1. With the use of appropriate marketing models and concepts, critically examine the current market position of one of your chosen organization’s products.
2. In light of the above findings, state and justify THREE marketing objectives that your chosen organization should pursue for this product over the next three-year period.
3. Identify three target segments, and demonstrate how your chosen company will develop loyalty with those consumers over the strategic three-year horizon.
4. How would you use the Marketing Mix and other marketing tools to position your brand in a competitive industry?
Apple iPhone has tried to position themselves in the entire competitive market by offering affordable kinds of products such as smart phone along with innovative smartphones users by offering the experience that is uniquely different from the other competitors in the market. The features of iPhone offer a kind of experience that is not provided to the customers and they are adjustable to the different demands of the different individuals in an appropriate manner.
Furthermore, this has been seen that Apple iPhone helps to provide the customers with best personal experience to the different users in an effective manner. The main motive of the positioning is to analyze the different demands of the customers and try to improve their positioning in such manner as well. With the help of Ansoff Matrix, the market development and positioning strategy can be analyzed and this will help in analyzing the experience of the customers from Apple or the iPhone versions. Furthermore, it has been seen that the main and major competencies of Apple Inc remain delivering exceptional kind of service with the help of user interfaces. The brand personality of Apple mainly focuses on the different emotions and the iPhone SE and iPhone 5S prices have been lowered and this has assisted the company in meeting the preferences of the customers effectively.
Product Development- Apple tries to create new products for the customers who are the existing customers of Apple or the different iPhone products. This was the first and foremost entertainment tool from Apple such as iPhone X and this is powered by hexa-core processor and this comes with 3GB RAM.
Product Penetration- Apple tries to provide different kinds of advertisements on iPhone X for attracting their customers towards buying the same product in the market. The company is constantly trying to advertise their products in television along with in YouTube to make the customers aware of the products effectively.
Diversification- In September 2017, Apple introduced iPhone X which is the latest version of iPhone and the entire market was attracted towards the product sold by them.
Market Development- Apple introduced iPhone X which is entirely new product line for the company and they try to develop their reach in the entire competitive market effectively. Through such market development approach, the iPhone needs to develop the entire market as per the requirements of the wants of the customers in the market.
From the positioning map, it can be analyzed that the iPhone has tried to position themselves in such a manner that the different consumers in the market choose iPhone due to different reasons such as:
The brand positioning of Apple iPhone has helped them in focusing on the preferences of the customers and this has helped them in analyzing the competitiveness from the other brands in the market and this has assisted them in gaining competitive advantage. iPhone falls under the category of high price and quality as well and this is a premium brand that is not affordable by all in the market as well (Tomczak, Reinecke and Kuss 2018).
iPhone has been positioned in the entire competitive market in such a way that has helped the entire company in adopting the corporate branding strategy that revolves around the emotional experience with the products. This respective factor is efficient in nature as the product brand development refers to the entire process of growing the entire brand and meets the expectations of the customers in an appropriate manner as well (Ijbmi.org, 2018).
iPhone has tried to gain competitive advantage over the other competitors such as providing superior quality products that are technologically advanced and the major competitive advantage gained by the company is to spend their R&D keeping their eyes on future rather than on the present. However, lastly it can be seen and concluded that iPhone can be bought by the high earners who are from upper class (Cascio 2018).
The three marketing objectives that is required to be adopted by Apple Inc Company that should be pursued by them are described are follows:
Product- Apple offers their customers with premium brand products and they are trying to maintain large market share along with high margins of profit.
Objective 1- To continue to create groundbreaking products for the customers and Apple Company has tried to make a name for themselves in becoming trend setter in the entire market by introducing something new along with exciting quality.
Strategy- In order to prepare groundbreaking products, Apple will require great team building culture for their customers with proper and accurate research and development team.
Objective 2- To dictate and innovate movement for future technology as technology is ever changing in nature and this is the reason in which Apple continue to lead the serge of the entire innovative world.
Strategy- The main strategy is to continue with the success of creating the best products and Apple needs to study the entire market as to analyze and understand the wants of the consumers as they can improve the products by the feedback provided by the customers in the market in an effective manner (Elenkov 2014).
Place- Apple products are available in different parts of the world and this is the main goal of the business and the main objectives are described as follows:
Objective 1- Expansion of Apple stores in the entire world and there should be different stores that will be extension of the stores in the world to increase their sales in an appropriate manner.
Strategy- Apple needs to open the different stores in various parts of the world that will be based on the demand from the different consumers in the market.
Objective 2- To make the different products that is available in possible retail channel, online and Big Box retailers. Apple needs to make sure that the different products are required to be accessible to the customers in an effective manner.
Strategy- Apple needs to place products in all the different retail stores that sells different electronic devices that are featured and this will help them in delivering the products in an effective manner (Kavaratzis, Warnaby and Ashworth 2014).
Price- Apple products are premium branded products and they come with premium pricing as well. The different objectives include the following:
Objective 1- Enter along with sustain premium pricing in gaining huge market share as the premium pricing is essential in nature and this will help them in including the premium pricing as well.
Strategy- Proper price has to be strategically done as to be on the top of the market base and serve the customers with the best quality in an effective manner.
Objective 2- To increase the margin of profit as it can be seen and analyzed that Apple Inc has huge margin.
Strategy- Apple Inc needs to continue to push to the lower cost to make the different products wherein sustaining in the same retail market price in the entire market (Seyed-Javadin, Raei, Iravani and Safari 2018).
Promotion- Proper building of the brand is essential in nature and this is the toughest challenge that can be faced by the company. Proper promotion strategies are required to be adopted in order to certainly demonstrate the different anticipation of the product strategies in an effective manner.
Objective 1- To build anticipation for the new products that are upcoming in the entire market wherein Apple needs to include different kinds of features in their new hand sets as this will help in attracting the different customers in the market in an effective manner.
Strategy- Proper usage of the annual conference along with different events as to announce the press release before it will hit the market. Furthermore, this will allow the customers in building demand for the respective product before it hits the shelf.
Objective 2- To expand and sustain on the strongly branded name in which Apple has changed the entire way for the different individuals in the market to look at the phones and tablets (McDaniel 2014).
Strategy- Apple needs to be trend setter along with entering into the new markets before the competition and this will assist Apple in building their brand stronger in nature and this will help the company in gaining more competitive advantage in the entire economy (Lidstone and MacLennan 2017).
From the above, these can be analyzed that these are the different kinds of strategies along with objectives that is required to be adopted by the company Apple in gaining more success and gain more competitive advantage in the competitive market.
Identification of target Segments
The target segments that have been adopted and targeted by Apple Inc Company are the following:
Demographics- iPhone targets the individuals between 18-35 that mainly focuses on the youth population in the entire market (Zenker, Braun and Petersen 2017). This group mainly comprises of the ones who have monthly household income above 2 lakhs dollars and live in different metros or mini metro cities.
Psychographic- An iPhone user generally looks for the different features such as the stylish kind of appearance, technology that is user friendly in nature along with countless applications that appeal to the senses of the different individuals in the entire competitive economy (Panigyrakis and Veloutsou 2015). The main driving force towards buying the iPhone is the brand name itself and this attracts the different customers in the market effectively. The person who uses iPhone in the economy are image conscious, fashionable and attention seeker individuals in the economy.
The major target markets of Apple Inc Company in the entire market that is competitive in nature includes the following:
These are the three different target markets of Apple Inc Company wherein this has been seen that these are the major segments of the market and the company needs to develop loyalty towards these target customers as to gain more competitive advantage in the economy effectively. Proper loyalty programs are required to be developed by Apple Inc Company in the entire competitive market as this will assist the entire company in managing the target customers in an even manner and understand their requirements in an easy manner (Keller 2017).
Apple Inc will develop loyalty with the different customers in the organization in such a manner wherein this has been noticed that the company needs to follow certain steps that will help them in maintaining proper relationships with them to gain more competitive advantage in comparison to the other competitors (Piperopoulos 2016). There are different kinds of procedures wherein it is seen that communication is required to be done by Apple in an effective manner as this will help them in keeping fresh in their minds that will pass along with important information.
Furthermore, in various reviews and articles, it was seen that Apple was declared the most customer pleasing company or organization wherein the company can provide the loyal customers with extra perks on huge amount of purchases. This will be the different ways through which the customers will be made satisfied and setting a proper reward system will help the company in encouraging them to be more loyal around to stick around the products of Apple and purchase from them as well in the future as well.
Apple Inc needs to consider different payment plans for the different kinds of customers in the market which will assist them to purchase more products from their company in the future. Furthermore, this can be adopted by Apple Inc as to gain more competitive advantage in the entire competitive market with proper utilization of the resources in an effective manner. Apple Inc needs to allow the different customers with proper coupons and other programs that will assist the customers to understand the presence of the activities performed by Apple Inc.
Usage of the Marketing Mix and Other Marketing Tools to Position the brand of iPhone
The marketing mix is essential in nature that is required to be adopted by Apple Inc Company as whole in order to improve the differences in an effective manner. Furthermore, this has been seen that brand positioning is the actual process of positioning the brand in the minds of the different customers in the organization. The brand positioning is often referred to as the positioning strategy or the brand positioning statement (McDonagh and Prothero 2018).
With the help of the marketing mix and other marketing tools, this can be analyzed that proper usage of the tools is required to be done effectively which will determine the positioning of the brand in which they tried to position themselves. The marketing mix can be used by Apple Inc for creating right marketing strategy along with the implementation through the effective tactics. The proper assessment of the roles of product, promotion, place and price plays a vital role in overall marketing approach (Tkotz, Munck and Wald 2018).
This is essential in nature to understand the actual importance of the marketing mix for Apple Inc and this will help in clean mix creation in which all the Ps needs to be compatible in nature with one another and intrinsically linked with one another as well. Furthermore, the entire marketing mix will assist in new development of the product in an efficient manner which will help in generating new ideas related to the product that is required to be designed by Apple Inc. Furthermore, Apple Inc has to use the marketing mix in order to increase the product portfolio by making different minor changes in the product such as by adding new features in the product and this will come up with enlarged kind of product portfolio in the organization as well (Baker and Saren 2018).
The marketing mix will assist Apple Inc Company in guiding the company to improve the overall business effectively wherein it is seen that physical evidence is essential and it is important P in the service marketing mix tool. In Apple Inc, the physical evidence along with their online presence for the different loyal customers as this will increase the business of Apple efficiently. Apple Inc can include the differentiation technique in the different products that are being sold by them to the customers. The marketing mix will help in differentiating their product and be competitive more than the other competitors in the entire market.
Furthermore, this can be seen and noticed that Apple Inc needs to improve their differentiation strategy from the other competitors as this can be noticed that the differentiation strategy can have less attractive promotional strategy that can provide them with a chance to perform well in the market. Finally, the marketing mix will help in being more dynamic in the economy in comparison to the other competitors in the market and this will prepare Apple Inc Company in understanding the processes and people and respond with better agility as well.
Additionally, there are different other marketing tools that can be adopted by Apple Inc can use them as to conduct proper segmentation, targeting and positioning for the iPhones sold by them in the entire market. These respective decisions will have major impact on the decisions that will made by Apple Inc on price and promotion. Therefore, the marketing strategy goes hand in hand with proper positioning, targeting and segmentation of the product with an effective usage of strategy.
Apple Inc Company has to include different customer loyalty programs as these are designed as to help them in retaining the different customers in the market. The best way that can be adopted by Apple Inc in retaining the customers in the organization is to set up a loyalty program for the customers which will attract more customers and the customer base will be strong in nature for Apple in the competitive market. The reward strategy can be adopted by Apple Inc as this will assist them to provide the loyal customers or the regular customers who often purchase different Apple gadgets in retaining them (Yang and Gabrielsson 2017).
Lastly, the direct mail marketing is essential to be adopted by Apple Inc as this is the main tool as this will mail the different loyal customers of Apple in offering them with different coupons and other gift vouchers while buying a certain range of products from different Apple stores. Surveys can be used by Apple as well in their marketing the products as this will directly mail the regular customers regarding the introduction of the new product effectively.
Therefore, it can be recommended that Apple Inc has different strengths along with weaknesses in the product development and in the marketing mix strategies adopted by them. The main recommendations that are required to be provided to Apple Inc are as follows:
Conclusion
Therefore, this can be concluded that in the report, the different usage of the appropriate marketing models such as Ansoff Matrix and positioning map has been used in an effective manner that has assisted the company in managing their different activities in an effective manner. Furthermore, the different marketing objectives have been analyzed for Apple Inc that can be utilized by them in accordance to the product, promotion, place and price and this has helped them in targeting the market.
The importance of the marketing mix and other marketing tools are used by Apple Inc as to gain competitive advantage in the economy in comparison to the other competitors in the economy. Furthermore, the three loyal target market segments have been identified that has helped the company in analyzing the tastes and preferences and tried to develop loyalty programs for the customers accordingly as well. Lastly, the different threats such as emergence of the strong competition and primary markets are being saturated as well in the market which has affected the entire market in a negative manner. The different opportunities are required to be adopted by the company that will require Apple to increase their presence in the emerging markets and solve the different issues in an appropriate manner without much difficulties. The innovative technology is required to be utilized by the company in the present as this will assist in generating strong brand image among the competitors.
References
Apple. (2018). iPhone. [online] Available at: https://www.apple.com/iphone/ [Accessed 29 Jun. 2018].
Baker, M.J. and Saren, M. eds., 2016. Marketing theory: a student text. Sage.
Cascio, W., 2018. Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill Education.
Elenkov, D., 2014. Experiential Exercise with Multinational Student Teams: Researching Together a Multinational Corporation and Developing Jointly a Strategic Marketing Plan for IT Using Blackboard. Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, 41.
Ijbmi.org. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.ijbmi.org/papers/Vol(6)5/version-1/H0605014850.pdf [Accessed 29 Jun. 2018].
Kavaratzis, M., 2017. The participatory place branding process for tourism: linking visitors and residents through the city brand. In Tourism in the City (pp. 93-107). Springer, Cham.
Kavaratzis, M., Warnaby, G. and Ashworth, G.J. eds., 2014. Rethinking place branding: Comprehensive brand development for cities and regions. Springer.
Keller, K.L., 2017. Managing the growth tradeoff: Challenges and opportunities in luxury branding. In Advances in Luxury Brand Management (pp. 179-198). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Kotler, P., 2015. Framework for marketing management. Pearson Education India.
Lidstone, J. and MacLennan, J., 2017. Marketing planning for the pharmaceutical industry. Routledge.
McDaniel, B.A., 2014. Entrepreneurship and Innovation: An Economic Approach: An Economic Approach. Routledge.
McDonagh, P. and Prothero, A., 2014. Sustainability marketing research: Past, present and future. Journal of Marketing Management, 30(11-12), pp.1186-1219.
Melewar, T.C. and Skinner, H., 2018. Territorial brand management: Beer, authenticity, and sense of place. Journal of Business Research.
Panigyrakis, G.G. and Veloutsou, C.A., 2015. Brand Manager’s Planning Role for Fast Moving Consumer Good Products. In Global Perspectives in Marketing for the 21st Century (pp. 182-185). Springer, Cham.
Piperopoulos, P.G., 2016. Entrepreneurship, innovation and business clusters. Routledge.
Scarborough, N.M., 2016. Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management. Pearson.
Seyed-Javadin, S.R., Raei, R., Iravani, M.J. and Safari, M., 2014. Presenting a conceptual model to explain the role of strategic management and planning in Islamic banking competitiveness. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 26, pp.46-56.
Tkotz, A., Munck, J.C. and Wald, A.E., 2018. Innovation Management Control: Bibliometric Analysis Of Its Emergence And Evolution As A Research Field. International Journal of Innovation Management, 22(03), p.1850031.
Tomczak, T., Reinecke, S. and Kuss, A., 2018. Introduction. In Strategic Marketing (pp. 1-18). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.
Wrenn, B. and Mansfield, P.M., 2014. Marketing planning guide. Routledge.
Yang, M. and Gabrielsson, P., 2017. Entrepreneurial marketing of international high-tech business-to-business new ventures: A decision-making process perspective. Industrial Marketing Management, 64, pp.147-160.
Zenker, S., Braun, E. and Petersen, S., 2017. Branding the destination versus the place: The effects of brand complexity and identification for residents and visitors. Tourism Management, 58, pp.15-27.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download