In this report on Foundations of Marketing, the organisation which has been selected is Apple Watch, where reviewing of the brand’s marketing communication as well as other researched data will be conducted. Here, identification and justification of the target market profile of a specific customer segment. A brand’s background will be provided along with the information relating to the product being offered along with a brief on target market segment, needs, wants and demands of the consumers as well as the marketing strategy through the framework of Marketing Mix 4P’s where discussion on the product, price, place and promotion will be conducted (Deepak & Jeyakumar, 2019).
Apple Inc. is one of the multinational technology oriented company in the United States which specialises in the software, consumer electronics and online services. The organisation is one of the biggest information technology company in terms of revenue, which is totalling up to $365.8 billion in the year 2021 and as of the year 2021, Apple Inc. is one of the most valuable company in the entire world and the fourth largest vendor for personal computer in terms of unit sales as well as second largest manufacturer of smartphones. Apple Inc. also belongs within the Big Five Information Technological Company in the United States along with Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet (Park, 2020).
The company was previously known as Apple Computer Company and later Apple Computer, Inc. which was founded in the year 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronal Wayne and Steve Woznaik. The number of locations where Apple Inc. operates are 517 retail stores worldwide, in the year 2021 and serves products such as Apple TV, AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad, HomePod, iPod, iPhone and Macintosh. Alongside these products, the services which they provide are AppleCare, App Store, Apple Fitness+, Apple Card, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News and Apple Pay (Kotler & Keller, 2016).
Apple Watch is a product line of smart watches launched by Apple Inc. which consist of health oriented capabilities, fitness tracking as well as wireless telecommunication which has been integrated with the iOS along with the Apple services and products. The product was launched in the year 2015 and soon became of the highest selling wearable device with more than 4.2 million units being sold in the first quarter of the release year. Later, Apple Inc. introduced newer generations of this product line with enhanced internal components and elements every September by labelling them under Apple series (Lovejoy, 2021).
Apple Watch caters to the customer segment of behavioural segmentation, demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation and geographic segmentation. As per the behavioural segmentation, the customers who utilise the Apple Watch are either users, who can be segregated into light, moderate and heavy segment and non-user segment. As per the demographic segmentation, the customers are segment as high income group who have a high purchasing power, with an age group from 14 to 55, where both the genders equally prefer the product and are either business professionals or students (Kotabe & Helsen, 2020).
As per the psychographic segmentation, the customers are segmented into their interest and lifestyle which is the most utilised form of segmentation by the Apple Inc. where they segment through the lifestyle and target those consumers who are technologically savvy and have a high class lifestyle. As per the geographical segmentation, through the Apple Inc.’s retail stored, the Apple Watch are available within the highly populated cities throughout the word, where they have a global presence as well as online presence in more than eighty-eight countries. Apple Watch is available in the majority of Apple Inc. stores within the United States, where the concentration is majorly within California and New York, where individuals have a higher income and high class lifestyle (Czinkota et al. 2021).
Apple Inc. heavily focuses on psychographic customer segment, under which they target the luxury customer segment where audience are generally attracted through the product’s design, due to this reason the company has collaborated with Hermes brand in order to market their products to the targeted audience. They have also collaborated with Nike where has linked their product with that of fitness benefits which can be achieved through the smart watch. The custom features and high variability which complements the Apple Watch which are crucial tool for the marketing of their product to the customer segment (Kotler et al. 2019).
In order to attract the this particular customer segment, they assess the transparent needs of the audience, where the watch is required to be both functional and stylish that will focus on the different price ranges and product variation of the same specific product which has helped in making the Apple Watch different. For implementing themselves within the luxury customer market, high level of customisation is required along with inclusion of functions which are rare from the competitors’ and substitute products that will provide the customers value for their money (Chernev, 2018).
Needs are referred to the recognising the different among the actual state and desired state of the consumer. Here, the customer’s needs is to receive health oriented and fitness facilities through a smart wearable which can provide them instant data and information on various terms and elements. Apple Watch can perform those functions by being on the consumers’ wrist as a smart watch. When the consumers wear the device, they are braced with a fitness partner which will help them to measure the manner in which they move, providing meaningful and helpful health insights as well as a connection with the individuals (Visconti, Peñaloza & Toulouse, 2020).
After the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increasing health awareness among the consumers which is the key factor for growth and drive of the smart watch market. The customers in this segment possess the Need for Achievement, as per the Need Theory proposed by psychologist David McClelland, where the customers aims to achieve a certain task or function which is moderately difficult, if conducted in a traditional manner. Here, the customers aims to avoid both high risk and low risk situation and they are motivated to achieve a status within their immediate surroundings (Bagozzi et al., 2018).
The demand for such smart watches has increased as precautions have become necessary in the recent times and even though there are doctors for monitoring all of these aspects of health status, on an immediate basis, the customers requires heart rate tracking, tracking nervous system activities, health events and inactivity or emergency warnings. The demand for such a product is high because there has been an increasing number of individuals who are utilising this digital tools to address the critical health requirement rather than simply receiving exercise tracking (Krasyuk et al., 2017).
iWatch is a product which provides a multi-performance with a touch screen that facilitates the special features such as health oriented as well as capabilities for fitness tracking along with that they are integrated within the other products and services of the Apple Inc. Apple Watch’s first generation was accessible to the customers within a twin case size and in four variants namely, Apple Watch Edition, Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch Hermes and Apple Watch. The product is a wirelessly connected device to perform function such as calling or texting from the iPhone, it is also highly pressure sensitive along with that they have side button for the display contacts as well as access to the Apple Pay. They have be charge through the inductive charging as well as a battery which will last more than eighteen hours. The smart watch is also compatible with models such as iPhone as they operate through their own operating system, which is iOS latest version which is operated through Bluetooth or the Wi-Fi. In the year 2016, the second generation of Apple Watch was launched where they launched two tiers namely, Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2. They offer features such as texting and notification messages, workout and fitness tracking, ECG reading, health rate monitoring, sleep tracking and making calls (Watrobski, Jankowski & Ziemba, 2016).
iWatch is such a product which provides functionality and convenience within their decide and sell them in the consumer market. It is such a personal product from the brand which has been designed in order to be worn rather than carrying. For this particular high quality wearable gadget, the pricing strategy which they have adopted is premium pricing policy for their product. The prices for their product is much higher when compared to the other similar products and brands who are competitors in this aspect for the brand. However, the value which is provided through their products to the customers, the loyalty within the consumers are built as they have realised that the customers will purchase their products as a status symbol and as for their quality. Apple Inc. has aimed to maintain their competitive advantage while maintaining their high prices. The prices which the brand has set for their product are for the unique features and highest quality provided to them through this features (Adams, Freitas & Fontana, 2019).
Apple Inc. is one of the most valuable and preferred global brand whose products are easily available in the market and in several cities and countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, Philippines and so on. The company has wide distribution network who are highly immersed within the development of the product which has been obtained from the consumer in most of the market (Kireev et al., 2016). During the initial phase, the customers will have to book for their fittings as well as demonstration of the iWatch as it was not available in most of the Apple Inc.’s retail stores, and had to be order through the online websites and third party channels. The company later altered their distribution policy for their few selected models which are accessible to the most authorised retail stores of Apple Inc. as well as luxury boutiques with whom the company has a tie up with. From the middle of the year 2015, this product have been available in their Apple stores and they have been selling through the retail outlets as well (Lovejoy, 2021).
Apple Watch is one such extraordinary and technologically advanced product which has the ability to attract the target audience on their own. The promotional technique adopted by the brand, is towards boosting the product awareness as well as developing credibility within the market. They have utilised a large variety of promotional techniques such as from magazines to electronic media and have developed an anticipation around the product by making the consumers believe that the product is superior and provide several value to the consumers (Kerin & Hartley, 2019). They have also opted for banners and hoarding for the promotional activities. They have promoted this particular product range as a fashion accessory along with a luxury status symbol where they have focused on the special features of the product such as health oriented features and fitness features through their advertisement campaign. They have presented their advertisement campaign through the print media, television and magazines. They have also extensive promoted their products through Vogue magazine by emphasising on the body combination and brand style (Tien, Dat & Chi, 2019).
Conclusion
Therefore, in order to conclude this report on Foundation of Marketing, it can be witnessed that the organisation Apple Inc. has been highly demanded by the on a global platform due to the reason that they have adopted a unique and effective marketing mix strategy for their product Apple Watch. They have assess the need, demands and want of the consumers when it comes to smart wearable gadgets and have addressed the present needs which is health consciousness and instant results. The company launches their product Apple Watch within the luxury customer segment and sell them as a luxurious gadget.
References
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