Apple is one of the biggest and most respected companies on the planet, due in large part to the rebranding campaign that took place during the early 2000s. Driven by design and marketing mastermind Steve Jobs, Apple shaped its rhetoric in a way that created a strong, innovative reputation and a powerful elitist mentality in its customer base.
By studying the rhetorical moves Apple made in its highly successful rebranding campaign, we can learn how to use rhetoric for our own endeavors.
Ethos (Authority)
Partially driven by Steve Jobs’ commanding presence and charismatic personality, Apple started its rebranding campaign by confidently (yet not arrogantly) asserting its innovative capacity. Through the wording of its advertisements and Jobs’ public appearances, the Apple brand gradually built a reputation of technological innovation, unparalleled design, and perfectionism. This image, driven by carefully chosen language, helped propel the company to newfound success.
Pathos (Emotion)
One of Apple’s biggest weapons and biggest claims to fame in the brand rhetoric world is the emotions it instills in its customers. Apple uses juxtaposition in its advertising (usually bringing in and undermining PCs/Windows), and when combined with its conveyance of a strong sense of elitism in the language it uses to describe its products, Apple forges a kind of cult mentality. That isn’t to say Apple fans are all part of some creepy cult; all it means is that Apple specifically uses language to:
·        Make its customers feel as though Apple products are the be-all, end-all, and anything else is inferior.
·        Make non-Apple customers feel as though they are left out if they don’t have any Apple products.
What’s truly wondrous about Apple’s strategy is that this language is subtle. Rather than telling people Apple is an elite brand, marketers skillfully and artfully show people that Apple is an elite brand.
Logos (Logic)
Most Apple advertisements don’t waste space or time explaining why their products are the best on the market; instead they focus on crafting an artful demonstration or illustration that builds their authority or instills emotion in potential buyers. As such, even though most Apple fans (and tech gurus) insist that Apple products are the logically superior choice, logos (appealing to basic logic) rarely appears in Apple ads.
Apple’s branding became effective when its focus on Ethos and Pathos became subtle enough to be nearly unnoticeable, but strong enough to generate a cult mentality. By not getting bogged down by the tech specs a logos approach would have warranted, Apple successfully tailored its overall rhetoric to seek and mold a large population enough to substantiate the company’s own elitism.
