Comparative Analysis: Marketing Strategies of Apple Watch and Fitbit

This report undertakes a comparative analysis of the marketing strategies employed by Apple Watch Series 4 and Fitbit2. It begins with an executive summary highlighting the key findings, followed by an introduction to the principles of marketing and the products themselves. The main body delves into a detailed comparison of the target markets for each brand, exploring demographic and psychographic profiles. A crucial element of the analysis involves comparing the 4Ps of the marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) for both Apple Watch and Fitbit, examining product features, pricing strategies, distribution channels, and promotional activities. The report utilizes the Levitt model to analyze the product levels of both brands. The conclusion summarizes the key differences and similarities in their marketing approaches, emphasizing how Fitbit competes effectively with Apple by leveraging cost leadership. The report includes references to academic sources and illustrations to support its findings.

PRINCIPLES OF
MARKETING

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Introduction to Apple watch and Fitbit..................................................................................1
Comparison of target market..................................................................................................3
Comparison of 4Ps.................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The aim of the PRINCIPLE OF MARKETING report is to identify and compare
marketing strategy of chosen brands. The chosen brands are Apple watch and Fitbit. For
comparing and contrasting the basic component of marketing i.e. 4Ps had been used and it has
been evaluated that both the brands developed and implemented their marketing tactics to market
effectively both the products in the marketplace. The analysis evaluates that Fitbit is a tough
competitor in the market that gain all the low to medium price consumer by maintaining their
price to the low level and adopting low pricing strategy. Fitbit watches and Apple Watches are
similar in many terms and they target those people who do not afford the iWatches in the market.
INTRODUCTION
Principles of marketing consist four main components; price, product, place and
promotion and for an effective marketing strategy the components need to be used correctly. The
present study aims to evaluate the marketing strategy of Apple watch series 4 and Fitbit2. Apple
watch is the product line of Apple Inc. and Fitbit brand operates and market their products under
Fitbit Inc. Market share of Fitbit's wearable device unit shipments was 8% in 2018 and apple
watch market share is 26.8%. The study will evaluate the competitive positioning of both the
brand in the market and their target market strategy will also be analysed.
MAIN BODY
Introduction to Apple watch and Fitbit
Apple watch 4
Apple watch is a product line of smartwatches designed, developed and marketed by
Apple Inc. The apple watch series 4 was introduced on 12 September 2018 (Ahuja, 2016).
1
Illustration 1: Market Share 2018
(Source: Market Share Of Wearables, 2019)

Fitbit2
Fitbit is an American company that is known for its activity trackers and it has become a
well recognized brand in the market for consumers. They sell fitness trackers that consumers
wear on their wrist (Armstrong and et. al., 2015).
2
Illustration 2: Apple watch series 4
Illustration 3: Fitbit2

Comparison of target market
Demographically, the target audience of Fitbit is people that ages around 25-44 with
upper mid income level (Eastman, 2017). Their targeting strategy mainly focus on the people
who are; physically active, people who want to adopt a healthier lifestyle, athletes, etc.
Apple watch series 4 main appeal to a huge demographic, an ageing population that is
concerned about heart health and falling. The product provide wearers to run ECG test any time
whenever they want. With the watch series of 4 and its new health capabilities, the brand is
positioned to continue capturing technology and fitness enthusiasts.
Fitbit mainly targets the consumers that cannot afford the iWatches in the market and
want a similar product in affordable price range (Market Share Of Wearables, 2019).
Comparison of 4Ps
Marketing mix is a set of marketing tool that used by the industries to pursue its
marketing objectives. Marketing mix consist product, pricing strategy, place and promotion of
the product introduced by any organisation in the market. The comparison of marketing mix of
Fitbit and apple watch 4 are as follows:
Marketing mix
Product
It involves; specification, features of the product that is offered by the brand in the market
with various variants (Eastman, 2017). Apple watch series 4 mainly presents a superior value
proposition to the customer based on a total integration of the product with the Apple Hardware.
Fitbit mainly mark the consumers that cannot spend the iWatches in the market and want a
similar product in affordable price range. The brand of Apple Inc. is positioned itself in the
market at number one and introduced this product line is also attainable luxury products as all the
other products. Apple watch series 4 display is larger comes in the variant of 40mm and 44mm
option and The main strategy introduced in their product are; automatic workout detection,
coaching and head-to-head competition (Goworek, McGoldrick and McGoldrick, 2015). Fitbit2
is the latest device of Fitbit Inc. with multi-sport tracking that allows wearers to keep a track of
outdoor runs, weight training, walking and many more exercise. They also promote the product
on several hoarding to increase brand visibility and do partnership in the marketing of the
product with a well known brand Nike that is known for their athletes wearables.
3

Difference in both the brands is the size and features and they share similarities in the
market with the purpose of their products that is heart tracking and similar health analyser. Also,
the packaging of Fitbit2 is quite similar of Apple watch- small and slender. Both the products
can be understand by Levitt model that consist three level of products that add more customer
value ( Lewitt Model, 2019).
Level One: Core Product
The core product of apple watch series 4 is health tracker but consumer can utilise other
special feature such as; walkie-talkie mode, consumer can able to screen their heart rhythm in the
background and Fitbit2 is physical activity tracker, along with it, the product it records daily step
count, sleep patterns and also able to notify of any phone calls on consumer's phone.
Level Two: Actual Product
iWatch are the market leader in the smart watch series but the companies like Fitbit can
give high competition with low price product with similar features. As per the quality of the
4
Illustration 4: Three Levels of Product
(Source: Lewitt Model, 2019)

watch Apple have better build in quality but as per the price range Fitbit 2 is also a good quality
product. In the branding, apple watch is higher than Fitbit. The actual product of the iWatch are
the features and the logo of the company. Actual product of Fitbit2 is their price range for the
consumers.
Level Three: Augmented Product
Fitbit2 product comes with 2 year of warranty from the date of purchase and apple watch
series 4 provide 1 year warranty but they also give 90 days of support as a complementary
service after purcahsing.
Price
Pricing strategy matters a lot in targeting a specific segment in the market and it decides
the consumer's attachment with the brand and product. iWatch 4 is one of the most functional
and convenient device in the market (Kotler and Armstrong, 2015). The product is designed and
developed to be worn instead of being carried. Apple wearable is of high quality and the brand
has adopted a premium pricing policy for apple watch series 4. Undoubtedly prices are higher
than its competitors in the market but they are confident about their loyal consumers that people
will buy apple products both for quality and status symbol.
On the other hand Fitbit is competing with major brands in the market and fighting for
market share. Thus, they logically positioned their price for Fitbit2 mid pricing strategy.
Fitbit never offer discount to their consumers while Apple provide a good discount after a
period of time at their online stores. The price of Apple watch 4 are starting from £399 to £1499
and Fitbit2 is priced at £101 to £244.
The difference between their pricing strategy is that apple adopts premium pricing
strategy that mainly focus on high income consumers and Fitbit adopts affordable pricing
strategy and cost leadership strategy that targets low to moderate income consumers (Palmatier
and Sridhar, 2017).
Place
Place refers to the place where the consumers can see, analyse and buy products of
various brands. Apple watch 4 has strong distribution channel that is very beneficial in making
the product obtainable for its targeted customers. Apple watch 4 is not available on its retail
outlet and had to be ordered through its official website and Fitbit2 is available at their physical
store as well as online store.
5

Distribution channel of Fitbit2 involves a chain; Manufacturer, Fitbit, retailers,
consumers that mainly is of retail chain and the online market chain of the brand is
Manufacturer, Fitbit, consumers (Porral and Stanton, 2017). The product can be found and can
be purchased from their official website or other online website. It can be found in various retail
shops.
The difference between both the brand is that Apple do have their own physical store that
is named as Apple store but Fitbit do not have their own shop. The similarities between them is
that they both are available at online stores.
Promotion
Promotion is the activity that is done by the brands to market their product in the
consumer's mind and enhance brand awareness (Ahuja, 2016). Apple watch series 4 are
projected in the market as a fashion accessory and focus on their promotional activity to market
this series effectively. The product is market by ad campaigns by emphasised on its special
features like health and fitness oriented product. The promotional activity done through;
electronic media via TV, print media through magazines. The Apple Watch series 4 was
extensively advertised in Vogue magazine primarily focusing on the band style, superior features
and body combination. They also promote the product on several hoarding to increase brand
visibility and do partnership in the marketing of the product with a well known brand Nike that is
known for their athletes wearables (Porral and Stanton, 2017).
Fitbit promote its brand through various promotional mix including; Magazines, advertise
the product on YouTube, Partnership with famous personalities such as; Comedian Joel McHale.
Fitbit2 represents what their product embodies with a short and catchy name. The brand using
their parent brand name and symbol as well. Promotional activities are very similar and modern
of both of the companies (Ahuja, 2016).
CONCLUSION
Fitbit is mostly known for fitness tracker but it also offers devices that are less or more
full smartwatches such as Fitbit2. Meanwhile, Apple watch 4 is mostly thought of as a
smartwatches but it also has an enviable number of fitness features. From the study it has been
evaluated that both the brands offered similar product but there are difference in their pricing
strategy, quality, features, etc. But Fitbit gives a tough competition to the Apple watch by
reducing their cost and attaining low price consumers in the market.
6

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ahuja, R., 2016. 300-01-02-04 Principles of Marketing.
Armstrong, G. and et. al., 2015. Marketing: an introduction.
Eastman, M. L., 2017. The Brand Project: Reinvention of a Principles of Marketing Course for
the Digital Age. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice. 17(6). pp.64-70.
Goworek, H., McGoldrick, P. J. and McGoldrick, P. J., 2015. Retail marketing management:
Principles and practice. Harlow, UK: Pearson.
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G., 2015. Principles of Marketing-Global Edition. Pearson.
Palmatier, R. W. and Sridhar, S., 2017. Marketing strategy: Based on first principles and data
analytics. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Porral, C. C. and Stanton, J. L., 2017. Principles of marketing. ESIC Editorial.
Online
Market Share Of Wearables. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/05/idc-apple-led-wearables-market-in-2018-with-46-
2m-of-the-total-172-2m-devices-shipped/>.
Lewitt Model. 2019. [Online]. Available Through:<https://www.cgma.org/resources/tools/cost-
transformation-model/kotlers-five-product-level-model.html>.
7