Apple, Fashion, and Perceived Exclusivity – Keeping Desire High for iProducts

I recorded a video earlier this week in response to Apple’s MacBook and Apple Watch announcements, where I washed my hands of the tech angst many of us gadget geeks face when discussing Cupertino. Many of us who are now the most critical of the company, were at one time the most passionate advocates of the brand. I myself was an Apple product specialist for a company that sold systems and maintenance contracts to Department of Energy research facilities. The general thesis of my video focused on the realization and acceptance of the fact that Apple is not (and some would argue hasn’t been for some time) a tech company, but is now a full-fledged fashion and lifestyle brand.

Scanning through Apple’s site and ads, we see a company showcasing design in much the same way that a jewelry website would show off luxury, premium offerings. Sure, there’s a tab you can click on to get a full listing of hardware specs, but it’s neatly tucked to the side, while large banners talk about “Reinventing the Laptop”, or how Apple Watch is their “Most Personal Device” yet. Marketing intangibles, statements designed to make you feel good, appeal to you emotionally, but which aren’t quantifiable or verifiable.

While Apple has often been accused of recycling their designs, the tick-tock update schedule of the iPhone is a perfect example, the company has learned an incredibly important strategy from the retail arena. While iProducts rarely change much from year to year, the subtle design changes keep brand awareness high amongst the demographics of folks with money to burn.

When moving from the Black iPhone 5, to the “Space Grey” iPhone 5S for example, this was a clear visual signal that you had spent money recently to acquire the new phone, instead of slumming it with an old phone. A Silver MacBook likely wont stand out much in a coffee shop when surrounded by MacBook Airs, but a Gold MacBook gives up a ready signal that you are on the pulse. It just wouldn’t do to be seen with last season’s Apple gear. We can count on the next MacBook to be a modest iteration improvement to the internal technology, but we’ll likely focus more on a new design accent or a new color option.

During my video, I pondered the pricing of Apple’s Watch bands. As Apple will use a proprietary connector, what’s to stop someone from buying the “cheap” $350 Apple Watch Sport, and then buying a nicer band to save a little cash and spruce up their image. The mid-range Apple Watch with a steel bracelet will retail for $1100. I jokingly predicted that when Apple starts selling bands separately, the steel bracelet “will have to cost $400”, and then I laughed at how absurd that price would be.

I was right to laugh, as the actual price for the steel Apple Watch band on its own will be $450. Never underestimate Apple’s need to force the illusion of exclusivity for one of the most mainstream lines of mobile products available. For Apple’s watch strategy to succeed, for them to continue the profit margins they enjoy on iPhones and iPads, they need to craft an aura of desirability. The product needs to sell like crazy, but it needs to feel like it’s hard to get.

Many people have already made the astute observation that the Apple Watch Edition, starting at $10,000 and capping at $17,000, is a gimmick designed to make the “cheaper” options (which are all more expensive than any other current smartwatch) seem not only “reasonable”, but like they’re a bargain. I would take Apple’s strategy one step further, that the Apple Sport Watch is purposely being positioned to seem UN-desirable. That it’s the cop-out for people who couldn’t afford the nicer Apple Watch. At $350 you’ll receive an aluminum and glass combination with a tacky looking rubbery strap. The “mid-range” Apple Watch is stainless steel with a sapphire crystal face which start at $500 (with the tacky rubber strap), and travels all the way up to that $1100 price mentioned earlier.

I’d like that bit of marketing genius to sink in for a moment. The “Sport” edition will be less durable than the “Fancy” edition, but I digress…

Apple needs it to be crystal clear with a simple glance who spent money and who didn’t. No one will be allowed to buy a “cheaper” watch and spruce it up with a nicer cost effective band. That would devalue Apple’s strategy here, and when counterfeit bands start selling on eBay, we can expect the Apple Watch 2 to come with Bracelet DRM, like Kuereg is flirting with for their official coffee k-cups, to insure no one has to suffer a non-authentic Apple experience. It’s the only rationale for charging more than four times what a standard 22mm stainless steel bracelet costs on Amazon.

But that’s just it, isn’t it. Apple isn’t concerning themselves with performance or utility. They’re products aren’t positioned on the merits of their functionality or their actual value relative to competing solutions. We’re not even making tired hack-y jokes about “The Apple Tax” anymore. It’s just accepted now that you can expect to pay more when your gadget has the right logo, in much the same way that a purse from Target accomplishes the same tasks as a Louis Vuitton bag.

There’s something fascinating about a former “geek” sweetheart company becoming not only mainstream but fashionable. Increasingly however, for those of us who were some of the freaks and geeks that made up the early Think Different community, we’re feeling less and less welcome to sit with Apple at the cool kid’s lunch table.