategy of the Apple Inc. This is recommended that Apple highlight Tim Cook story
in creating a strategic story to revamp the brand positioning strategy.
Conclusion
Hence it can be concluded that signature stories are a strategy of the brand to put a
brand message in the minds of the target audience. This is evident from the case of Apple Inc.
who used signature stories to establish the image and also reframe its image. Apple Inc. has
spread the brand by exploiting the power of human interactions to establish the image of the
brand. Thus it can be said that signature stories or myth is an influential tool to persuade the
audience. Signature stories affect all the stakeholders, not only just its customers so that it can
bring different messages as proved by the above discussion.

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References
Aaker, D. and Aaker, J.L., 2016. What are your signature stories?. California Management
Review, 58(3), pp.49-65.
Bechter, C., Farinelli, G., Daniel, R.D. and Frey, M., 2016. Advertising between archetype
and brand personality. Administrative Sciences, 6(2), p.5.
Bilgili, B. and Ozkul, E., 2015. Brand awareness, brand personality, brand loyalty and
consumer satisfaction relations in brand positioning strategies (A Torku brand
sample). Journal of Global Strategic Management| Volume, 9(2).
Fournier, S. and Lee, L., 2009. Getting brand communities right. Harvard business
review, 87(4), pp.105-111.
Hatch, M.J. and Schultz, M., 2001. Are the strategic stars aligned for your corporate
brand. Harvard business review, 79(2), pp.128-134.
Khan, U.A., Alam, M.N. and Alam, S., 2015. A critical analysis of internal and external
environment of Apple Inc. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and
Management, 3(6), pp.955-961.
Payne, B., 2017. Brand Positioning and its Usefulness for Brand Management: the Case of
Apple Inc. Newcastle business school student journal, 1(1), pp.51-57.

8USE OF STRATEGIC STORIES BY APPLE IN BRAND POSITIONING
Sarmaniotis, C., Wickens, E., Singh, J., Kalafatis, S.P. and Ledden, L., 2014. Consumer
perceptions of cobrands: The role of brand positioning strategies. Marketing Intelligence &
Planning.