Brand Management Report: Apple's Marketing Strategies and Brand Equity

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Apple's brand management strategies, focusing on how the company maintains and enhances its brand equity. It begins with an introduction to brand management, emphasizing its importance as a marketing tool for increasing sales and customer loyalty. The report then delves into the key components of a successful brand strategy, including target audience segmentation, brand promise, brand perception, brand value, brand voice, and brand positioning. Furthermore, it examines Apple's portfolio management, brand hierarchy, and brand equity management techniques. The report also explores Apple's brand management in both domestic and global markets, highlighting the company's partnerships and international strategies. Finally, it discusses various techniques used to measure and manage Apple's brand value, providing a holistic view of the company's branding efforts and their impact on its market position and financial performance.

BRAND
MANAGEMENT

Table of Content
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
LO 1 ................................................................................................................................................2
P 1. Importance of Branding as Marketing Tool.........................................................................2
P 2. Key Components Of Successful Brand Strategy To Manage Brand Equity........................4
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................6
P 3 Strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand equity management..........6
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................9
P 4. Brand Management of Partnership in Domestic and Global Market...................................9
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................11
P 5. Types of Techniques To Measure and Manage Brand Value.............................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
Brand Management or branding is the process of converting all strengths and uniqueness
is such a way so it will help business to increase its sales and earn more profits margins or
premiums. Brand management is the analysis of customer behaviour about value and nature of
business which will help to increase the sales. Branding is the part of marketing function which
help to grow business organization and increase quality of products. Goodwill is also directly
related the value of a brand and it will help to increase the creditability in market to increase the
capital. Brand value is an intangible assents of a business organization which help to provide
increase customer loyalty and providing standardized products and services to its customers to
increase their satisfaction. With the help of effective planing and analysing all the factors of
market will help business to maintain its brand equity.
This report will be discussing Apple brand and its techniques which help company to
maintain its brand equity. In addition, this report will also highlight importance of branding of
apple as marketing tool, portfolio management. This will also discuss different techniques how
apple management its brand in partnership in global level which help to evaluate brand value of
apple. Apple is a multinational technology company which develops application software for
electronic products. The main products which the company sells are computers and mobile
phones. Apple was established in 1976 in California, US. Annual gross revenue of Apple is
estimated around 265 billion Dollars.
LO 1
P 1. Importance of Branding as Marketing Tool
Branding is an activity of gaining an Image in customer's mind with the help of name and
logo which increase the efficiency of product to increase the sales of business organization.
Apple is using branding in strategy formulation as it helps to increase efficiency of marketing
policies and which help to penetrate in market and promote brand name and brand logo which
will help to increase the brand value of Apple. With the help of branding apple have changed the
perceived values of customers with the help of marketing tools and techniques. As apple have a
limited marketing budget, branding will help company to support the promotional activities with
its quality of products and customer loyalty. As marketing with branding help to invest in the
company for long term period and this will help to develop value in customers gradually.
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 With help of branding apple have created preference in customers to choose the products.
it also helps company to make better innovation according to customers which also
increases the customers satisfaction and provide better sales.
 With help of branding, Apple have increased its profit margins due to its marketing tools
and brand value company successfully implemented its pricing policies to receive the
brand premiums and improve profitability.
 Branding also help company to increase its survival skills in the market in the time of
recession. Due to brand value the customers will still prefer Apple and help to stabilize
economic condition of company and maintain its position in market.
 Brand awareness is the part of branding as it helps to increase knowledge of customers
and help them to make effective decisions in choosing the right products. Marketing
techniques and product quality help to develop a productive brand value which will help
business understand market factors to compete in the market and achieve core
competence.
 With the help of branding apple will also develop trust in their customers and it will also
be very easy for company to generate capital to invest.
 Apple Is also very successful in establishing its base and manufacturing across the world
with the help of branding and marketing techniques which company is using. It is very
easy for customers to understand the vision of company and become the loyal customers
of loyal as it has very effective marketing strategies which attract customers.
 Branding also helps business to increase its expansion rates and invest in research and
development to innovate new technologies and increase productivity of their products
and services which have increased customer satisfaction.
 Apple is also having the best employees In the world due to its marketing and brand
value that potential talents are attracted to company to work and support the vision. This
will also increase the skills and knowledge of employees and develop an effective work
culture which will help to motivate them and increase communication with the
organization.
 Due to Branding and marking methods Apple is very efficient in formulating distribution
channel which will also help company to maintain demand and supply effectively. This
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also increases the brand value of company which is more punctual in fulfilling their
commitments.
 With the help of branding apple have increased its recognition to the marketplace which
also have increase opportunity for company to improve their business structure and
attract more investors and customers (Karaosmanoglu, Isiksal and Altinigne, 2018). With
help of marketing of brand also helped to motivated employees to work effectively to
increase their performance and receive good rewards and appreciation.
 Apple is also very stable in financial position which helped the company to increase its
productivity and provide products and services to its customers on time.
 With the help of branding Apple also gain much support from its customer base which
help company to grow rapidly. This also help apple to develop mobile Phone and
integrate new features which revolutionized the mobile phone into smart phones.
 Branding also helps apple to connect their emotions and feelings with people in form of
vision which is very easy to understand by the customers and connect to the emplay
emotionally.
 Branding also help apple to understand and gather information about customer need and
wants which generate consistency of products and services quality and prices to increase
customer satisfaction.
 With Help of Marketing strategies apple also differentiated their brand from its
competitors so that it helped to gain better perspective of customers ad increase brand
value.
 Branding apple is also helping the small partnership businesses to gain popularity and
develop growth with help of brand value of apple.
P 2. Key Components Of Successful Brand Strategy To Manage Brand Equity
Brand Equity is the value of premium which is gained by apple to increase its
profitability and gain better marketing operations in market. The premium is charged on the
values of product which is creased the value of customers and satisfy them (Mishra, 2018).
Apple is successful in implementing this strategy to gain more revenue by increasing product
quality and service quality. Customers of apple also increase their status as they use products of
company is the example of brand equity. As apple have high brand equity which also enables
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willingness to pay more by customers for products like iPhone which is very expensive in
compared to other products of competitors. Apple is using some components of brand strategy
which help to increase the market share and help the company to grow rapidly and increase
customer satisfaction.
Target Audience
Target audience are the population who have the ability to but the products of business
and increase sales. Apple has being using effective marketing strategies which help to divide
their customers into different segments (Greyser and Urde, 2019). This help apple to make
effective policies to penetrate in the market to reach every customer effectively and increase
sales of business. In this component apple also decides distribution channel which provide their
products in market in effective time and also deceases the cost of company to reduce the risk and
damages and improve the opportunity to gain more premium profits from customers. Apple has
segmented their young customers with computers and I pod between age group of 15 to 20. From
age group above 20 is targeted on marketing of mobile phones and other electronic products.
High and upper middle social class customer are targetted as they will be more willing to pay
higher prices for the products and services of company. This helps apple to increase its brand
equity by selling right product to right customer at right time.
Brand Promise
Brand promise is the commitments which is made by the business to its customers about
the features of products and services which will be delivered in exchange for currency. Apple
company his using a brand promise which speaks for its products and provides exactly what is
promised in the marketing campaigns. This also help to make customer understand about
specification of products and generate expectations accordingly which will also increase their
satisfaction and motivate them to be loyal top company. Apple is successful is delivering their
products on time which also shows the dedication to customers and it sets standard for
competitors to increase their efficiency and compete in the market.
Brand Perception
Brand perception is the activity which is conducted by business organization to gain
information about the value of brand in customer's mind (Kato and Tsuda, 2018). Apple is using
Customer experience mapping to gain information by stepping into customer's shoes. This help
company to understand what customer is feeling while using their products and what is
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customer's opinions about the brand value and products. With help of this apple increases their
products and services effectively to fulfil the gaps of products and increase the satisfaction of
customers. By analysing all information it also increases opportunity for company to expand
itself in new markets and increase customer base to generate more revenues.
Brand Value
Brand value is the emotion of the company which decides the nature of business and
products which they produce for customers (Miller and Maxwell, 2016). Apple has being using
brand value to modify the vision according to cultures, beliefs of customers so it will help to
increase the customer relationship. This help to motive customers purchase products of company
which have effective shared values and which is also connected with their cultural values. Brand
value of Apple also help customers to gain knowledge about size of company and all the
operations in all markets. With help of brand value company attracts many new customers and
make them loyal to their products and services.
Brand Voice
Brand Voice is the consistency of giving the same message over the time which helps to
create an impact in customers. Apple is also using this component to increase their customers by
communicating that apple products are differentiated from the other market product to give them
uniqueness and it also provides a energetic feeling and products can be used by all age and group
of people. This helps Apple to attract more customer by portraying this message to all over the
world and create uniformity (Mohan and et.al., 2018).
Brand Positioning
Apple have created the position of best and superior quality of products in the minds of
customers which help the company to attract those customers which looking for quality and high
services irrespective of price (Mills and Robson, 2019). Apple is positioning its products in the
targetted audience so that they can also promote sales to generate more profit margins.
Positioning helps increase the products value and also give meaning to its features which will
become more useful for customers.
LO 2
P 3 Strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand equity management.
Passive Marketing-
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This aspect is concerned with reaching to the consumer in a unique way and by
positioning the product of the company in a smart way. This aspect states that when company
markets their product before the need arises in the market without taking the help of any event to
attract the consumer. This type of marketing is considered as thoughtful with forecasting and
predictions in an practical manner. It involves planning every aspect of the company. For
instance directions for leading the industry so that they can get expected results (Rahman,
Rodríguez-Serrano and Lambkin, 2018).
Active Marketing-
This aspect is concerned with having an action on part of the company. This states that in
order to gain recognition in the market companies must network with some of their competitors
or other companies which are in the market so that they can increase the level of reference pool.
It helps in advertising part of new segment of business. It consists a purpose and to carry it out in
a successful manner company needs employees who possess skills. This type of marketing
involves arranging sales and arranging appointments for meeting with the clients and cold calls
(Iglesias, Ind and Alfaro, 2017).
Branded House-
This method is the architecture of the brand which is a common aspect. Major brands
such as Apple is concerned with this type of model. Apple have many brands under his company.
This model states that the firm is the brand. The brands that apple has under them are very strong
and it is linked with the company which means that they are dependent on the company and this
give them the benefit of easily remembered by the people. The company has many products such
as iphone, MacBook and iPad but all of them are not allowed to serve their opertaions on their
own. This strategy has created many powerful brands in the market such as Apple and Google.
Benefits-
 This style of method helps the company to save their time and resources by using one
code of brand for all of their products.
 It helps the company to reduce the level of competition and confusion among the
company as they all serve under one parent company.
 If the brand is strongly established in market then they have the benefit and more
possibility of achieving success for their upcoming products because consumers trust
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these brand and they will even accept the change if it is offered by Apple (Piehler,
Schade and Burmann, 2019).
Limitations-
 It leads to an all or nothing approach as perception of the people is that if one product is
bad then all of their products are the same.
 Even if they launch a new product which is great and has all the updated requirements,
success of it depends on the parent company as consumers will check that if the company
is weak or does not perform up to the mark.
 All of the brands under one umbrella creates confusion among consumers.
House of Brands-
This model is exactly the opposite of branded house. Branded house is concerned with
availing their focus on a single brand which is established in the market. On the other hand house
of brand includes many brands under their structure and each of them does not have to report to
their parent company about their decisions. The audience targeted by each brand is different,
strategies which will be used for marketing will be different and the logo of the brand will also
be different. Companies such as Unilever and P & G is concerned with this model. This model is
flexible for those companies who deals in consumer goods but not every company is able to
maintain this type of structure (Arvidsson and Giordano, 2018).
Benefits-
 This type of model offers the company a wide reach which helps to target the audience
which are unique and helps to increase the reach of brand over a vast area.
 Company can introduce new products with less amount of risk because they have many
brands working under them and if one of them not works it won't affect the company.
 If there is any case which affects the reputation then only the brand will be highlighted
instead of the company.
Limitations-
 This method is costly to maintain and the strategies which needs to be implemented are in
large varieties which turns out to be very costly.
 Brand is not allowed to use the power of the parent company which states it can not be
relied on it in order to gain recognition in the market (Calantone and Nguyen, 2018).
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 It creates a lot of confusion in the minds of people as they are not clear which one is the
brand and which among them belongs to the parent company.
LO 3
P 4. Brand Management of Partnership in Domestic and Global Market
Brand partisanships is the integration of two companies which have their own brand
equity and this collaborative practices help both brand to increase the brand value to formulate
effective marketing strategies which will also help to gain popularity in global and domestic
markets which help to compete and survive in the market and increase profit margins. Managing
brands in partnership and collaborations is very essential as it involves capital of more than one
business and which increases the liability of organization to increase the brand value and other
branding components to grow business firm within domestic and global market. Strategic
planning help to evaluate all the external and internal factors of business environment which help
to increase the information of companies to achieve effective sales and generate more revenues.
Apple is collaborating with many businesses to increase the market share and also reach
customer with every effective platforms (Park, MacInnis and Eisingerich, 2016). As it is very
essential for business to collaborate its brand value in market which will also increase the rate of
delivering their message to customers and increase sales and premiums. This also help to
increase customer base by integrating all the knowledge and strategies of both companies. Apple
is partnering with Accenture for developing its operating software for its computers and mobile
phones and with help of Cisco it is increasing the networking for management its customer's data
on online platform.
Domestic Collaborations of Brands
Domestic co branding is effective in increasing the economic growth of country and also
provide better job opportunity for population. Apple analyse all the factors which helps to
collaborate with brands and wit also increase the brand equity of companies effectively. It also
helps apple to distribute the risk of loss and help company to develop the market with effective
strategies. This also help both brands to survive with new government polices which have
decrease the brand value. Domestic collaborations also help companies to increase the shared
values of employees which are of same cultures and have same minded. Apple also increased
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their customer within the same market with the help of different brand this help the company to
become more effective as collaboration will increase productivity without innovation of products
and this decreases cost of production and profit margins will be increased (Bodkin, Peters and
Thomas, 2016). This also increase the brand approach in domestic market and help customers to
recognize the brand effectively. Apple have collaborated with AT&T to distribute its mobile
phone in the initial stage which also helped to improve both brands and made them the leaders in
the market. Collaboration in domestic brand also provide effective support of employees and
help to increase capital to develop the and grow company. At initial stage apple had collaborated
with many small and medium level local brands which helped them to increase their brand name
and create effective customers.
Global Brand Collaborations
Global brand collaborations is very essential which help to expand business into new
Market and create new customer base and established the brand with effective brand strategies
and techniques. Apple have collaborated with Nike in order to increase the efficiency of current
customers and also link Nike's customer's to company and increase sales (Beverland, 2018). As
collaborating globally will also increase higher risks of failure and provide higher competitions
in market. This help apple to gain more knowledge about marketing techniques to develop new
products and services which help to increase the customer satisfaction and provide better
competitive advantage. This also increases the opportunity for apple to collaborate in global
market as it has better potential brands which also operate globally and by this investment it will
also reduce the cost of research and marketing and collaboration of brands will increase sales by
attracting loyal customers.
LO 4
P 5. Types of Techniques To Measure and Manage Brand Value
Brand valuation is the systematic approach used by business to identify the value of
brand in monetary terms at which customers are willing to pay for their products. This help to
understand the market trends and make effective strategies which help to increase the quality of
products and services. This helped apple to understand brand value of company which help to
determine the pricing strategies of their products at which they gain maximum profits and
increase productivity to achieve their objectives. Apple help t provide three brand functions
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which help to evaluate their brand value. Apple provide knowledge and awareness about detailed
features of products which help customers to increase the decision-making process for choosing
from alternatives available in market (Chernev, 2018). Apple is fulfilling the brand promise by
providing the quality of products and also increasing satisfaction level. They also have increased
customer engagement with help of building the surety to increase the customer loyalty in
company to sell more products and also make them feel superior to competitor's customer base.
Apple is also using the intellectual property act which help to secure brand value of company and
also help to protect their rights from their competitors (Wang, Sarkar and Sarkar, 2018). This
also helps to increase the motivation of employees t increase their innovative ideas which is used
to develop new strategic decisions. It helps to provide leverage to market with effective potential
of customers.
Loyalty
Apple is the leader in electronics market which also increases maximum number of
customers and employees to the company to satisfy themselves this increase the brand value of
company (Anantachart and Tangsritrakul, 2019). As loyalty is the statement of satisfaction which
is provided by company and this is he intangible asset of apple.
Leadership
Leadership is the top position of the market which is gained by apple due to marketing
strategies which increases its sales and provides better quality of products to its customers. With
help of leadership apple also manage their employees to increase their skills and knowledge to
increase the operation of company and increase the shared value internally and externally.
Market Share
Apple is very successful in gaining the customer base and investors which have created
trust in the vision of company and also helped to design their company so that they can also
increase potential of selling their products in market by innovating and increasing quality of
products. This is the ratio total market customers which are divided by different competitors and
apple have the higher market share which determines that company is having more effective brad
value than market competitors.
Trends
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