Apple doesn't like 3rd parties giving away their products?

Although some Apple produce seem quite good,it's a great marketing machinie with an so-so brand image that it has created for itself.

Remember walking into an Apple store as I wanted to try an APple Laptop. It was full of teenagers and on talking to the store manager about reducing the laptop by another £10 I was told "no, we don't need to discount our products to sell them, our products sell themselves". Erm, no, marketing and the image you've created for the Apple brand does this. I wasn't bothered anyway, so gave them the challenge to reduce their £1100 or so laptop by £10 to gain a sale and they didn't do it. They were shocked when I walked off, I was shocked of their attitude.

I ended up buying a more powerful Laptop from a competitor that was not only already cheaper to start with but received a further £80 discount and a camera thrown in that I sold on Ebay for £60! Sure, the product wouldn't have been worshipped by brainwashed kids who think Apple products are kewl and trendy, but actually the product I ended up buying was not only better than what APple offered(better spec customised to my requirements) but a damn load cheaper too.

Also, on talking in the APple shop I was also suprised to hear them say that customers were happy to pay some £200+ for a version of MS Office that runs on their OS so they can avoid Windows, when of course Windows users could at that time get MS Office for £80.

So the whole Apple thing is not something I like personally and wont buy one of their products. However, can't deny I would have liked to have bought some of their traded stock 10 or so years ago - worth loadsamoney today!
 
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It's purely because apple brand has an amount of kudos, and the 3rd party benefit from, and utilise that brand kudos.

Joe public wouldn't be as keen putting themselves out to win a creative Zen. Apple understandably don't want companies benefiting from their expense in developing their brand.

If they had any real competition, it might be seen as free advertising, but they don't so it's capitalisation of their brand
 
Feek said:
Of course it doesn't, it's only techies who have any interest in a story like this. Most people don't care in the slightest.
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I disagree, but the point still stands, no one would consider the give away to cheapen apple, but this behaviour will turn some people more against apple.
 
Energize said:
I disagree, but the point still stands, no one would consider the give away to cheapen apple, but this behaviour will turn some people more against apple.
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Are you honestly suggesting that Apple, of all companies, don't know how to strengthen a brand? It's one of the most powerful brands that's ever existed. They know what they're doing.
 
PardonTheWait said:
Are you honestly suggesting that Apple, of all companies, don't know how to strengthen a brand? It's one of the most powerful brands that's ever existed. They know what they're doing.
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That's not what I said, though it would be naive to think that large companies don't damage their brands by their actions. Coca cola being the famous example with their "New Coke" fiasco.
 
As good as Apple are it's not to say they're infallible, they do get it wrong sometimes. That said I don't think this policy is going to do any damage.
 
MrMoonX said:
most of these givaways are a scam anyway
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Which may be part of the reason they do not want giveaways of these products to continue. Giving away Apple products may not in itself degrade the brand in any way but but using them to perpetuate scams may very well do so, if only to a minor extent.
 
DarrenM343 said:
Although some Apple produce seem quite good,it's a great marketing machinie with an so-so brand image that it has created for itself.

Remember walking into an Apple store as I wanted to try an APple Laptop. It was full of teenagers and on talking to the store manager about reducing the laptop by another £10 I was told "no, we don't need to discount our products to sell them, our products sell themselves". Erm, no, marketing and the image you've created for the Apple brand does this. I wasn't bothered anyway, so gave them the challenge to reduce their £1100 or so laptop by £10 to gain a sale and they didn't do it. They were shocked when I walked off, I was shocked of their attitude.

I ended up buying a more powerful Laptop from a competitor that was not only already cheaper to start with but received a further £80 discount and a camera thrown in that I sold on Ebay for £60! Sure, the product wouldn't have been worshipped by brainwashed kids who think Apple products are kewl and trendy, but actually the product I ended up buying was not only better than what APple offered(better spec customised to my requirements) but a damn load cheaper too.

Also, on talking in the APple shop I was also suprised to hear them say that customers were happy to pay some £200+ for a version of MS Office that runs on their OS so they can avoid Windows, when of course Windows users could at that time get MS Office for £80.

So the whole Apple thing is not something I like personally and wont buy one of their products. However, can't deny I would have liked to have bought some of their traded stock 10 or so years ago - worth loadsamoney today!
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Well that is a nice story but I suspect I am not the only one wondering if the £10 discount really mattered to you on a product of that price. Or if you had no intention of making a purchase in the first place and were merely trying to make a point.
 
DarrenM343 said:
They were shocked when I walked off, I was shocked of their attitude.
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No they weren't. They didn't care. I used to get asked to price match all the time and said no, 9/10 times people would buy it anyway - even if the price match they'd asked for was at Currys 200 yards away.

Interestingly though, they do tend to price match these days.
 
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rgritchie said:
Maybe if people think there is a chance they can get one for free they'll realise how overpriced they actaully are.
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:rolleyes: what a silly statement.

As it says in teharticle it's due to their image. They don't want their image being used to boost other images, images that could well be damaging.
Quick example would fair-trade want their prizes given out to promote the BNP.
Easier to just try and block it all, than policing it.
 
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