Marketing Plan Of Apple IPhone 7: A Case Study

Executive Summary

Discuss about the Case Study for  Marketing and Communications (Marketing Plan of Apple iPhone 7).

Apple Inc. is one of the most reputed brands in the history of Smartphone market. With the help of its I-Phone product, the company becomes one of the leading organizations in the modern day environment dominated extensively by the technologies. The huge impact in the contemporary Smartphone industry makes I-Phone the bestselling product as part of Apple. By considering the enormous demands in the particular market, the yet-to-be-announced iPhone 7 by the Apple family would be critically prioritized as part of forming the overall report. The paper will be importantly comprised of developing a suitable understanding regarding the associated marketing plan for iPhone 7 to gain the validity of the intended processes. It is believed that the newly innovative product designed by the company will set a major trend in the market of Smartphone to provide a significant competitive impact on its rival competitors like Samsung. This particular fact leads this paper to investigate the potential marketing approaches and criteria supporting the launch of iPhone 7 in the specifically chosen market.

Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne established Apple on 1^st April 1976 for developing and selling personal computers. The company was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. on January 3, 1977. Apple was renamed as Apple Inc. on January 9, 2007, for reflecting its shifted focus towards consumer electronics (Apple. 2016). The Headquarter of the company is in California. Apple Inc. has 9 products along with 7 services and 378 retail stores across the globe. The organization has 478 Apple retail stores in 17 countries as of 2016. Although the prime attraction of the company is i-phone, it has other products including Apple Watch, Apple TV, iLife, iWork, Mac. Apple has accumulated total US$233.715 billion revenue in 2015, and the total asset of the company is US$305.277 billion as of 2^nd quarter of 2016 (Apple. 2016).

Apple Inc is an American multinational organization that designs and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company is best known for their hardware products including Mac computers, the iPod media players, the i-Phone Smartphone and the i-Pad tablet computer (Jun and Sung Park 2013). The consumer software of the company involves the I-OS operating systems, iTunes media browser, and the Safari web browser. In recent years, the organization has been facing several challenges in expanding business in the international platform. With the involvement of the strategic implementation, the organization has been trying to enhance its business opportunities in the global platform. The organization has been planning to launch their new I-Phone 7 across the globe (Galmarini et al. 2013).

Company Overview

By analyzing the current market statistics, it can be assessed that the organization has been obtaining profits from each product section including Mac computer, iPod, I-Phone, I-Pad, and others. In a recent business report, it has been published that increasing demand of I-Phone would ensure 100 million by 2013 (Tsai and Chang 2013). Although the company has been facing huge competition from Google and Microsoft, the organization has been trying to improve their technology to gain competitive advantages in the global market. Apple is world’s largest information technology company by total assets that engages large demographic markets for obtaining adequate revenues. It became the first U.S organization to be valued at over US$ 700 billion (Kim, Kim and Chen 2012). The company employs 11,000 permanent full-time employees as of July 2015. The organization consists of 478 retail stores in 17^th company as of March 2016 (Apple. 2016).

In recent years, the organization has been expanding their business in the large demographic areas for gaining competitive advantages. By analyzing the annual business report, it can be identified that Apple has accumulated total annual revenue of $233 billion for the fiscal year ending in September 2015 (Bergvall-Kareborn and Howcroft 2013). Hence, it can be assessed that the organization has successfully run its business in the international platform for the assets maximization.

SWOT analysis:

Strengths ·         Apple is recognized as a brand that always keeps their promise. Therefore, it possesses strong brand equity. ·         Innovative thought process allows Apple to develop unique products. ·         Apple iPhone utilize most updated and advance for of software. This allows Apple to create very user friendly devices	Weaknesses ·         All the Apple products are very costlier as compared to any other competitors. As a result, it restricts many people from purchasing the product. ·         iPhone maintain a consistent design. Therefore, it lacks variety to attract more customers.
Opportunities ·         The popularity of the smart phone is growing every day. It provides huge potential market for Apple to penetrate. ·         Currently, iPhone has restricted its business in the urban areas. Therefore, there is still lot of market are there for Apple to cover for the business expansion.	Threats ·         Android operating system is the most obvious threat for Apple. Google has able to create massive impact on the businesses of the mobile worldwide. ·         Several other organizations like Samsung, Motorola, etc. are also created huge impact on the mobile businesses.

Table 1: SWOT analysis

(Source: Leavell and Cooper 2016)

PESTEL analysis:

Political	·         Over the years, Apple has able to generate huge amount of popularity all across the world. It increases the amount of corporate taxation for the company, where inequality in income has become one of the major political issues. ·          Apple’s production unit heavily depends on the lower cost in China. Therefore, if China faces any political disturbance, it will definitely affect the business process of the organization.
Economical	·         Increase in the labor cost in China can take the cost advantage away from the Apple product. ·         Increase in the exchange rate can also increase the price of the iPhone even further. ·         Stagnant income of the middle class people can also create huge amount of impact on the businesses of the Apple.
Social	·         Apple still does not have strong emotional attachment with the people of Africa. Therefore, it affects the businesses of the organization. ·         There is also ethical concern about the manufacturing process of Apple in China.
Technological	·         Immense competition in the mobile industry has enforces Apple to improve its technologies in continues manner. ·         Growing variety of the smartphones reduces the demand of the iPhone to a certain extent. ·         Growing security threat is also inducing organization to improve the security of the operating system.
Environmental	·         Disposal of the damage devices is one of the prime environmental issues of the Apple. ·         Manufacturing effect on environment is also another growing environmental issue that Apple has to face.
Legal	·         iPhone has recently entered into the sector of highly regulated financial services through Apple pay. Therefore, organizations have to face additional rules and regulation. ·         Furthermore, increase security threat has influenced government to implement more rules and regulation that Apple has to maintain in order to maintain its business in proper manner.

Table 2: PESTEL analysis

(Source: Bonk 2015)

The prime objective of the organization is to maximize its profit by creating groundbreaking products including I-Phone, I-Pad, MacBook etc. The organization offers wide range of premium products at premium prices (De Mooij 2013). Apple believes in aggressive pricing, as it allows the organization to uphold large market share and high profit margins. Apple focuses on the team building culture for upholding enhanced workflow design at the organization. In recent years, the organization has been trying to launch I-Phone 7 in the market. The previous versions of i-phone have already attracted a huge number of people in the society (Levinson 2012). By launching this particular product in the market, the organization would experience profit maximization in the business. Although the organization believes in the aggressive pricing model, the competitive market situation has created difficulties for them to retain that pricing system in the business.

SMART objective:

Specific	·         Increase the popularity of the iPhone’s all across the globe. ·         Improve brand strength even further.
Measurable	·         Increase sales by up to 10% ·         Increase satisfaction level of the customer by 25%
Achievable	·         Motivate potential customers to purchase iPhone7. ·         Improve customer service process to enhance the motivational level of the customers.
Relevant	·         Target untouched rural markets from all across the world in order to enhance the sales volume ·         Implement effective marketing strategy to attract new customers.
Time-bound	·         Prime focus will be to increase the sales volume within three months after the launch of the iPhone7.

Table 3: SMART analysis

(Source: Bergvall-Kareborn and Howcroft 2013)

Strategy and Segmentation:

In the segmentation methods, the organization focuses on the characteristics of the customers in the society. Apple mostly targets business professionals as their primary customers. By launching the Apple I-phone 7, the organization tries to engage the business professionals, teenagers, and people from higher-middle class society (Armstrong et al. 2014). Moreover, the organization would engage the geographical segmentation along with systematic behaviors for the enhancement of the segmentation methods.

Current Marketing Analysis

Targeting:

The market profile for new I-phone 7 will target both domestic and international customers.  Apple specially targets high and middle class society for their product promotion (Zhiqiang 2013). The CEO of the organization has discussed that I-phone 7 will be packed up with attractive features including high performance, enhanced camera and better display. Consequently, they are going to target the age group of 25-30 year for the promotion of products.

Positioning:

Apple i-phone 7 tries to employ I-phone 7 to meet the requirement of loyal customers in the society. However, the marketing team has decided to engage new customers for I-phone 7, as it would facilitate them in expanding business opportunity in an efficient manner (Dwyer and Priluck 2012). The organization will be positioning their market based on the aggressive marketing strategy.

Figure 1: STP analysis

(Source: Rosenbloom 2012)

Ansoff matrix:

	Existing	New
Existing	Penetration: In order to penetrate in the existing market, Apple will have to implement innovative pricing strategy, changing the packaging style, highlights the alternative use and add minor features so that it can able to penetrate the existing market in a much more effective way.	Product development: As mentioned above, Apple has to face huge amount of competition to maintain its position in the market. Therefore, Apple has to invest more on the product development process to offer innovative products to the new customers. Otherwise, it will be very tough for Apple to attract new customers.
New	Market development: As mentioned earlier, Apple is to become a popular brand in the rural areas. In fact, Apple has very limited penetration power in the markets of Africa. Thus, Apple has to implement email marketing, mobile marketing to develop market for the product iPhone7.	Diversification: Apple as a brand always provides unique products so that customers can able to recognize easily.  In case of iPhone7, it will not be a difference. Thus, Apple has to provide unique features as well as has to implement innovative marketing strategy so that customers can able to recognize the product easily.

Table 4: Ansoff matrix

(Source: Darroch 2014)

Tactics are based on implementing the proposed marketing plan in an adequate manner. In the case of launching the iPhone product into the market, Apple must need to develop an integrated marketing communication tactics and shape up relevant actions for the suitable implementation (Civi 2013). To execute the tactics successfully, the managers of Apple must need to play the primary responsibility. Such responsibility would initially include establishing the superior 7P Marketing Plan for developing the effective concepts related to the product, place, price, and promotion.

7Ps of iPhone:

Product	·         iPhone is the highest rated mobile product available in the world market. ·         Apple will have to strive for innovative design, seamless integration in order to maintain its position in the market. ·         Apple will also have to focus on the quality of software and hardware to attract more customers.
Price	·         Apple will have to maintain its aggressive pricing structure in order to maintain brand value in the market. ·         Apple will have to implement installment and other payment scheme in order to become popular in the rural market as well.
Promotion	·         Apple can provide different types attractive promotional offers to encourage customers to purchase Apple products. ·         Apple has to utilize innovative marketing strategy like mobile app, online, social media in order to enhance popularity in the market.
Place	·         Apple will also have to develop its presence in the rural areas to grab the unaffected market. ·         Apple will have to focus more on the development of the first party store, as it will allow Apple to have direct communication with the customers.
People	·         In the absence of their iconic figure Steve Jobs, Apple will have to focus more on the development of the effective management that are capable of motivating employees to give their best for the organization. ·         Apple also has to train their employees so that they can able to work in an effective manner.
Physical evidence	·         Apple will have to provide adequate information to manage the queries of the public in an appropriate way. ·         Apple will have to provide more focus on the reviews of the users, as it can induce many people to purchase the product.
Processes	·         Apple has to improve its online and in-store delivery process to increase the satisfaction level of the customers. ·         Apple will have to use its previous sales data in order to identify the future requirements, which will allow maintaining the operational process in a much more effective way.

Table 5: 7Ps of marketing

(Source: Kusumawati et al. 2014)

The overall budget of the marketing plan largely influenced by the main media plan adopted for launching the new product into the target market. Therefore, the marketing managers and decision-makers of the company should need to provide importance on selecting the right media for facilitating the launch and reaching out the extended customer base (Son, Lee, and Kim 2015). Since Apple has efficiently invested in the primary marketing channels for coming up successfully with its products to the customers and placing them in the point-of-purchase, it needs to think more positively about the technologic advancements over the future years. The company, in this case, should need to include the product promotion and sales through its website, exclusive mobile carrier websites, and the retail stores located in different parts of the world (Kotler et al. 2015). By considering these facts, a suitable table can be formed for representing the overview of the marketing budget.

Budget Plan for Apple Inc. (Figures in Millions of $)
Business:
Publications	241
Television	88904
Consumers:
Magazines	6753
Newspaper	2441
Internet	436
Radio	3071
Outdoor	11838
Total	113684
Changes from 2016 to 2017	40%

SWOT Analysis

Controlling is one of the most important parts for shaping up the tactics and actions as part of the marketing plan to ensure the marketing aims and objectives are met adequately. Therefore, the marketers and managers should need to arrange monthly meetings with the board of directors to discuss the current progress of the actions employed. The basic aim of developing the meeting is forming a suitable proposal for the continued marketing efforts, and the adjustments should be considered by the marketing approaches to assist the launch of iPhone 7 (Son, Lee, and Kim 2015). Before conducting the meeting, all the members of the marketing team should need to visit in private to establish their newly learned knowledge as part of the proposed marketing activities.

Considering the scenario of Apple, it is one of the most innovative and resourceful technology-oriented companies for the last decade. Therefore, the marketing plan and approaches related to the launch of its latest product should need to reflect the uniqueness and contemporary technologic adaptability (Nergis, Polat, and Akgun 2013). It should need to measure its marketing activities by judging the overall capability to inform customers on why they will choose their product over the other existing products into the market. It is required by the company to monitor the exchange of marketing messages towards the targeted groups of the community so that the company can understand the likes and dislikes of the particular segment comprehensively. Therefore, the advertising and designing process should need to be controlled critically by the company, as the whole company including its customers should need to act as the marketing department (Sun 2014). The marketing aspects associated with the new iPhone device should need to provide adequate impact over the technology-buying decisions of the customers from the target market.

Key performance indicators of promotion:

Profit:

            Apple has to develop financial performance index in order to analyze the kind of impact that iPhone7 is making on the market. Apple will have to identify the additional amount of profit that has been generated due to introduction of the iPhone7. Apple will also have to ensure that all the shareholders of the organization can able to generate healthy profit after the introduction of the iPhone7.

Feedback:

Marketing plan of Apple will also have to focus on the feedback of the customers. Since, it allows organization to enhance the satisfaction level of the customers in a much more effective way. In fact, it will allow Apple to understand the best possible way for the promotion that will induce many people to purchase the product. Focusing on customer’s feedback will help Apple to solve the problems of the customers in an appropriate way.

PESTEL Analysis

Employee satisfaction:

Apple will also have to focus more on the satisfaction level of the employees. Since, majority of the time, introduction of new product in the market, increases the responsibilities of the employees. Therefore, it eventually enhances the stress level of the employees. Therefore, Apple will have to maintain proper internal operational process to ensure that employees do not have to face lot of difficulties to perform their responsibilities.

Conclusion and recommendation:

It can be concluded that the particular marketing plan would facilitate the organization in launching I-phone in the global market. In this context, the strategy plan will assist to accumulate further data required t make any business adjustments. By following the strategic planning, the organization will be able to collect adequate revenue from the domestic and global market. Although Apple is highly regarded household brand, the organization will launch new i-phone 7 to attract a huge number of customers in the business.

The prime objective of the organization is to enhance the profit of the business within short timeline. By launching the new model of I-phone 7 in both domestic and international market, the organization is expecting a kickass growth in the business. The organization would engage a huge customer’s base by modifying their aggressive pricing strategy. On the other hand, the organization needs to involve effective promotional platforms including social media, digital media advertisement, newspaper advertisement and word of mouth. Post-sales service is another important factor of the business. Hence, the particular organization needs to increase service centers across the globe for enhancing after sales facilities.

Promotional mix theory facilitates the organization in selecting business decisions. In this context, the researcher discusses the AIDA model, which would facilitate the organization in enhancing the promotional effectiveness in an appropriate manner.

AIDA model:

Attention:

Attention indicates the process of creating brand awareness or affiliation with products and services. In this step, the organization tries to evaluate potential customers to notice products including I-phone 7. Strong imagery is one of the key factors for creating awareness of the products. The organization may employ the strong imagery to promote products in the global platform for obtaining customer’s attention in an efficient manner (Kim, Kim and Chen 2012). Apple’s marketing department understands the significance of strong imagery in obtaining customer attention.  The organization will consider the competitor’s market for launching the product in the global platform.

Interest:

The next step in the model is to keeping the interest of the consumer. Customer needs to know how the product or service will facilitate them. The organization needs to enhance the product promotion for enhancing the interest among customers in the domestic and international platform. Apple I-phone 7 consists of enhanced features that attract a huge number of customers in the global platform (Levinson 2012). Hence, the organization needs to focus on the promotional activity for increasing interest among customers.

Desire:

Desire is a natural extension of interest. After grabbing consumer attraction, the organization needs to keep going interest by promoting I-phone on the global platform. Social media is one of the important platforms for increasing desire among the customers.

Action:

In the final step, AIDA marketing model suggests to take action by the customers in the society (Rosenbloom 2012). After obtaining user’s attention, the organization creates desire among the customers. The management team of the organization needs to map the action processes for identifying the outcome in an effective manner.

Figure 2: AIDA Model

(Source: Zhiqiang 2013)2.

Apple is a global brand that increases its brand value through providing a wide range of premium electronics products at premium price. The target audience for I-Phone 7 would be 25-30 years age people in the society. On the other hand, the aggressive pricing system of the company enables them to target business professionals belonging to the high-class society. Moreover, the premium looks and enhanced configuration of the products would attract all age groups in the global market.

Intended Image:	Action sought:
·         Apple would enhance the future brand value through launching I-Phone 7, as the premium looks and enhanced technical features would allow the organization to attract a huge number of customers in the global platform.	·         Apple needs to enhance the promotional activity on the social Medias including Facebook, Twitter and other online websites.  Consequently, it would enhance the business profitability in an efficient manner. ·         The organization needs to identify the key development areas in the promotional activities for the enhancement of product marketing.
Message
·         The promotional message will include the features and technical specification of I-Phone 7. ·         By launching the particular product in the market, the organization would transmit the message about the technological advancement.

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