This past weekend I was explaining what each big tech brand is really about… to my MOTHER. I went through how they each have a different vision and employ their own business models and product strategy to accomplish it. I shared it with the students I teach at Kellogg and figured it deserved a wider audience.
Google wants to be the world’s source for information and pays for that via the biggest ad network. They build tools for you to use which allows for them to know more about you which lets them target users with more and better ads.
Facebook wants to be the way the world connects and pays for that via ads as well. They build tools which encourage you to share about your life in a way that they learn about you which lets them target you with more precise ads.
Apple wants to be the best brand for high tech personal devices, they are almost a fashion brand. They sell devices and do so at a nice margin, but they want to create a brand that has a following that means a large percentage of their customers will purchase the new hardware every year. They have created an annuity out of hardware and the software they build is designed to help you get tied into their ecosystem. The money they make off the app sold in the app store is significant, but they are part of the strategy to get people to buy hardware.
Amazon wants to be the world’s store, and optimizes everything towards users buying more and more things through them. That’s why they purchased Whole Foods and Ring so that you had more things you could buy, more storehouses for fresh foods, and a way for the delivery to be done securely. The Kindle is a way for customers to purchase more books, audiobooks, videos, and other content through Amazon. The Echo devices are a way to make it easier to add things to your shopping cart and to buy things more easily while at home.
Microsoft is about selling software that helps businesses and their employees. Even their push for Azure right now is about serving tech businesses’ needs. Their current business model is subscription of these tools which they consistently improve to be not only best in suite but often best in breed.
Don’t think I’ve got this right? Look at each of the company’s largest acquisitions and think about it some more. I’d love to hear what you think, it certainly helped my mom :)
