Marketing Mix: Apple Watch

This report analyzes the marketing mix of Apple Watch, including the 4Ps, target goal, and STP strategy. It also discusses the marketing strategies used by Apple to promote the product.

Running head: MARKETING MIX
Marketing mix:
Apple watch
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

1MARKETING MIX
Introduction
Apple took birth on the hands of Steve Jobs and became a popular technological
company in the entire world. The company excels in designing and manufacturing electrical
gadgets such as desktops, computers, iPod, iPhone, iPad and others. Apple has sustained in the
market for a long time and constantly experienced increased momentum. It is one among the top
technological companies because of its innovative and classy products. In order to achieve the
top position in the industry, this particular company has put in its extreme effort. Their proper
planning and execution of strategies enabled them to attain success (Babin & Zikmund, 2015).
In this paper, the marketing mix of Apple watch will be considered along with the target
goal. This report will discuss the opportunities for the brand to enter a new market and the
strategies required for the same. The marketing theories relevant to Apple watch will be
considered for practical application. The discussion of the 4Ps of marketing mix, augmentation,
targeting and positioning model of Apple watch will help in the analysis of the market entry of
the product by defining the strategies.
Target goal
Apple Company is intended to create and develop innovative products for the industry by
providing the best user experience. They have performed well in the manufacturing of unique
hardware, software and other such services. They have always been dedicated and committed to
manufacture unique designs, wonderful integration and premium quality for the customers. They
have always planned to maintain their superior class quality and did not compromise it any
terms. Constant evolution and high volatility within the company has paved the way for

2MARKETING MIX
improvement and innovation of the Apple products (Carlson, 2016). Apple watch is one such
product that will enable the company to enhance their online and retail stores by effectively
reaching out to more target customers. In this way, the target customers will let them experience
the best quality sales and post- sales support. Being consistently successful in the market, Apple
watch is manufactured with the aim of maintaining their constant innovation in the industry
along with their top- notch company culture. Given below are the SMART goals of Apple watch:
Specific: In the beginning, Apple watch had planned to increase their revenue by
penetrating into the high- level market and get 15% market share within a year. It became their
specific goal because new market was defined which would help Apple to continue with their
innovation in the same manner. There was no successful smart watch in the market until Apple
watch was introduced.
Measurable: According to Eisenstein (2015), Apple is aimed at making a firm position in
the market, which is a measurable goal. This is because sales figures are necessary to be
reported. Moreover, they have an advanced system of sales metrics analysis to report to the
stockholders.
Attainable: As Apple is one of the leading technological giants in the world, their outputs
are closely observed by the technical stalwarts in the market. It is considered as the attainable
goal for the company because the distribution system of the company is highly advanced in
terms of online and retail stores. They are popular in the market because of their nature and trend
in consumer electronics.
Relevant: the company is intended to get hold of the fashion interests by modifying its
product line in a personal manner for making convenient functions. It is a relevant goal because a

3MARKETING MIX
high growth standard is set in that particular area where the company has invested a huge amount
of its resources.
Timely: the goals of the company must be time- bound as it has an objective of gaining
the shares within specific time of one year. Their lack of success would have been clearly
explained otherwise. Specific time enables them to set accurate deadline for measuring growth
and development of the new product (Fan, Lau & Zhao, 2015).
4P’s of marketing mix
Apple watch or iWatch is a smart watch manufactured by Apple Inc and it is related to
the consumer electronics industry. It was introduced in the market on 24 April 2015 and within
the second quarter; it became the best seller in the market with a supply of 4.2 million units.
Given below are the 4P’s of marketing mix of Apple watch (Isaacs et al., 2015).
Product: Apple watch or iWatch is a multi- functioning watch that is provided with
touch- screen facility (Wu & Li, 2018). In addition, this product has unique factors such as health
related fitness measuring capabilities, which is combined with other products and services of
Apple. Apple watch first generation was available in double case sizes of 1.7 inches and 1.5
inches. There were four variants available in the watches such as Apple Watch Edition, Apple
Watch Sport, Apple Watch Hermes and Apple Watch. The product is connected wirelessly and it
is able to perform the functions of sending messages and make calls from iPhone. It is sensitive
to pressure and can access Apple Pay. The battery lasts for eighteen hours and can be charged
with inductive charging (Jung, Kim & Choi, 2016).
Place: Apple watch belongs to a global brand and it is available in almost every country
such as USA, UK, India, Indonesia and others. A strong network connection of the company has

4MARKETING MIX
helped in making its products easily available to the customers in the market. The problem of
ordering the product only through the official website was rectified by amending their
distribution policy. There were selected models available at the retail outlets and the tied- up
companies of Apple. Apple watch is now available at all the Apple stores along with other retail
outlets of Later Sprint and T- Mobile (Wu et al., 2015).
Price: Apple watch is the most convenient and high- performing devices in the consumer
market. This superior product created with the aim of wearing rather than carrying possesses
high quality and a premium pricing policy. The price range of the Apple watch is higher than the
products of the rival companies in the market but the company has full faith on its loyal
customers. They firmly believe that the customers who have once used the Apple product will
not switch to other brands at any cost. Apple products might be highly priced but their status
symbol is worth mentioning. They are determined not to reduce their price range, as it will
hamper their competitive advantage (Kotabe & Helsen, 2014).
Promotion: Apple Company has represented the watch in the market as a fashion symbol
and designed their promotional activities in the same manner. They have not missed their unique
features such as health and fitness activities calculation while making their ad campaigns. They
have adopted different promotional strategies before the introduction of this particular product in
the market such as television ad, print ad and magazine advertisement. It was mostly covered by
Vogue magazine by focusing on its integrated band and body (Steenkamp, 2017).
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning strategy
According to Lehmann (2015), the STP of the company is enhanced by its strategic
planning and implementation of the entire marketing strategy of Apple watch. Initially the

5MARKETING MIX
product was targeted towards the younger customers due to their affinity for technological and
electronic gadgets. This market segment was mostly intended towards the adoption of new and
emerging technologies. In order to work on their objective capturing the market share and target
segments, the brand has positioned itself in a premium manner by offering unique but simple
product design with in- built iOS system and highly- advanced customer care support of the
company (Solomon et al., 2015)
In order to support the STP strategy, Apple has generated and incorporated a strong
marketing mix. This particular marketing mix is well- crafted with innovative products such as
iPod, iPhone and iWatch (Levine, 2016). The process of the products was set strategically in
order to maintain the company class and standard. Their special distribution channel has enabled
them to attract the target market with the provision of convenient shopping both online and
offline. The marketing of the product was always intended towards the promotion and
advertisement of the superior quality by luring the customers through print and broadcast
advertising. The products of Apple are created keeping the upper middle class and higher class in
mind, and iWatch was no exception. The specialized prices set by the company for different
market segments made sure that, the clients would not have doubt about the quality of the
product and the price they are paying for the same (Liu et al., 2017).
Marketing strategies
Apple Company followed the strategy of IMC or Integrated Marketing Communications
to communicate its product iWatch in the market. Traditional and non- traditional marketing
channels were used to spread the message among the probable target customers. The planning
process of IMC helped the company to boost up their reach in the market (Michael & Michael,

6MARKETING MIX
2015). The company made a gradual shift from the traditional mass media to the non- traditional
social media in order to get hold of maximum target market.
Advertising: TV advertising was used for a wide coverage of the product and 25% of the
budget was allocated for the same. However, only 10% budget was allocated for radio
advertising, as it is not a popular medium in comparison to TV.
Personal selling: As it is an interactive form of spreading message about the product,
therefore 20% of the budget was allocated for personal selling of Apple Watch.
Public Relations: A public relations officer was employed by the company to take care of
the public image. He was accountable for evaluating the trends and making an assumption about
the success of the product in the market (Park et al., 2016).
Sales promotion: Lucrative offers, free coupons and discounts were offered to test the
urge of the target customers in buying the Apple Watch.
Social media marketing: Facebook and Twitter was used for marketing the product on
social media platform. It is a common platform among the youths as they are more tech-savvy
and deal with the virtual world more than other age group people.
Event marketing: the company had invested in organizing rallies, meetings and other
such programs for launching the watch among the public. The potential buyers were allowed to
test the product in between the promotional event (Shankar et al., 2016).

7MARKETING MIX
Recommendation
It can be recommended from the marketing mix and target goal of the Apple Watch that
the company should focus on its efforts to appeal to a large amount of customers without the
limitation of only a certain age group. They should remain firm on their decision of
manufacturing high- quality products by maintaining their primary value of product excellence.
It will be helpful for their expansion in the Asian countries to appeal to the local customers for
using smart watches. They will be able to improve their profit margin by expanding to other
areas and continuing with their high- quality product and systematic customer service. As they
have already started their online business along with retail stores, they should highlight more into
it to provide convenient shopping experience and customer satisfaction. Finally, they should
continue with their cutting- edge technology along with the constant innovation to sustain as a
leader in the competitive market.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the marketing analysis of the Apple watch that the strategies
adopted by the company in introducing its smart watch in the market helped in increasing their
distribution system. It also helped in increasing the availability of the products through online
and retail stores. They have always maintained an innovative policy in their business by offering
a wide range of products to the customers. The loyal customers of Apple are dedicated to the
brand and they do not have any plan of switching their brands because Apple is a symbol of class
and standard. A well- balanced performance and strategies within the company has enabled them
maintain their position as a valuable firm in the industry.

8MARKETING MIX
Reference
Babin, B. J., & Zikmund, W. G. (2015). Exploring marketing research. Cengage Learning.
Carlson, J. (2016). Apple watch: a take control crash course. Take Control Books.
Eisenstein, M. (2015). GSK collaborates with Apple on ResearchKit.
Fan, S., Lau, R. Y., & Zhao, J. L. (2015). Demystifying big data analytics for business
intelligence through the lens of marketing mix. Big Data Research, 2(1), 28-32.
Isaacs, D., Berg, D. T., Davis, C. E., Emmert, S. C., Gitzinger, T. E., Puckett, S. A., & Xia, L.
(2015). U.S. Patent Application No. 29/446,330.
Jung, Y., Kim, S., & Choi, B. (2016). Consumer valuation of the wearables: The case of
smartwatches. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 899-905.
Kotabe, M., & Helsen, K. (2014). Global marketing management.
Lehmann, D. R. (2015). Marketing and organic revenue growth. GfK Marketing Intelligence
Review, 7(1), 16-21.
Levine, B. A. (2016). Gadgets for health tracking. Contemporary OB/GYN, 61(1), 34.
Liu, Y., Li, K. J., Chen, H., & Balachander, S. (2017). The Effects of Products’ Aesthetic Design
on Demand and Marketing-Mix Effectiveness: The Role of Segment Prototypicality and
Brand Consistency. Journal of Marketing, 81(1), 83-102.
Michael, K., & Michael, M. G. (2015). Apple Watch Temptation: Just visit the App Store. IEEE
Consumer Electronics Magazine, 4(4), 120-122.

9MARKETING MIX
Park, S., Kim, D., Choi, J., & Park, C. (2016). U.S. Patent Application No. 29/541,438.
Shankar, V., Kleijnen, M., Ramanathan, S., Rizley, R., Holland, S., & Morrissey, S. (2016).
Mobile shopper marketing: Key issues, current insights, and future research
avenues. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 34, 37-48.
Solomon, M. C., Ioffreda, C. P., Tye, T. G., Johns, S. W., Migicovsky, E. B., & Daley, S. E.
(2015). U.S. Patent Application No. 29/516,925.
Steenkamp, J. B. (2017). Global Marketing Mix Decisions: Global Integration, Not
Standardization. In Global Brand Strategy (pp. 75-109). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Wu, T. W., Lin, P. J., Wei, C. H., Huang, P. P., & Wang, H. T. (2015). U.S. Patent Application
No. 29/479,335.
Wu, Y. L., & Li, E. Y. (2018). Marketing mix, customer value, and customer loyalty in social
commerce: A stimulus-organism-response perspective. Internet Research, 28(1), 74-104.