Case Study on Steve Jobs

and Apple’s growth

Mrunmayee Randive
BFT- 16013
 • Apple for example never marketed their USP “We
provide a lifestyle with our products” or communicated
this USP with expensive advertisements; instead they
provided the unique selling proposition with their
APPLE’S USP products (iPod, iPhone, iPad), that really spoke for
themselves and offered unique characteristics that
similar and comparable products of competitors (if
existent) did not offer at the time of market
introduction.
• The only time Apple communicated a company
motto (which was just remotely an USP) was in 1997
for Apple Computers with their ad campaign “Think
Different”.
 Apple STP

Individuals looking for stylish PCs and

Segment Mobile Devices

High income group, with age between 20

Target Group to 40 years

Apple offers highly featured and

functional mobile devices and computers
Positioning which are 
 The first Apple computer was “born” in a bedroom of Jobs'
parents’ home in 1976
 Jobs and Wozniak are credited with revolutionizing the
computer industry by democratizing the technology and
making the machines smaller, cheaper, intuitive and
accessible to everyday consumers.
 Wozniak conceived a series of user-friendly personal
computers, and with Jobs in charge of marketing— Apple
initially marketed the computers for $666.66 each.
 The Apple I earned the corporation around $774,000. Three
 In the early 1980s, the Apple Lisa
years after the release of Apple’s second model, the Apple
II, the company’s sales increased by 700 percent, to $139 and Macintosh were
million. disappointments for both the
 In 1980, Apple Computer became a publicly traded company and its co-founder.
company, with a market value of $1.2 billion by the end of  As a result, Apple’s board tried to
its very first day of trading. limit Jobs from launching any more
 Jobs looked to marketing expert John Sculley of Pepsi-Cola expensive and experimental
to help fill the role of Apple’s president. products.
 NeXT

• After a scuffle with Apple’s then CEO, John Sculley, Jobs left the company, and
founded NeXT, a company focused on creating powerful computers for business
and educational purposes. The company wasn't as successful as Jobs would have
wanted — it ultimately sold about 50,000 computers — but it was very influential.
• Perhaps even more importantly, the folding of NeXT into Apple showed that Jobs
was a clever businessman who knew how to sell a company that wasn't very
successful. Jobs sold NeXT in 1997 to his other favorite company, Apple
Computer, for $429 million in cash, which went to other investors, and $1.5
million in Apple shares that went to himself.
• NeXT software was used as a framework in WebObjects used in Apple Store and
iTunes store.
 JOBS AT PIXAR
• In 1986, Jobs acquired the computer
graphics division of Lucasfilm, Ltd. and
renamed it Pixar Animation Studios.
• Jobs originally intended for Pixar to be a
high-end computer hardware company
that would sell its Pixar Image Computer
to agencies and corporations. One of
those corporations was Disney, who in
1990 commissioned Pixar to create three
computer-generated animated films. And
the first of those was Toy Story, the first
ever feature film to be created entirely
with CGI ( computer generated imagery).
• Jobs had a seemingly preternatural ability to
recognise emerging trends and the potential
of new technologies.
• Pixar became a gold standard in computer
animated movies and thanks to its immensely
talented team, it has remained so ever since. It
is thus probably correct to say that the studio
would not have become what it is these days
without Jobs’ support (financial and otherwise)
in the days when it was making a risky
transition towards filmmaking.
• In the year 2000, Apple returned as CEO of Apple. Since his return, Apple continued its
early tradition as a successful producer of innovative computers which can be seen
from its share price as well (although Apple was not spared from the bust after the
internet bubble burst in 2000).
• Apple has regained its place as a leading firm in design and is successful at the
technology front as well.
• Apple’s stylish iPod music player has taken the market by storm. Apple iTunes Music
store, started in 2003, is the leading provider of (legal) digital music worldwide with a
market share of about 70% in 2007.
• In January 2008, Apple announced that the iTunes store had sold more than 4 billion
songs.
• In June 2007, Apple launched the iPhone, a convergence of an Internet-enabled
smartphone and a video iPod.
• People started to queue days in advance to be one of the first to get one, and in
January 2008, sales had reached 4 million iPhones worldwide, while Apple was already
presenting the next potential hype product: the MacBook Air, the world's thinnest
notebook. The iPad, launched in 2010, experienced the same success pattern.
RETURN OF JOBS AT APPLE

• In 1997, Steve Jobs rejoined the company after twelve

years.
• Just as Steve Jobs instigated Apple’s success in the
1970s, he is credited with revitalizing the company in
the 1990s.
• With a new management team, altered stock options
and a self-imposed annual salary of $1 a year, Jobs put
Apple back on track.
• His ingenious products such as the iMac, effective
branding campaigns and stylish designs caught the
attention of consumers once again.
• The 1997-2002 period was a period of instilling discipline and launching innovations
that started small and gradually were built out to big things (e.g., the first retail store, or
the first iPod/iTunes product in 2001 that only worked on a Mac and had no online
store). It wasn’t a period of chasing the next big breakthrough innovation, even though
in hindsight it may look like it. Steve Jobs combined creativity with discipline, and
innovation with scale.
• In 1984, Jobs designed the first Macintosh. It was the first commercially successful home
computer to use a graphical user interface (based on Xerox Parc’s mouse driver
interface.) This was an important milestone in home computing and the principle has
become key in later home computers.
• Since its inception, with its innovative products “Apple” always tried to represent
itself as a – ‘Unique executor of ultimate idea’ whether it was Machintosh
Workstation, Mac Book, iPhone, iPad or Mac Mini one thing is very clear and that is
it tried to represent the change people want over the conventional offerings. Today
Every company in the world would like to replicate product feature, design,
functionality that Apple offers in its various products.
• The iPod was a revolutionary product in that it
built on existing portable music devices and set
the standard for portable digital music.
• In 2008, iTunes became the second biggest
music retailer in the US, with over six billion
song downloads and over 200 million iPods
sold.
• Jobs launched Apple in a new direction. With a
certain degree of ruthlessness, some projects
were summarily ended.
• Instead, Jobs promoted the development of a
new wave of products which focused on
accessibility, appealing design and innovate
features.
• In 2007, Apple successfully entered the mobile
phone market, with the iPhone. This used
features of the iPod to offer a multi-functional
and touchscreen device to become one of the
best-selling electronic products.
• In 2010, he introduced the iPad – a
revolutionary new style of tablet computers.
• The design philosophy of Steve Jobs was to
start with a fresh slate and imagine a new
product that people would want to use.
• This contrasted with the alternative approach
of trying to adapt current models to consumer
feedback and focus groups.
EVOLUTION OF APPLE LOGO
 APPLE LOGO

• VISIONARY: Much of this standard of

• Apple’s name is synonymous with high
standards of quality, innovative
technologies, and for setting the curve on
progress in the technology world.
• He also valued branding and used the
Apple logo to promote his brand.
quality came from the individual
philosophies of Steve Jobs, who believed
that technology should allow people to
create and discover the great things of
life, to explore, and invent and create. He
didn’t want computers just to be
something someone used from a
consumer end.
 • This is a part of the branding of a company, and it’s essential that the logo become an integral part of the brand
itself. Steve Jobs was able to do this by showing the Apple logo often through all of the rollouts of products he
Consistency advertised and the degree of “hype” that he put out on every product before its launch.

• The Apple logo is unique. The apple itself may be ordinary, but the way that Apple has included it in their branding
Uniqueness
is the key to their success.

• The apple itself symbolizes something that you want to bite into, and the bite indicates the indulgence of the
Intrigue
greatness that you get when you consume the brand.

• The presence of the entrepreneur and leader of a company should be present as much as possible with their logo
as they build their brand. Jobs did a great job of immersing himself in his brand, and to this day, though Jobs died
Connection to
the founder in 2011, people automatically see the face of Steve Jobs in every product Apple sells.

What • Apple is also a status symbol.

made it Status

successful?
• Branding is the key to logo success. This is the key to everything when it comes to creating and maintaining a
Branding
business.
• In 1997, whenSteve Jobs rejoined the company after twelve years, the first thing he did was
to rebrand the company.
• Whether it was the translucent iMacs or the new packaging of the products, Steve Jobs
changed the entire personality of the Apple.
• However, the most significant change came in the form of its new logo design which was
more impactful than its previous versions.
• The new logo was revamped mainly because of the change in hardware design as the new
Apple computers used metallic casing.
• So a rainbow-colored logo would have looked absurd in those cases.
• This is why Steve Jobs changed it with a solid color logo that can complement a metallic
casing.
• So he came up with the idea of a monochrome logo that can go with the new design of
iMac.
• The final design was approved by Steve Jobs, and since then the logo is a part of the Apple
products.
• Today, it is one of the most recognized logos in the world and an integral part of Apple’s
brand identity.
• Apple Inc. owed a big part of its success to its
appealing logo design.
• It was the beauty of Apple logo design that graced its
breakthrough products and contributed to their
phenomenal success.
• Whether it is iPhone, iPad, iMac, or iPod, the emblem
of Apple is the substance of their design.
• Anyone who sees the brand identity of Apple cannot
resist but give it a second look.
• That is the impact it creates on the laymen.
• Today, the Apple insignia is a symbol of innovation,
reliability, and trust.
 The Innovation and
Improvement Perspective
• Transformation leadership consists of
charisma, motivation (inspirational),
stimulation (intellectual) and
consideration (individual). Everybody
knows that Steve Jobs had these all
qualities except the last one
consideration (individual). He had a
perfection achieving phenomenal
hunger and acted as a one man army to
reformed computing system.
• Apple builds trust but never talked
about their forthcoming products.
Motivation
• Jobs kept software and hardware
• Steve Jobs was an autocratic as
SELF ACTUALISATION Doing
what best you can do
ESTEEM NEEDS Self-respect
and respect from others
BELONGING Acceptance and
being part of something
SAFETY NEEDS Physical and
Psychological security
PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS
Hunger, Thirst, Rest etc
department separate and set in
different buildings. Steve Jobs
always looking for perfection, a
notorious manager, instead of
motivate he used his stick. This
definitely is not followed the
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
he wanted people to listen to
him. Though innovation is part of
the involvement of the
employees but this theory had a
doubt on Apple’s innovation.
Definitely it conflicts with the
‘Self Actualisation Stage’ of
Maslow’s hierarchy.
 Change Management
• The development of an organization depends
on Change Management, a set of behavioral
science-based theories, values and strategies.
Apple like many other big companies gained
mastery in this matter.
• Not only Apple Inc. comes up with new and
innovative technology but also the
implementation of the financial figures of
them vastly accepted all over the world.
• Steve Jobs has many reasons to be successful
in change management and out of those
understanding and anticipation of customers
requirement most.
• Change Management helps an organisation to
take from one level to the next level by
treating Employees as Focus Group.
• Steve doesn’t rely on focus groups, instead he is a
steady believer that customers themselves don’t
know their requirement.
• Without asking them he has a strong understanding
ability and can anticipate his customers’ call.
• So he treats as focus group his own employees and
without any customer intervention makes the
decision.
• By giving such huge importance to the employees,
the employees themselves feel a part of the
change.
• Thus he gains the employee loyalty very easily. The
products like iPod, iPhone, and iTunes are great
examples that prove his expertise in understanding
the customer needs.
• Steve Jobs was a wayward and ambitious leader, and his innovation,
commercialization and services to the society through Apple Inc. changed the way of
life styles of many of us and developed truthfully great ways for computing,
publishing, movies, music, and mobile telephony industries
• Jobs famously said that “customers don’t know what they want until we’ve shown
them.” Indeed, he had a remarkable, but not infallible, ability to develop products
that consumers would buy and savor, as well as the confidence, courage, and drive to
bring them to life
• By analyzing the levels of motivation with the help of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it
was found that the top three levels of needs go dicey in case of Apple employees.
• However, there is no denying the fact that Apple has mastered in the concept of
change. Whether it is about training the employees for change or it is about
managing the changes in distribution strategy, Apple has successfully managed
changes both within as well as outside the organization.