Marketing: Apple says no one dares to be number one?

John Sculley, this seemingly unfamiliar name, actually had an identity that was not unfamiliar - CEO of Apple.

From taking the helm of Apple in 1983 to his retirement in 1993, he recruited Steve Jobs, but also kicked him out; he planted the seeds of "focusing on experience rather than products", but also parted ways with Steve Jobs for this reason. Today, Jobs has been called away by God to design a new iPhone, and John Sculley is over 70 years old. Faced with Apple, which has broken records time and time again, what does John Sculley, the former CEO of Apple, think of it?

Talking about marketing? Apple says no one can be number one if they are number two

"No matter how much money you spend, Apple is the absolute king in the field of marketing, at least for now"

After making such a provocative statement, John Sculley specifically pointed out that Samsung, as the most mainstream mobile phone manufacturer of the Android system, has been trying to copy Apple's "Next Big Thing" marketing model, but in the field of advertising, Samsung still cannot give consumers a similar "high-end" brand impression like Apple products.

"Everyone loves to talk about Apple, but rarely talks about Samsung or Microsoft, for whatever reason," said John Sculley. "This is not good for certain brands...It's really, really difficult for Samsung to try to challenge a war led by Apple."

Of course, John Sculley's point of view is not very objective, but he is right in at least one point: in today's smartphone market where innovation space is getting smaller and homogeneity is getting more serious, having a good marketing model has an increasingly important impact on a brand's products. Although large-scale market investment and gradual improvement in product quality have indeed helped Samsung create its golden age, this behavior of imitating others has also begun to show its drawbacks since 2014:

According to a survey by Kantar Media, in 2014, Samsung's spending on mobile phone marketing was nearly 15% higher than Apple's in order to further open up the US market, but the iPhone still firmly monopolizes the US market.

“Since the design is positioned as ‘tasteful’, consumers should be able to feel it in the product, just like the iPhone.”

Fashion electronics will be the future of the world

Regarding Samsung's current problems, Sculley believes that the key "cause" is "focusing on products rather than users". "Every time Samsung makes a product, it doesn't put users at the core, but instead thinks about what new things it can do with the product this time."

On this point, although he has left Apple long ago, Sculley still believes that until now, Apple is very cautious when designing new products. Fancy functions are not the most important thing. The key is whether users need it and whether the experience is good. This is also the case with Apple's most popular wearable devices.

"We are now in the era of fashionable electronics," said Sculley. "Compared with technology, the fashionable appearance of products is becoming more and more important. I can't predict whether Apple Watch can really be successful, but Apple has indeed become more and more high-profile in the fashion circle recently. If there is still a place for electronic fashion on the wrist, Apple may have already grasped the opportunity."

But seizing the initiative does not necessarily mean success. "Apple has rarely entered the (fashion) field before, and I dare not say whether its choice is wise."

Tim Cook was the right choice

He is very suitable for this position, at least that's what the former CEO thinks.

"He has successfully created many good products and lived up to the trust and expectations of so many people," Sculley said. "In his effort to become the next Steve Jobs, he has not tried to cover up, nor has he given up trying to add his own personality to new products... Cook has inherited Steve's excellence and followed his creativity. He makes people believe that after Jobs' death, Apple can continue to create brilliance based on his foundation."

Sculley also commented on one of Apple's core aspects, product design. He believes that compared to Steve, Cook's control over design director Jony Ive has become more obvious, and he has also "added a lot of fresh blood to Apple."

"Apple certainly didn't buy Beats for its technology... They can figure out how to do streaming media themselves," Sculley said, "He is very aware of the influence of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre in the music industry."

Sculley said that 20 years ago, no one was willing to consider acquiring Apple because "it was not worth buying at all." 20 years later, no one still considered acquiring Apple, but this time it was because "it was not affordable at all."

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.