BCO101: Digital Consumers and Apple Case Study Analysis

This case study delves into the fundamentals of marketing, analyzing two core aspects: the impact of digital consumers and the marketing strategies of Apple. The first case study examines the challenges of brand heritage in a digital world, identifying brands where traditional stories have become brand baggage, and explores how brands can adapt to meet contemporary consumer needs. It also analyzes clean slate brands and how they differentiate themselves in the market. The second case study focuses on Apple, evaluating its value proposition, particularly concerning its product offerings like the iPhone, and how this value translates into financial performance. The analysis includes a discussion on Apple's strategic decisions, such as the removal of the headphone jack, and their impact on customer value. The assignment utilizes scholarly resources to support its discussion, providing a comprehensive overview of marketing principles in practice.

FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING

Table of contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Case study 1.....................................................................................................................................3
Identifying a brand where their traditional brand story or brand heritage has become brand
baggage and what brand baggage do they need to drop and how................................................3
Identifying a brand where the brand history and/or heritage is clashing with consumer
needs/desires and how can this brand adapt to serve contemporary digital consumer needs......4
Identify any clean slate brands and taking a look at their competition and describing the brand
differentiation offered by this clean slate brand...........................................................................4
Identifying one or more brand where digital consumers are interacting with or posting about
those brands in creative, subversive and culturally aware ways..................................................5
Case Study 2....................................................................................................................................6
1. Selecting one Apple Product and outline its value for customers............................................6
2. Describing the value that Apple provides to its customers is related to its financial
performance.................................................................................................................................7
3. Opinion on wether Iphone 7 which was without any headphone jack was right decision to
create value for customers............................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
Marketing is one of the most vital aspects which is considered by an organization in order
success within a market. Marketing performs various functions for a company which includes
raising awareness of the company's products, increasing customer base and to increase brand
value of the firm within the market. In the current assessment there will be discussion over the
marketing aspects and its importance within building brands and in raising company’s product
awareness within a particular market.
Case study 1
Identifying a brand where their traditional brand story or brand heritage has become
brand baggage and what brand baggage do they need to drop and how
Apple Inc. is a prime example of having a traditional brand story and heritage which has now
become a brand baggage which the company has to take. Although Apple has been doing well in
the market the firm is often criticized for its premium pricing. It is important to consider that the
company also renders product such as Ipads, Iphones and Computers which are generally priced
premiumly. This is due to the brand value which the following has in the market and the
company is also known to render high quality of product which is rich in features (Piercy, 2014).
The premium pricing of the company has limited the market of the company to high income
class which cannot afford such premium priced product. The people belonging from all the
classes and income groups cannot buy the product because of its being priced so high. On the
other hand there are smartphone producers which are producing product on half the price and
nearly same as the feature provided by Apple which further decrease the sale of the firm. This
makes it sure that currently the company is suffering from its brand baggage and should drop
such brand baggage to produce good which are affordable to every class of people. It can be said
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that the firm can do this by creating and producing products which are affordable in nature. This
can be done by knowing the customer needs through market research, after knowing the general
affordable price Apple should offers products which are affordable for all class of buyers this
will help the company in diversifying their customer within the market (Kanagal, 2015).
Identifying a brand where the brand history and/or heritage is clashing with consumer
needs/desires and how can this brand adapt to serve contemporary digital consumer needs
Clothing brands like Louis Philippe have faced clash with consumer needs and desires as they
have priced their product highly which is not affordable to all the customer. Although regardless
of this premium pricing the company is not being able attract people on high income groups
because there are various other premium brands in competition of the company hence the
consumer base for the company is limited (Liu and Chou, 2016). This has effect the sale of the
firm and has created problems within the firm. Now it has to look at the current needs and
requirements of customer based on which it will produce and sell its products. It has to consider
that in such competition keeping the market limited to one segment is not at all a proper plan for
the company. It can be said that the firm has to offer affordable products which is within the
reach of all the income groups keeping its quality premium in this way the company will be able
to meet contemporary digital consumer needs. This will help the company in becoming better
and to market its product to affordable section of people (Baltes, 2015).
Identify any clean slate brands and taking a look at their competition and describing the
brand differentiation offered by this clean slate brand
Ola is a transportation network company which is based in India it operates in the same industry
as Uber. Uber entered the Indian market for giving competition to Ola and the company is now
expanding in Europe which will actually concern the Uber in European market. Ola is known for
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offering low estimated rides to the customers which has helped the company to have an higher
market share within India (Key and Czaplewski, 2017). This is a Clean slate startup business
which started in India and is now in the same berth as Uber. Entering international market will
divide the market share of the company in the internal segment. Due to the company rendering
low estimated rides it will draw attention of people which tend to search for affordable rides
hence this will have an pricing advantage over the other in the market. Brand differentiation
which has been offered by the company in the new market will be low cost running ride
providing brand which customers will be able to take and this will decrease customer for Uber as
the following is rendering slightly expensive rides (Baker and Saren, 2016).
Identifying one or more brand where digital consumers are interacting with or posting
about those brands in creative, subversive and culturally aware ways
Digital platform has become an evident platform on which customer are able to interact with
their respective brand to provide feedbacks which are creative subversive and culturally aware.
This helps firms in deriving knowledge on their shortcoming on which they can develop their
services and product to meet customer demands. Digital operating companies Such as Amazon
are evident example of brand communicating with their customer through digital platforms.
Amazon operates in different countries hence the company has to get idea on demands and
requirements of each customer which come from different countries. Customer provide feedback
which are creative, subversive and culturally aware as the customer report bugs, and flaw which
ecst in the inline service of the firm helping the company in mitigating such issues and helping
the organization to render better services (Patrutiu-Baltes, 2016).
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Case Study 2
1. Selecting one Apple Product and outline its value for customers.
The products from Apple Company are no doubt is one of the most everlasting and customer
satisfactory products. The Apple Company has launched many products since 1997 related to
ipads, ipod, Iphones, macbook, etc. Apple is holding a very good market share since a very long
time. One of its recent products is Iphone X which was released recently. The Iphone X was
released last year 2018 which is still holding a good sale. The Iphone X comes with the 5.8 inch
bezel less display. Apple has launched many Iphone till now and got customer satisfaction from
all around the world. After releasing the Iphone X Apple has seen a tremendous change in their
market share. Apple Iphone X is value for its customer as some of the new features have been
added into it. The screen size and the screen style have changed a lot if it’s compared to previous
Iphones. The back of the Iphone x comes with the oleo phobic coating which gives the phone a
mirror reflecting look and a mirror finishing look. The design of the phone is very much
attractive and Apple has made Iphone X slim with the glass finishing at the back of the phone.
The Iphone x also comes with waterproof technology of IP67 (Foxall, 2014). As the Apple
company gives assurance to its customer with the world’s best camera phone the Apple has
added some more new technology in the Iphone X. The front camera of Iphone X is 7mp and at
the back it has dual camera 12+12 MP. Overall thee Iphone X has been a successful launch of
Apple Company and its valuable for customers. During the first sale of Iphone X many people
were waiting outside of the store in countries like Australia, India, US. It has been seen in the
recent that Iphone X set a brand new record regarding its value for the customers much better
than any other smartphone in the market. The Apple Company is one of the most trustworthy
brands when it comes to smartphones and PCs and has a wide range of loyal customer all around
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the globe. The Iphone x of Apple is really value for money as it has modified some segments in
the phone and made value for money. The Iphone X might be a bit costly phone but the features
that it provides cannot be compared with any other smartphone in the market (Öztamur and
Karakadılar, 2014).
2. Describing the value that Apple provides to its customers is related to its financial
performance
The Apple products with no doubts are the trusted and best products when it comes to
innovation. The Apple Company since a very long time is holding a good market position for its
well-known products and loyal customers who are present all over the world (Foxall, 2014). The
products of the Apple Company provide value for its customers and this is related to the financial
performance of the company. The Apple always works on their products in order to make them
better and advanced. The company focuses on its design, durability, and software and body
material. Apple products are a bit costly in the market but people do not think twice before
purchasing as the name of the brand is enough for trust and performance (Fahy and Jobber,
2015). This creates and impact on the company’s financial performance. Since 2003 the Apple
Company is holding a good market share as the products of their company satisfy and fulfils all
the needs of the customers. The Apple Company knows that what their customers wants from
them and how the needs can be fulfilled. Apple provides trust and safety with their products
which is value for its customers. This is the reason why the company is holding a good market
position and is earning a huge amount of money. The company utilize their profits to make their
product better and better every day in order to become more valuable for customers (Zeriti et al.
2014).
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3. Opinion on wether Iphone 7 which was without any headphone jack was right decision
to create value for customers
The year 2016 was a remarkable year for both the Apple Company as well as its trusted
customers. This year the Apple launched their new Iphone 7 which was without any headphone
jack. Now this is not something that seems to be the right choice made by the company.
According to the Apple Company the user can used the lightening or the Bluetooth headphone.
The company also explained the reason for this new change (Schmidt, Spann and Zeithammer,
2014). The company said that they have removed the headphone so that it can have more space
for the other new application. This was not something the right choice that was made by the
company. Maybe they have removed the audio jack and put some new application in it but the
Bluetooth headphones are really expensive once if the given Bluetooth headphone is damaged.
The company gave a reason that they have removed the audio jack in order to free up the space.
Apple Iphones comes with different space variations. The Iphones already provides a lot of space
in the phone (Lusch and Vargo, 2014). The removal of the headphone jack has become an issue
for many customers who already had existing apple headphones. The people who bought Iphone
7 were unable to connect their headphones with the new product. The Bluetooth headphones are
not budget friendly for all the customers so it will be difficult for the customers if once the given
Bluetoothear buds are destroyed. It is well known that no doubt apple provides quality with trust
and one of the best products when it comes to smartphones and also value for its customers. But
the launch of Iphone 7 with no headphone jack has not been able to match with the expectation
with many people (Baker, 2014).
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Conclusion
From the above it has been concluded that the Apple Company provides value products for its
customers and it is holding a good market position since the very long time. The Company
provides wide range of products and has a large number of customers all over the world. In the
above there has been a discussion with the Iphone X after which it is concluded that Iphone X is
value for its customer. Also there has been a discussion regarding the value that the Apple
Company provides to its customer and how it affects the financial performance of the company.
It is also concluded from the above that the removal of headphone jack from Iphone 7 was not a
good step that was taken by the Apple Company.
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References
Baker, M.J. and Saren, M. eds., 2016. Marketing theory: a student text. Sage.
Baker, M.J., 2014. Marketing strategy and management. Macmillan International Higher
Education.
Baltes, L.P., 2015. Content marketing-the fundamental tool of digital marketing. Bulletin of the
Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, 8(2), p.111.
Fahy, J. and Jobber, D., 2015. Foundations of marketing.
Foxall, G., 2014. Corporate Innovation (RLE Marketing): Marketing and Strategy. Routledge.
Foxall, G., 2014. Corporate Innovation (RLE Marketing): Marketing and Strategy. Routledge.
Kanagal, N.B., 2015. Innovation and product innovation in marketing strategy. Journal of
Management and marketing research, 18, pp.1-25.
Key, T.M. and Czaplewski, A.J., 2017. Upstream social marketing strategy: An integrated
marketing communications approach. Business Horizons, 60(3), pp.325-333.
Liu, C.H.S. and Chou, S.F., 2016. Tourism strategy development and facilitation of integrative
processes among brand equity, marketing and motivation. Tourism Management, 54, pp.298-
308.
Lusch, R.F. and Vargo, S.L., 2014. The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate,
and directions. Routledge.
Öztamur, D. and Karakadılar, İ.S., 2014. Exploring the role of social media for SMEs: as a new
marketing strategy tool for the firm performance perspective. Procedia-Social and behavioral
sciences, 150, pp.511-520.
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Patrutiu-Baltes, L., 2016. Inbound Marketing-the most important digital marketing
strategy. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, 9(2),
p.61.
Piercy, N., 2014. Export Strategy: Markets and Competition (RLE Marketing). Routledge.
Schmidt, K.M., Spann, M. and Zeithammer, R., 2014. Pay what you want as a marketing strategy
in monopolistic and competitive markets. Management Science, 61(6), pp.1217-1236.
Zeriti, A., Robson, M.J., Spyropoulou, S. and Leonidou, C.N., 2014. Sustainable export
marketing strategy fit and performance. Journal of International Marketing, 22(4), pp.44-66.
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