For many years, Apple Inc. has been performing marvelously in the market field because of its competency through the Internet. Its brand is very critical in business operation because it contains the four basic brands the consumer has to consider in order to open up and take part in the social web. Apple Inc. has open URL, which involves engaging the consumers, on-demand experience, personal experience and network experience (Linzmayer, 2004).
The Company’s website is user friendly and contains other online properties, which include Facebook where the consumers are able to like the page and be free to post any comment concerning the company’s products and/or operations.
Others include Twitter and Blog where the consumers are also able to express their observations and suggestions (Wozniak & Gina, 2006). Note that Facebook and Blog are all open URL meaning that Apple Inc. contains open URLs only. Of all these, network experience is ranked the first for this company followed by on-demand experience while the least prioritized is personal experience.
On-demand experience (Open URL)
The on-demand features of Apple Inc. are motivated by the digital competence of the company. Some of the important products that make the company have an inspired digital competence include iPad, iPod, iTune and iPhone among other products (Elmer, 2011). Through the Internet, time-starved clients prefer comparative anonymity as they look forward to acquire sufficient information concerning the products as well as how to obtain them.
Most clients are able to order the latest Apple products from all corners of the world. Once new products are released, clients starve for them and can request more than one time for them because they believe in them and know how efficient they are.
For example, a few months ago, the company released to the market a new iPhone 4 phones which contain several important features such as dualcore A5 chip, 8mp camera and optics, iOS 5 and iCloud and the most recent feature, called siri, which was invented by the company a few months ago (Kunkel, 2005).
After two weeks, the company had received more than one million orders of the iPhone4 through its website. The company has numerous customers because of its efficiency in production and supply of its products. In fact, the ease of obtaining these products once purchased is very efficient and instantaneous. Searching through the website for information about the company and its products is credible because the rate of findability is high.
Personal Experience (Open URL)
Some clients have gone further to establish concrete relationship with the company through its website through issuing frequent comments, suggestions and observations (Elmer, 2011).
This means that they have a good personal experience with the company and its products, thus, they have established a strong individualized interaction where the company provides for their preferences and increases their ability to influence others.
Therefore, personal experience between the customers and the company is fabulous in the sense that it involves dialogue, acknowledgement, popularity and privileges which in most cases favor the customers (Wozniak & Gina, 2006). This is where the customers feel free to express themselves by providing individual recommendations and surveys.
Most of the customers are stuck at some point when they access the company’s website but through its efficiency, they are able to acquire help through accessing the company’s helpful Contact US page. Therefore, the website is user-friendly and welcoming to the customers (Linzmayer, 2004).
Engaging Experience (Open URL)
The Apple Inc. takes its prompt from the communally inspired customers, who require redirecting and absorbing, and the individuals to establish an emotional affection to brands that issues the methods and junctures to display their social identities. This is what is known as engaging experience and is characterized by belonging, participation, entertainment, immersion and inspiration (Kunkel, 2005).
The entire process of engaging experience encompasses things like contests, video and blogs and other sharable material. It is where the Apple Inc., engages participation and contest games where customers can compete and win some products of the company. This is one way of attracting more customers to browse the company’s website and purchase its products.
Networked Experience (Open URL)
The most optimized by Apple Inc. Company is the networked experience, which is all about the ego gratification, self-expression, portability, meaningful change and community (Wozniak & Gina, 2006). In other words, networked experience is the interaction of the company and its customers who form one large community of the Apple Incorporation.
It is where the customers are able to interact with each other under the website of the company. For example, one customer may write a blog to the company’s website praising certain product, iPad, for its efficiency and quality (Linzmayer, 2004). Another customer may support the same blog by stating his/her experience with the iPad as well as how interesting it is. In this sense, the other customers who have never thought of purchasing iPad may gain interest in them and eventually purchase them.
In this manner, the operation of the website may seem like one large global family of the company where its members are free to interact with others through the website on issues related to the company and its products (Kunkel, 2005). These things include reviews and ratings, consumer produced content and crowd sourcing.
Whereas all the four customer experiences are important for brands to run, brands usually stress on one or two experiences, centered on their targets and consumer anticipations.
Therefore, according to what is recognized through examining the Apple Inc. website, the customer experiences are prioritized differently starting with the most significant to the least (Elmer, 2011). In this case, networked experience is given the first priority while personal experience is the least prioritized.
References
Elmer, P. (2011). “How Apple became a monopolist – Apple 2.0 – Fortune Tech”. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/2011/07/05/how-apple-became-a-monopsonist/
Kunkel, P. (2005). Apple Design: The Work of the Apple Industrial Design Group. Web.
Linzmayer, O. (2004). Apple Confidential 2.0. New York: No Starch Press.
Wozniak, S. & Gina S. (2006). iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.