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Better companiesChange Stories
Thursday, 4 December 2025
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In an era of generalized copiability, where an innovation can be replicated within months, the question for a company is no longer “Will we be copied?”, but rather “What makes our offering unique and inimitable?” At Apple, the answer lies in what resists imitation best: an orchestrated experiential design, a powerful brand narrative, and an integrated ecosystem.
Experience as a value driver
The narrative: beyond the product
A seamless yet closed ecosystem
Experience as a value driver
Apple has understood that value is not limited to a product, however brilliant and desirable it may be, but encompasses the entire experience lived by the customer before, during, and after purchase.
The unboxing ritual is a striking example. Visual minimalism, premium materials, the soft touch of the cardboard, controlled opening, the muted sound of the sliding lid… everything is designed to turn these ordinary motions into a sensory experience. What English speakers call “unboxing” becomes a staging that reflects Apple’s philosophy: clean design, quality, attention to detail.
Apple Stores embody another dimension of this logic. Their open architecture, bathed in natural light, invites exploration. You don’t just buy: you immerse yourself in the brand universe, you learn, you test, you take part in Today at Apple workshops.
A competitor can copy a feature or even the aesthetic of the iPhone, but reproducing the sum of emotions, symbols, and interactions that surround each step of the Apple customer journey remains an almost impossible challenge.
The narrative: beyond the product
Since its beginnings, Apple has told a story that inspires and unites.
The “1984” commercial, directed by Ridley Scott, presents the Macintosh as a liberation from IBM’s conformity, laying the foundations of Apple’s “why”: challenging the status quo, liberating creativity, giving power back to individuals.
The “Think Different” manifesto? In 1997, it celebrated iconoclasts and visionaries, associating Apple with the courage of “those who see things differently.”
More recently, advertising campaigns on privacy or sustainability aim to position the brand as a committed player.
Steve Jobs embodied this narrative, turning each of his Keynotes into a cultural event. Even today, this story acts as an emotional glue: buying Apple means subscribing to a vision where technology serves freedom and personal expression. It also attracts talent, who join a mission with meaning rather than just a company.
A seamless yet closed ecosystem
Over the years, Apple has built an integrated ecosystem of remarkable coherence. iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods… all these products interact without friction. This creates cumulative value: the more Apple products you use, the smoother and more complete the experience becomes.
This ecosystem also relies on strategic partnerships – developers and financial institutions with Apple Pay, the music industry with iTunes then Apple Music – and on an engaged user community, acting as brand ambassadors.
Apple’s universe is often described as “closed” because it limits compatibility with third-party solutions and imposes strict rules on developers. Apple presents this as a guarantee of quality and security, but some see it as a strategy to lock in users (the “walled garden”).
Whatever the case, the “Apple example” shows that in the face of generalized copiability, true defense does not lie solely in technology and patents, but in intangible strengths. Technical innovation gives a head start but can be imitated, and increasingly quickly. Whereas the alchemy between experience, brand narrative, and ecosystem remains inimitable.
