Introduction
This report will analyse and compare the HP and Apple brand architectures in the personal computers (PC) market. I have chosen these two brands because both are well known and compete in similar markets. In the personal computer market, Apple and HP are among the most valuable & popular brands and this report will describe how both brands are different from each other by analysing their brand architectures.
The goal of this report is to observe and identify how consumers can have vastly different perceptions and relationships for very similar products. And it’s due to the differences that exist within their brand architectures.
Brand Architecture:
At first, we have to develop brand pyramids for both brands (HP & Apple).
Brand Core, Essence-Reinvention
Brand Personality-competitive, user friendly & frugal
Emotional Benefits-satisfaction, reliable & trustworthy
Product Benefits-most rugged, highest performing
Product Attributes-flexible design, lasting battery & colour
Brand Core/Essence-Think Different
Brand Personality-lifestyle; imagination; liberty regained; innovation; passion; hopes, dreams and aspirations
Emotional Benefits-Pride, primum feel, classy & exclusivity
Product Benefits-Ease of use, security, long lasting & elegance
Product Attributes-beautiful and stylish, metal unibody design, Beautiful display & Great backlight illuminated Keyboard.
Brand comparison:
Apple brands focus on their unique value proposition (UVP). They focus on creating and developing beautiful designs that work right out of the box with ever-smaller packaging. A marketing strategy gets juice throughout social media and is very much a competitive advantage for Apple and its market share.
On the other hand, HP uses differentiating targeting strategy to provide customized products & services to the enterprises. HP uses a mix of value/product and pricing-based positioning strategies to compete in the market.
Apple follows market-skimming strategy, but HP follows market penetration strategy. Apples’ products help in gaining market share, brand awareness and brand loyalty but HP uses differentiating targeting strategy to provide enterprises/clients, customized products and services.
Brand Value:
Interbrand ranked Apple as the number one with $234,241 million dollar and HP in 54th position in ranking with $10,891 million dollar. Apple revolutionised personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV.
HP Inc creates technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere. Through our portfolio of personal systems, printers and 3D printing solutions, we engineer experiences that amaze.
Apple tops Forbes’ annual look at the world’s most valuable brands for the ninth straight time. The brand of the tech giant is worth $205.5 billion and increased 12% over last year in 2020. It is the first time a brand crossed the $200 billion threshold.
As a laptop brand, HP is quite better than Acer and ASUS when it comes to durability as well as performance. Overall, HP computers might not be able to offer the stylish and attractive design, but they are very reliable and come for a very reasonable price with excellent warranty and support.
But how PC companies are ranked in terms of their performances in gaming, writing and working from home is another subject and is not relevant to branding. Though, on the first of June in (2022) Hogarty reported overall the best laptop is Dell XPS 15: £1,549, Dell.com (Independent, 2022). The table below illustrates all the PC brands ranking in different categories under their actual performances in 2022. (Please note, the photo below is a screenshot from Independent online news. You can find the link in the references section)
References:
Blabla Writing (2022) ‘Apple branding strategy’. Available at: http://www.marketingminds.com.au/apple_branding_strategy.html (Accessed: 2nd June 2022)
Quara (2022) ‘What are the pros and cons of using a MacBook’. Available at: https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-having-an-Apple-laptop . (Accessed: 2nd June 2022)
Patel, N. (no date) “7 Key Strategies That You Must Learn from Apple’s Marketing”. Available at https://neilpatel.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/176-7-Key-Strategies-That-You-Must-Learn-from-Apple’s-Marketing.pdf. (Accessed: 2nd June 2022)
Interbrand (2021) ‘Best global brands in 2021’. Available at: https://www.interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-brands/2019/ranking/. (Accessed: 2nd June 2022)
UKessay (2020) ‘Apple marketing strategy’. Available at: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/the-marketing-strategy-of-apple-inc-marketing-essay.php. (Accessed: 2nd June 2022)
Badenhausen, K. (2019) ‘The World’s Most Valuable Brands 2019: Apple On Top At $206 Billion’. Available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/05/22/the-worlds-most-valuable-brands-2019-apple-on-top-at-206-billion/. (Accessed: 2nd June 2022)
Hogarty, S. (2022) ‘Best laptops 2022: High-performance devices for working from home or gaming on the go’. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/gadgets-tech/laptops-tablets/best-laptop-uk-laptops-b1883320.html. (Accessed: 2nd June 2022)
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