Three revelations from Apple's premiere

This article describes the author’s motivation for watching Apple’s first official e-commerce live broadcast from the perspective of “3W”, points out the reasons why the brand chose the platform this time and the success of “content marketing”, and hopes it will be helpful to everyone.

Yesterday, Apple held its first live broadcast in China.

I personally like Apple products very much. In addition to watches, my computer, mobile phone and headphones are all Apple products. As a member of the marketing industry, I keep an eye on brand market trends, so I am looking forward to this live broadcast and want to see what new things Apple will launch this time.

So I declined my friend’s invitation to run, and before seven o’clock last night, I was at the official flagship store on Tmall, Apple store, waiting for their live broadcast.

The bench is ready, let’s get started.

During the live broadcast, four staff members wearing Apple blue T-shirts demonstrated how to use an iPhone to produce movie-like effects. After watching for a while, I did not see the "coupons, product promotion" segments and performances that I expected.

I started to get curious and decided to observe a little more.

I thought there might be a chance for an "iPad" flash sale, but I found that they shifted the focus of the live broadcast from filming to how to use Apple watch to record sports. The whole process lasted about an hour.

It doesn't matter. In the end, I found out that it was a recorded broadcast. I was depressed. I spent an hour watching this? In my heart, I couldn't help but question "Why?"

Is the debut so hasty? There are so many merchants in the market, are there not enough products to sell? Why do you want to promote products? Why not promote them properly? Where are the coupons you promised? Didn’t JD.com start the 618 shopping event? Douyin’s Hobby E-commerce is also good, why is it live streaming on Taobao?

As a commercial company, every decision will undoubtedly ultimately point to "how to make money, how to make more money". Moreover, Apple is so smart that it certainly does not make random decisions.

So, with these questions in mind, I consulted some friends and e-commerce experts around me, and explored from three perspectives: what, why, and how, and discovered three different motivations behind "choice".

01 Data declined

As we all know, the Chinese market is particularly supportive of Apple.

In recent years, every time Apple executives explain their financial reports in conference calls, they emphasize how important the Chinese market is to their sales. Cook himself has also publicly thanked Chinese consumers for their support many times.

However, starting in 2023, sales in the Chinese market began to decline.

Look at this set of data:

Apple's second-quarter 2023 financial report showed that revenue in the Chinese market was US$17.812 billion, compared with US$18.343 billion in the same period last year. Sales this quarter were 2.89% less than the same period last year.

Looking at the previous first quarter, the revenue of the Chinese market was US$23.905 billion, compared with US$25.783 billion in the same period last year, a decrease of 7.28% from the same period last year. This is the second consecutive quarter of decline.

What does this tell us?

Apple must find new ways to increase their sales in the Chinese market. Everyone knows the quality of the iPhone, and as long as the price is right, many people will be willing to buy it. Everyone knows this.

What to do? Sell goods, but what to sell?

The new iPhone 15 series will be launched this fall, which may bring big changes, which will cause many people to want to buy new phones. In this case, if the inventory is not cleared out first, the old iPhone may not be sold once the new iPhone is launched.

It’s a good idea to get rid of the old iPhone and welcome the arrival of the new iPhone. By the way, the performance can be improved in the next quarter’s financial report, and the stock price can also rise again. This is really worth looking forward to.

But the question is, where should we sell it? This is where we need to consider which platform to choose.

02 How to choose a platform

What is JD.com? It started as an e-commerce platform, but now it is gradually relying on the supply chain for technology and services. For a long time, it has mainly relied on self-operated + POP (brand flagship store) support, and the financial report shows that self-operated revenue accounts for more than 90%.

I checked the previous data. For example, in 2021, self-operated income accounted for 94%. Although this year Boss Liu began to promote equality between the platform and self-operated businesses and introduced more third-party merchants in order to strengthen the platform ecology, this takes time.

What is Tmall? It is a platform e-commerce that distributes traffic.

For example, in Alibaba's 2020 fiscal year, the total transaction volume reached 7.05 trillion yuan, of which retail revenue from China was 332.8 billion yuan, including 71.1 billion yuan in commissions and 175.4 billion yuan in advertising fees.

According to Professor Liu Run’s algorithm, Alibaba’s platform revenue accounts for approximately 74.07%, of which advertising revenue accounts for 52.7%. Therefore, it can be said that Alibaba is more like an advertising company.

What is Douyin? It is a short video sharing platform that uses e-commerce and advertising to complete the transaction loop. This may be a bit complicated, so let's look at it from the perspective of revenue.

First comes advertising, then virtual goods and rewards, then e-commerce, and finally brand cooperation and activities. Therefore, Douyin's revenue is more inclined towards advertising, or in other words, it is centered on interest e-commerce, and then does a series of things related to advertising and transactions.

In Ma Huateng's words, JD.com is like a shop owner with his own store, and Alibaba is like a landlord who collects rent. Douyin is like a night market, with many customers (users) visiting and shopping every day.

However, the night market metaphor was just my idea and has nothing to do with Ma Huateng.

If you think about it, the platform content is mainly generated by users, which is like a night market stall. Each stall (user-generated short video) has the potential to attract a large number of customers and create amazing popularity.

Douyin (the manager of the night market) earns income through advertising, virtual goods sales, e-commerce commissions and other channels.

Secondly, the user interaction on the platform is very active. Users can not only watch videos, but also comment, like, share, etc. This is like customers in a night market who can not only shop but also communicate with merchants.

Finally, through data analysis and recommendation algorithms, Douyin makes each user’s experience on the Douyin platform personalized, just like customers at a night market can choose which stall to go to based on their preferences.

If you were Apple, which one would you choose?

The three companies have different business models, which also have a decisive impact on the relationship between third-party merchants and platforms. If you choose JD.com, you will not only have to compete with your peers, but also face official competition, just like being in a competition where you are both a referee and a player. It is inevitable that you will feel a little uncomfortable.

If you choose Tmall, there is a certain "home advantage". Merchants only need to pay admission fees and service fees to enter the mall and have their own brand stores.

If we choose hobby e-commerce, it will be like a show, which requires a lot of entertainment content, which is not possible at present. Moreover, the popularity of new e-commerce in the 3C field is not enough, and users will be cautious about high-priced products.

Very good, considering the purpose, I need new growth. As for creating content, it’s not too late to follow up on new e-commerce. As for other internal conflicts, I don’t want to participate.

On Tmall, I can see brand stores in tourist attractions such as Guangzhou's Little Slender Waist and Chengdu's Kuanzhai Alley, as well as industry-leading brands such as Tesla, IKEA, Nayuki, Huami, and OV.

We can even see flagship stores in countries such as Singapore and Thailand, as well as the entry of luxury flagship stores including LV. From three perspectives, Tmall has higher channel capabilities and higher brand value, so why not do it?

So the question is, how do you sell products on Tmall? Do you learn from others to provide subsidies? With so much internal competition, are there any other ways? Yes, use content to solve the problem. Let's try it out first.

03 E-commerce returns to content

In the public's perception, Apple has always been known for its high-end and elegant image. Starting live streaming to directly sell products will definitely have an impact on the brand image.

As it happens, it becomes very interesting to focus on "content". This indirect move will attract people's attention and also serve as a model for other brands, telling others that "I can still show my advantages even if I don't focus on discounts."

This step can also help distance the company from other brands and serve as a model. This detail may further promote the development of live e-commerce sales and turn it into a true "content e-commerce", thus changing the e-commerce market landscape. Why do you say that?

Here is a simple example:

If you are a perfume brand and want to promote your products through Douyin and Taobao, what solutions can you come up with? Hire a bunch of pretty ladies to sit in the live broadcast room and shout about price cuts and discounts every day? I believe that with such an involutionary market, it is highly likely that you will not be able to break through.

what to do?

What if we invite some well-known perfumers and perfume lovers to live broadcast and tell everyone how perfume is made? What spices are included in each one, and how these spices are combined to create a unique fragrance?

I believe that even though the perfume is not directly promoted, the audience will still have a "deep understanding" of your brand and will be interested in the story behind the perfume creation process.

This is the true meaning of "content marketing", treating content as products and products as content, using content to give brand energy, stimulate consumer interest, and thus increase purchaseability.

Very good, you just need to put the products in the live broadcast room, and through content, you can educate the market, set an example for other brands, and consolidate your market position, killing three birds with one stone.

Well, great, let's do it.

After this one, there is another wave on 618. It is smart, really smart. It takes advantage of the big platform, the holiday marketing, and indirectly clears the inventory.

These three points may give you some inspiration. For example, when you are in the process of internal competition in your own segmented track, should you balance sales or brand premium? Even when to do it and how to leverage it?

In any case, the platform is just a channel for brands.

As a brand, you have the ability to make choices like Apple. You can use large platforms to endorse and protect your brand and gain brand premium. You can also choose to sell products when the opportunity arises. These are just strategies.

I share it with you, and silently wish you not to be defeated by the internal price war and to find your own way.

Author: Wang Zhiyuan

Source: WeChat public account "Wang Zhiyuan"