Marketing Plan for Apple Company: Strategies and Analysis

This study covers the marketing plan of Apple Company, including smart objectives, marketing mix, BCG matrix analysis, marketing development strategies, and customer-driven strategies. It also provides recommendations for the company's marketing policy.

PRINCIPLES OF
MARKETING
1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
SMART objective of Apple company.......................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Marketing mix of apple................................................................................................................4
Marketing analysis BCG..............................................................................................................5
Marketing developing strategies..................................................................................................6
Customer driven strategy.............................................................................................................7
Recommendation.........................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The present study is based on Apple company and its marketing plan. Study has covered
the range of strategies regarding company’s marketing policy. It illustrated the smart objectives
for marketing plan of organisation, also discussed the marketing mix, customer driven strategies,
BCG matrix for the Apple company.
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INTRODUCTION
Marketing refer as the business action that is taken in order to promote the product and
services in the market. efficiency in this lead to maximise the sales that encourage the better cash
inflow within the business (Rebecca and Maharani, 2018). Apple a multinational technological
organisation that specialise in electronics, software, company have the good brand image
worldwide and operate in many countries. They have better electronics devices which is unique
in their own such products are iPhone, Mac, iPad etc. it has been identified that company is
facing issues in the market regarding rising competition, vulnerability to the business cycle, also
their products have the narrow line, higher prices, poor implementation of the promotional
strategies. Following report will cover the company’s objective, marketing mix 4P framework,
marketing analysis BCG matrix, marketing development strategies.
SMART objective of Apple company
 To enhance the sale by 20 percent by the end of 6 month
 To provide the customer satisfaction by enhancing the product line.
 To promote the new consumer reviews by 45% year over year
 To expand the target market by using suitable marketing strategy within 3 month
MAIN BODY
Marketing mix of apple
Marketing mix involves the various aspect of focus within the area of comprehensive
marketing strategy. This term often involves the classification of processes, thus for Apple its
factors are as follows:
Product: Apple company offers the better and rare products in the market which include Mac,
Apple watch, iPhone, iPad, iPod, software, cloud services etc. it shows that company generally
operates within the customer electronic products, all items are mainly based on result of product
development strategy (Misra and Kanda, 2019). It is found that company is facing issue due to
the narrow line of products, thus company needs to focus on enhancing the product portfolio,
thus for that company can proceed to focus on consumer data it helps in increasing the sales and
company can easily analyse the data to deliver better consumer satisfaction. Other strategy Apply

can begin to focus on which is expand their distribution channel that will help in growing
revenues.
Price: Apple follows the premium and freemium pricing strategies, where in premium process
it includes the premium products as for iPhone mobile phone it comes under premium category.
Whereas in freemium which is free + premium in which company offers some products at free of
cost but consumer required to pay to access the advanced features. Apply company should focus
on product differentiation pricing strategy that helps them in manufacturing the goods rare and
attractive to their potential consumer base. Since company is successful in differentiation and
thus develops the demand for their goods. It will merge with their brand loyalty which allows
them to have better power over the pricing.
Place: Apple company have their owned locations and have authority over other parties to
distribute their services and product, they also have online stores. Company sells their product
through large retail firm which are Walmart and best buy (Alqahtani, 2020). Company should
focus on online mode for distributing their product and services, as the consumer demand is
increasing therefore they should focus on various distribution channel to meet the consumer
requirement. Online channels are efficient as it enables to deliver the services smoothly and
helps in enhancing the consumer satisfaction. Company should also focus on direct distribution it
will enable them to develop better relationship with their end users, company can easily respond
to consumer feedbacks and on performance review of products.
Promotion: Apple company’s promotional mode are advertising, personal selling, sales
promotion and other consumer relation. Company uses the Google’s digital network for
advertising of products. Social media is the leading promotional platform; thus company should
concentrate on use of social media platform to reach wider audience and for the effective
promotion of their products (Danko and et.al 2019). As they can focus on creating the company’s
page on Instagram, Facebook platform it will helps in increasing the traffic on website.
Consumers in the market usually follows the social media thus company can proceed to keep
posts about their services and to create an early demand of their new product launch, thus
company will definitely get benefit from it.
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Figure 1Apple Marketing Mix (4Ps) Analysis, 2022
Marketing analysis BCG
It is the tool that is utilised internally by the organisational management to analyse their
current value of company’s products. For the Apple company BCG matrix are as follows:
Dogs: Products that have low growth falls into this category, for apple their iPods are placed in
this classification as it generally not has high demand among consumer (Kim and et.al 2018).
Therefore, company is also facing the competition for this particular product, in such it is
important for company to decrease their investment on this product as this already have the small
market and failed to meet the consumer requirement, therefore Apple can also proceed to
integrate it with other products so that it would be useful for them to divert the cost which is
invented on this product.
Cash cow: It include the products which generally generate the higher return as compare to
market’s growth rate. Therefore, for the Apple their products which are under this category are

apple iTunes and MacBook and iMacs. Over the years these products have gain the market
advantage and also enhanced the cash flow for the apple. Thus company have the largest
potential customer base who prefers the company’s products and services exclusively. Therefore,
it is analysed that best strategy for the cash cow is rely on product’s nature and company’s
vision, thus Apple company can proceed to invest enough to maintain the cash flow function
smooth and to make the better decisions about to spend the added cost which is based on overall
priorities and objectives.
Question mark: Products under this category are analysed rapidly for maintenance where it
grows fast but also consume the utilisation of organisational resources. for apple smart TV
product comes under this quadrant (HERNANDEZ and et.al 2018). As this product is estimated
to generate the little money but it is still away from the true effectiveness, it can become a star
product of the company if Apple proceed to implement the better in line strategies to fix its
problem which is mainly in ecosystem.
Star: Star products generally have the better and higher market share also in such industry have
the ability for further expansion. For Apple their iPhones comes under this category, as it is
easily seen that this product has made the company’s unique brand image among the consumer,
also it has the separate consumer base. It is always seen that launch of new iPhone breaks the
previous records of selling thus for the company it is their star product which is generating better
revenues. Thus having a large customer base, itself for only one product which is iPhone
company is able to accomplish their goals and objectives.
Therefore, it can be said that Apple need to reduce their cost on iPod because it does not
have potential to maximise its sell, instead they can proceed to invest these cost on improving the
ecosystem issue in Smart TV for better return.
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Figure 2BCG Matrix Apple Products Example, 2022
Marketing developing strategies
Ansoff matrix also termed as the product expansion grid, it leads to evaluate the progress
initiatives. For the Apple the Ansoff matrix is as follows:
Market penetration: It refers to selling of the existing product within the existing market, for
apple their existing market involves the different nation where product can be sell through apple
store and through authorised seller. Therefore, company should focus on online store as well not
only rely on retail option, thus to aim to enhance the market share it is foremost to use the online
mode as well. Occasionally they can begin to lower the cost over the products and to provide
discount that will help in increasing the demand of that products (Akhmetshin and et.al 2019).
Company should also focus on keep upgrading the software as it will be able to catch the
attention of the consumer and to retain the new customer, as a result apply can easily increase
their sales in existing market.
Market development: Finding the new market for existing product, thus it has been found that it
is one of the strategy which is adapted by the Apple as a main strategy. Apple is continually

focusing on increasing their presence internationally, Company does not confine themselves to
the main market which are China, United stated and Europe rather to mark presence in
developing market like India and Indonesia. For this company have also identified the new
distribution channels for every market to meet the requirement of local audience. Therefore, this
strategy is essential for the firm as their product’s demand in existing market might stagnate at
some point.
Product development: Creating new product and to sell it in existing market. it is found that
Apple is considered as leader in product development, because of their continuous innovation in
designing of the new framework for their smartphone, tables and for other electronic devices,
thus company aims to launch it in existing market to increase the market share. For an example
Apple continuously introducing the new feature in their iPhone smart phone, company also
launched the distinct and unique variants of this product. It allows them to develop new
consumer base and serves the existing potential customer with new product.
Diversification: Introducing the new products into the new market termed as diversification.
Company has launched new products that are unrelated to other apple watch, apple card product.
Company has introduced these new products into new market, since the company have the better
cash flow thus diversification risk for the apple is somehow low.
Out of all Apple company should follow the product development and product differentiation
strategy, as their products and efficient marketing strategy plays an crucial role in following the
market penetration strategy with the maximum efficiency level. It is important for the company
to solve the narrow product line issue, therefore with the product development strategy they will
be able to enhance their manufacturing capacity (Stone and et.al 2020). It will also allow them to
retain their potential consumer and also to deliver the products to new consumer. As they are
multinational corporation which means they differentiates their products and services that are
simple and attractive in design and also have the better and advanced functionality. Apple uses
the penetration strategy to acquire the larger share within the current market, as they sale more
iPhones in their North America market to increase the cash inflow within the business.
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Figure 3Apple Ansoff Matrix, 2021
Customer driven strategy
Customer driven strategy encompasses the marketing processes of the organisation where
the main aim is to fulfil the consumer requirement for developing robust relationship with them,
it helps in growing fast. STPD (segmentation, targeting, positioning and differentiation), it helps
in examining that goods and services and the company’s approach to communicate the
advantages of it to their consumer segment. For Apple STPD analysis is as follows:
Segmentation: It involves the splitting of population within the group according to specific
features. Apple company usually have the consumer segment where it targets the people who are
willing to pay high for advanced technological devices (Karnama and Vinuesa, 2020). Therefore,
for the company to solve their narrow product line problem and also to develop competitive
advantage they should focus on geographic segment. It helps in setting up the market that is
based on the place, as consumer’s location will be beneficial to better understand their
requirement so that they can easily send the ads based on location.
Targeting: It is like finding the consumer categories and then concentrating on specific
consumer group for the marketing activity. Apple targets the consumer segment that involves the
better design, quality and efficient performance of goods and services over their cost. Therefore
company needs to implement the differentiated targeting strategy as with this they will be able to
target distinct market segmentation (Romppanen, 2021). Thus it helps in making sense for brads

to analyse the market segment and then designing the product separately. Thus with this their
consumer will appreciate the products and they will remain connected with firm as the brand will
offer the distinct featured products.
Positioning: It is important for the firm to consider better positioning of their products that is
able to catch the consumer attention in the market. It is found that under Steve job leadership
company usually aims mono segment position. But now the concern is raised for increasing the
production line of the product and to deal with intense competition it is essential for them to
divert their services to multi segment positioning. Thus this strategy will help them to attract the
range of consumers towards their product and services also it will allow them to experience
higher economical scale that leads in avoiding the dispersion of the managerial focus (Ismail,
and Suhami, 2021).
Differentiate: It generally associated with the positioning components which entails that brand
have unique offering to their consumers. As for the apple their differentiation strategy involves
the increment of prices on their products as compared to their competitors. thus existing strategy
which is product differentiation is efficient for the company further it help them to stimulate the
buyer needs by providing hype before launch of product through distribution process.
Figure 4Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning, 2018
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Recommendation
Based on the above evaluation it is analysed that apple is facing issue in their product line,
company usually not have broad product line also there is a intense competition for the
company’s product and services because their products constitute of high pricing which is not
affordable for some consumers, thus rival company is taking advantage of it (Galpin, 2020).
Therefore there are some recommendation for the company.
 To analyse the existing product range, thus it will guide in right investment, company
should also proceed to conduct the survey to gain personalised feedbacks it will help
them in designing products and to extend product line.
 Consider the large consumer trend, as for the thriving market if company is able to spot
the trend then they can easily proceed to increase their product line.
 For competition Apple can proceed to focus on consumer relationship as to provide them
best features in their product that helps in retaining them with organisation. it offers the
better lead to compete in market.
 Promotional strategies is also efficient for creating the awareness among the consumers,
as for Apple they are facing problem in such. It is essential for them to construct the cross
departmental workflow as if the team are efficient then they will be able to carry out
better promotion activities for company’s product and services.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that marketing plan always helps in providing the
better direction to the organisation. above report have illustrated the brief introduction of firm
along with its smart objectives, it includes the description about the marketing mix strategy with
the proposed betterment strategy. It also includes the BCG marketing analysis for the firm and
also discussed the ansoff matrix with its strategies. Report lastly concluded with the description
of data driven strategy that illustrated the STPD analysis and lastly discussed the
recommendation.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Akhmetshin, E.M. and et.al 2019. Technological Stratification of the Large Business Enterprises'
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Alqahtani, M.H., 2020. From the traditional marketing mix (4Ps) in sport to new marketing mix
(3Ps): Toward a paradigm shift from practitioner’s perspective (Doctoral dissertation,
Middle Tennessee State University).
Danko, T.P. and et.al 2019. Impact of intangible assets on competitive positions of the Apple
company. J. Advanced Res. L. & Econ. 10. p.1850.
Galpin, T., 2020. Winning at the Acquisition Game: Tools, Templates, and Best Practices Across
the M&A Process. Oxford University Press.
HERNANDEZ, J.A.V. and et.al 2018. Exploring the role of design-as-strategy in consumer
product start-ups.
Huang, M.H. and Rust, R.T., 2021. A strategic framework for artificial intelligence in
marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 49(1). pp.30-50.
Ismail, B. and Suhami, H., 2021. Making Guidance of Financial Reports Using the Application
and Improving Company Profile for B2b Promotion on Indonesia Leather Shoes
MSMEs. Nusantara Science and Technology Proceedings, pp.71-80.
Karnama, A. and Vinuesa, R., 2020. Organic Growth Theory for Corporate
Sustainability. Sustainability. 12(20). p.8523.
Kim, Y.H. and et.al 2018. Non-destructive monitoring of apple ripeness using an aldehyde
sensitive colorimetric sensor. Food chemistry. 267. pp.149-156.
Misra, S.K. and Kanda, J., 2019. The Impact of Advertisements on Consumer Behaviour with
Special Reference to Samsung and Apple Mobile Phones. A J. of Composition
Theory. 12(9). pp.394-405.
Rebecca, I.T. and Maharani, A., 2018. Exploration of methods for small businesses in
determining the brand positioning through marketing mix concept. The Winners. 19(1).
pp.1-7.
Romppanen, J.M., 2021. Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning (STP).
Stone, M. and et.al 2020. The evolution of business models of information and communication
technology suppliers. The Bottom Line.
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