Brand Strategy Lessons from Tim Cook’s Congressional Hearing
(Originally published on LinkedIn on 7/30/2020)
The historic congressional hearing of the 4 Big Tech CEOs provided fascinating insights way beyond the central issue of potential anti-competition infringement: business models, innovation drivers, entrepreneurship, politics, culture, etc. From brand strategy perspective, the opening testimonies provided by the 4 CEOs were particularly fascinating (Testimony statements started at 32:56 time stamp; for 5 minutes each).
Of all 4 CEOs (Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Tim Cook), only Cook dedicated a significant portion of his precious 5-minute 'airtime' to deepen Apple's brand equity. The other three testimonies were rather expected - sharing personal stories for resonance, touting American values, listing data and facts to show the companies are not threats to anti-competition, etc. In contrast, in less than 90 seconds (approximate time stamps 44:00 - 45:28), Cook was able to compellingly and clearly convey all the following key components of the Apple brand:
Apple's value proposition - "At Apple, we make ourselves a promise; we make our customers a promise, that we only build things that make us proud. As Steve put it, we only make things that we would recommend to our families and friends."
Apple's reasons to believe - "You can try to define it in a lot of ways - Seamless integration of software and hardware, or simplicity of design, or great ecosystem. All of those are true but if you want to put it simply, the iPhone just works. Customers consistently give iPhone 99% satisfaction rating; that's the message they are sending about the user experience."
Apple's purpose and core values - "Our goal is the best; not the most. In fact, we don’t have dominant share in any market or any product category where we do business. What does motivate us is our timeless drive to make new things that we are proud to show our users. We focus relentlessly on those innovations."
What's more, toward the end of his 5 minutes, Cook even managed to leverage the very central and contentious issue of potential anti-competition infringement, turned it on its head to promote Apple's proud legacy: "I share the Committee's belief that competition promotes innovation; that it makes space for the next great idea; and that it gives consumers more choices. Since Apple was founded, these things have defined us." This is a classic re-framing act!
Of course, there have been many missteps, marketing-wise, that Apple has made in recent years - drifting away from their Outlaw archetype that fans have adored for decades, dishing out innovations that are more following than leading, spinning the wheel with chops and changes in the brand narrative conveyed in the various marketing campaigns, etc. Plenty has been said about these strategic mistakes.
As a big fan of Apple, and admittedly a brand marketer drinking the Kool-Aid from the Apple's brand marketers, I'm just taking a moment to savor what great marketing and storytelling can do, especially in the highly unusual context of a congressional hearing in a high-stake election year, amidst super-charged forces shaping public opinions and perceptions. No wonder why Apple ranks No. 1 most valuable brand globally by Forbes with the brand valued at whopping $241.2 B and impressive 1-year value growth of 17%, leaving the mighty Google in the dust as the distant No. 2.
To the brand strategists and marketers out there - Curious to hear what you think.
Note: I only watched the first hour and the last 30 minutes of the 5.5 hours hearing. This article is solely based on the opening testimonies from the 4 CEOs, and solely focuses on the marketing strategy aspect of these.