How Apple’s Carbon Neutral & Community First Marketing, Might be the Hail Mary it Needs
Apple’s pivot to a carbon neutral and community approach could deliver for Apple the sales it needs.
Wonderlust. That’s the name of this year’s Apple event took place on 12 September 2023. It was indeed a wonder, thanks to the focus on the environment and carbon neutrality that Apple aims to complete before 2030.
Every year, Apple holds a September event to showcase its best products and innovations to set the tone for where the company is heading.
Apple is known for innovation. It invented the first smartphone in the world i.e. the iPhone. It also invented the first digital music-listening device, the iPod, and the multi-use iPad. However, since the departure of Steve Jobs, Apple has stopped innovating and creating cutting-edge technology.
Apple’s recent product inventions have been geared more towards minor upgrades for its products, rather than ground breaking inventions similar to the era of Steve Jobs. Apple’s updates now focuses on battery life, camera features and screen sizes.
For years, Apple focused on the individual and how its products make every person’s life better. Take for example the Airtag, designed specifically for an individual’s need to track his or her personal belongings. Let’s not forget the Apple watch which focused solely on an a person’s needs on their health and efficiency.
I’ve mentioned in my previous article that Apple products seem to be self loving and lacking of empathy. And yet, this year, Apple’s September event focuses entirely on community rather than individuality.
Apple has realized that in a sea of smart phones and laptop, the only way it can stand out is not by making better tech, but by creating better impact and saving the world. Or at least, the appearance to create impact, and save the world.
Every year, for the September event, Apple would focus internally to showcase their products. Tim Cook would open the event, followed by Apple executives and manager demonstrating what the new Apple products can do and what upgrades it had accomplished for that year.
However, this year was different. Apple read the memo that social media influencers yield the biggest power over customer’s purchasing decision. Influencers now form communities, and tribes. Their audience and viewere go beyond the traditional followers. With the rise of Patreon, and YouTube communities, influencers have gained legitimacy over their communities. People are willing to support their favorite influencers through recommended purchases an monthly subscribtions.
At the opening of the Wonderlust event, Tim cook recapped the Macbook Air 15 inch and highlighted that according to Tom’s Guide and Marques Brownlee a.k.a MKBHD, the Macbook Air 15 is the best laptop to buy. A solid effort by the Apple marketing team to ressurect the Macbook Air 15 sales by reminding people the stamp of approval it has received from the biggest influencers in the tech industry.
The Macbook Air 15 is in low demand and has reached only 50% of its expected sales numbers.
The Wonderlust event emphasized community more than ever. With an opening act of reminding viewers that the Apple Watch isn’t just about productivity and efficiency.
This year, the emphasis of the Apple Watch, is saving lives and giving Apple Watch users, the chance to spend more time with their families thanks to the watch’s live saving features.
The iPhone 15 is shown to be an integral part of daily life. To promote its newest noise cancelling features, Apple showed a woman, shopping in a farmers market who can’t hear what her loved one is saying due to the noise. She proceeds to activate the iPhone 15’s new noise cancelling features.
Apple could have easily chosen a professional setting by showing an office worker having lunch in a busy restaurant and getting a call from a client. But instead, it opted to showcase a woman buying fruits in a farmers market. Same function, different target audience.
Apple understands that in a recession and post COVID, when everyone was in isolation, people don’t want to be endlessly efficient or constantly at work.
People want to be people, connecting with each other and spending time with their loved ones. And along the way, people are now prioritizing the planet’s well being too with green living and buying products that create impact on the environment with sustainability.
Apple saw the brief and delivered!
Apple sales have been declining for three consecutive years. In addition, this week the Chinese government placed a ban on Apple products from being used at work by central government employees, local government workers and state owned companies. This caused Apple to lose USD 200 Billion in market capitalization over the last several days. Apple needs to get back on track.
What Apple lacks in innovation, it makes up for it in mission statement and feel good branding. Meet apple’s newest product Carbon Neutral.
As it implies, Carbon Neutral are Apple products with a green twist.
Apple is setting itself apart from the competition by using recycled aluminum, copper. Furthermore, Apple is no longer selling leather accessories for their Apple products such as the watch bands and phone cases to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Apple realizes that everyone knows it has stopped innovating, so it is now pivoting with what no other business seems to be doing, creating positive impact in the world by going green and carbon neutral.
By the end of 2024, Apple will eliminate the use of plastic in all of its packaging. Considering plastic waste causes 80% of ocean pollution, Apple is right on trend.
Apple reminded its audience, through their Mother Nature Skit, that it is investing in projects around the world which protects the earth’s soil, plants and trees. In the skit, Apple informed that it has planted trees in forests in Paraguay, Brazil, and also restoring mangroves in Colombia.
Today, Apple stores, data center and offices are running on 100% clean electricity. Apple also has over 300 Apple suppliers who have committed to using clean, renewable electricity.
Apple is shipping more products by ocean rather than air to reduce emissions by 95%.
To emphasize further Apple’s carbon neutral and community message further, Apple highlighted the following:
Apple Watch Series 9
The Apple Watch Series 9 is manufactured with 100% clean energy. It is also made with 100% recycled rare earth magnets and 100% recycled cobalt.
Currently, Apple watches are being shipped through ocean freight instead of by air freight. This has resulted in 78% less emissions.
In line with its carbon neutrality, Apple no longer has leather straps for its Apple watches. Instead, it has Fine Woven, an “elegant durable twill” material Apple has created, consisting of 68% previously consumed recycled material.
For the Apple Watch Ultra 2.5, the Sport Loop band has been refreshed with a new 82 percent recycled yarn, which includes material from fishing nets which were discarded.
Apple Watch introduced a new feature called double tap. This feature allows users to tap their thumb and index fingers to send commands to the Apple Watch to answer calls, turn off an alarm, watch a movie, and even taking a family photo.
Again, emphasizing on the community aspects, the double tap feature, similar to the rest of the presentation, was set in a family and social setting, not in a professional work setting.
iPhone 15
The spotlight was reserved for the iPhone 15. The phone is made with 75% recycled Aluminum. It consists of 100% recycled cobalt and 100% recycled copper for the phone’s lodging board and MagSafe charger within the phone.
The iPhone 15 also has Fine Woven covers and wallet to go hand in hand with the Apple Watch.
The iPhone 15 is now equipped with the USB C port (join the club Apple!). Apple realizes that it can no longer be a silo if it wants to reach a larger audience.
For years, Apple has persisted with its lightning charger. This resulted in a person having so many chargers for so many things. Apple is making it easier for the Android user to switch to an iPhone.
A person no longer has to buy endless chargers when switching devices.
Yes, this is a good thing. People try new things when it is convenient for them. And Apple just made it convenient for every Android user in the world to try an Apple product.
Apple is again emphasizing community by implementing the USB C on its latest iPhone, how many times has an Apple user come up to an Android user asking to borrow a charger only to find out that person doesn’t have a lightning charger. A lot!
Another carbon neutral and community feature that was a surprise, during the Wonderlust presentation, Apple’s VP, iPhone Product Marketing, Kaiann Drance, mentioned that “iPhone holds its value longer than any other smartphone”, stating that “This is good for our users and good for the environment since it helps conserve finite natural resources”. Quite a pivot coming from a company that was fined USD 25 Million in 2020 for making the older iPhone models slower on purpose.
In the spirit of community, and in response to the public outcry for the right to repair, the glass back of the iPhone 15 Pro can now be easily replaced. Never in the history of the iPhone has anything been easily replaced. Apple is infamous for guarding the exclusivity of its products, including the right to repair it.
Apple has pivoted from being allusive to inclusive, from focusing on efficiency and individuality to building communities.
Most of all, Apple is focusing on the environment to convince people who are still on the fence to nudge them to purchase an Apple product.
After all, why not spend a little extra money to save the world right?
Apple is talking to a wider audience and tugging on heartstrings with replanting forests, saving mangroves, using clean energy. It pulled all the stops with Apple Watch bands made from recycled fishing nets and the easier to replace iPhone 15 Pro glass backs for the right to repair.
Will all this be enough to increase its sales?
It just might.
If you like this article, check out my previous article on Apple
