University Marketing Plan: Apple Inc. (BS102, Semester 2)

This report presents a comprehensive marketing plan for Apple Inc., analyzing its current market position and proposing strategies for future growth. The plan begins with an introduction to marketing principles and then delves into Apple's mission and vision. A detailed marketing audit is conducted, assessing the external environment, including political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors in Australia. The audit also examines Apple's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). Based on this analysis, the report establishes marketing objectives and outlines a strategic marketing plan. This includes customer segmentation, positioning strategy, marketing mix elements, and an integrated marketing communications (IMC) plan. The report concludes with a summary of key strategies and recommendations for Apple Inc. to achieve its marketing goals and address competitive challenges, such as increasing technological innovation and expanding its consumer base. The plan also considers the application of the Ansoff Matrix for strategic growth.

Running head: FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING
FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Vision and Mission:...............................................................................................................3
Marketing Audit:....................................................................................................................3
Assessment of external environment for Apple Inc.-.........................................................3
Strengths of Apple Inc.-.....................................................................................................5
Weaknesses of Apple Inc.-.................................................................................................6
Opportunities of Apple Inc.-..............................................................................................6
Threats of Apple Inc...........................................................................................................7
Marketing Objectives:............................................................................................................7
Marketing Plan:......................................................................................................................9
Customer segment for targeting-........................................................................................9
Positioning strategy for target market-...............................................................................9
Marketing Mix-................................................................................................................10
IMC Plan-.........................................................................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
An exhaustive report that involves marketing strategy for accomplishing planned
objectives and plans is known as marketing plan. The marketing plan of a business includes
an overview of selected business, goals and objectives, set vision and mission and marketing
strategies for accomplishing the business objectives (Westwood 2013). Marketing plan is
considered as a blueprint, which covers marketing and advertising efforts for future. The
business and operational activities incorporated for accomplishing marketing objectives in a
stipulated time period depicts the features and characteristics of a marketing plan. The
marketing plan of an organization also include current organizational position, description of
marketing mix and target market, which is utilized as a base for accomplishing marketing
goals (McDaniel and Gates 2013). The phases of constructing a marketing plan includes,
understanding the business and market in which the organization is operating, defining the
target market, assessing the existing and potential competition in the market can be the next
step for deducing a marketing plan (Haider et al. 2019). The next phase of marketing plan
focusses on setting goals and objectives, stimulating an outline for strategies for the business.
Budgetary plan can be the next step followed with the phase of execution. The main purpose
of the paper is to build a marketing plan in respect to an existing business. The business
selected for this paper is Apple Inc., which is a technology based multi-national company
headquartered in California. The paper will reflect a strategic vision and mission of Apple
Inc. In this paper, marketing audit will be conducted based upon the first assignment on
fundamentals of marketing. The paper will be concluded by summarizing the key strategies
of the marketing plan.

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Discussion
Vision and Mission:
Mission: The mission of Apple Inc. has always been to provide best consumer experience
through innovative offerings of services, hardware and software.
Vision: The vision of the company is to stimulate a comprehensive Apple ecosystem with a
technological solution in every step of need (Cuofano 2019).
Marketing Audit:
The comprehensive and systematic evaluation and analysis of the marketing
environment in which the business is operating is known as Marketing Audit. Marketing
Audit involves the assessment of external and internal analysis in alignment of the goal,
principles, strategies for responding to the opportunities and concerns of the organization
(Lipnická and Dado 2013). After the procedure of conducting marketing analysis of the
internal and external environment associated with the business, marketing recommendations
will be constructed for enhancing existing marketing performance.
Assessment of external environment for Apple Inc.-
The Political Stability of Australia is stable and portrays an attractive business
environment. The attractive political stability and positive business environment in Australia
reflects a positive implication of the decision of introducing a new product in the Australian
market. The economic state of Australia is stable that can be considered attractive for the
technology based multinational organization in terms of attracting a wide range of consumers
in the Australian market (Heracleous 2013). Due to the increasing consumer base of Apple
Inc. with its innovative and cost effective product offerings, Apple can utilize the improving
base for penetrating in the Australian market. The cultural diversity of Australia due to
increasing rate of immigrants for educational programs and job opportunities can be

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addressed by innovative ideas and features of new product development strategy of Apple
Inc. The decreasing level of unemployment in return increases the disposable income of the
consumer groups in Australia, which can be used as an opportunity for Apple Inc. through its
innovative introduction. In a country like Australia, where the country invests a huge amount
on the technological implications, consumers are majorly influenced by the aspect of
technological innovation and creative offerings. For ensuring the brand involvement and
loyalty of consumers from the Australians, Apple needs to ensure a strong differentiation
strategy from its existing and competitors’ products for a new product development strategy
(Mosadeghi et al. 2013). The ethical practices of Apple and its competitors’ is ensured by the
strict frameworks and governmental rules in relation to the quality standard of product
offerings. The strict environmental protection regulations of Australia can be positively
aligned with the sustainability practices of Apple Inc.
According to Porters Five Fore Analysis from the first assignment, it can be deduced
that Apple Inc. experienced high level of competitive rivalry in the Australian market in the
presence of Huawei and Samsung. With the incorporation of technological innovation in each
technological organization, differentiation strategy is becoming difficult even for a company
like Apple Inc. However, introduction of a new product with latest technology can be a major
influencer on buying decision of the target consumer (Dobbs 2014). The bargaining power of
buyers in Australia is high due to the availability of numerous options in technological
equipment, including phones, laptops, iPads, software and services. However, with the
introduction of distinctive and advanced technological product, Apple Inc. can target the
changing needs of the Australians. The Bargaining power of supplier is becoming weak in
Australia with the increasing number of supplier in the Australian market. However, the
manufacturing of Apple Inc. is concentrated in China, which may affect the bargaining power
of the suppliers for the company (Khan, Alam and Alam 2015). Apple should majorly

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concentrate on expanding or shifting its manufacturing hub from China to countries with
increasing rate of suppliers and affordable raw materials and human resources. The threat to
substitute for the Apple products is considered weak as the company have created a brand
image of innovation, good quality and increasing option for updating advanced software. The
new product of Apple needs to be deduced from a segment, which has nil or minimum
competition so than it can extract the cream of the market like its other premium product
offerings. The threat from new entrants is low in relation to the existing big brands like
Apple, Huawei and Samsung.
Strengths of Apple Inc.-
Apple Inc. is a globally recognized iconic brand for offering innovative products into
the market. The product and services offerings of Apple are always expected to be robust and
creatively designing for addressing the changing customer desire from a technological
equipment. The technology based multinational company Apple Inc. is considered to be a
global icon with a widespread group of loyal customers. The company, Apple Inc. has
billions of consumers in association of incremental rate of improvement. Apple is considered
to be the first mover for introducing extensively innovative products like an iPhone with
updated software iOS and iPads (Montgomerie and Roscoe 2013). Introduction of newer
product by diversifying the current segment in association with advanced technological
development, Apple can retain and increase the existing customer base of the product
offerings. Apple has not only concentrated on consumer market but have proved its worth in
business segment by combining security with innovative product design that adds to the
convenience of utilizing technology. The design for each Apple product is crafted through
extensive market research practices, which addresses the increasing need for having
something different and advanced from the market. Apple even cannibalizes its own product
with the introduction of innovative product and software design. With the association of latest

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technological innovation, Apple Inc. is not behind on addressing the negative impact on
environment and community through the manufacturing processes.
Weaknesses of Apple Inc.-
Along with numerous strengths and strong market presence of Apple Inc., it also lacks on few
aspects in competition with companies like Huawei and Samsung. The company does not
invest in marketing or promotional strategies to the extent it should. Although, the company
have created a strong and loyal customer base. However, the technology market in Australia
is becoming aggressive with the inclusion of purposes of new entrants of reaching the
widespread range of market in Australia. For addressing the increasing options in the market,
Apple should also concentrate on the increasing its promotional campaigns (Jinjin 2013). The
product and software offerings of Apple Inc. is considered to be for premium category, which
can restrict the brand to reach wider range of customer or to increase the customer base.
Competitors like Samsung and Huawei direct their focus on increasing the customer base by
offering different range of products for various market demographics. Competitors are
introducing technological equipment with more features in affordable price offerings.
However, the only product that has been launched by Apple without the concentration on
premium segment is iPhone XR. The incompatibility of Apple software in association of
other software and other devices is a major weakness.
Opportunities of Apple Inc.-
According to the external environmental analysis of Australia and electronic industry
in alignment with Apple Inc. extracted the information regarding the existing and potential
opportunity for the company. The opportunities of Apple Inc. includes market development,
product development and product diversification. The company has an opportunity in
enhancing the existing target market by introducing affordable product offerings. The aspect
of affordability will attract a wider range of consumer group from high income group to

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middle income group. Another opportunity for Apple Inc. can be the opportunity of
expanding and/or shifting the manufacturing hub from China to other countries like India,
where the company can experience affordable raw materials and resources. The opportunity
of manufacturing at other destination will decrease the tax imposition, thereby attracting
more customer than past (Jun and Sung 2013). The company also have the opportunity to
address newer market or competition by following product development strategies. The
product development strategies of Apple Inc. can be the introduction of AR glass. The
Augmented Reality Smart glasses can have a dedicated display and built-in processor with
the association of reality operating system. The Augmented Reality Smart glasses can be
monitored using voice activation, touch panels and gestures. The new product development
will be able to respond to the upcoming challenges of the company in regards with
technological advancement.
Threats of Apple Inc.
One of the biggest threat for Apple Inc. can be the increasing level of aggressive
competition in Australian market. The mobile and technological market in Australia is
constantly increasing with the incorporation of creativity and innovation. Aggressive
competition in the market can lead to the pressure of launching products without the
comprehensive assurance of quality standard. Apple have always reflected premium quality
and effective innovative initiatives. However, the features and characteristics of Apple Inc.
have been copied by numerous brands with an affordable price tag. The aspect of maintaining
exclusiveness for the brand is becoming tougher (Lustgarten 2015). Increasing labour and
production cost of Apple is resulting in the threat for Apple for competition with affordable
and valuable product offerings.
Marketing Objectives:
The marketing objectives for the recommended strategy of Apple is:

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 To address competition with increasing technological innovation
 To increase the reach to wider consumer group (Kanagal 2015)
The strategic planning and development tool, which offers framework for assisting
senior managers, marketers and executives in deducing strategies and initiatives for the
growth and development in future, is known as Ansoff Matrix. There are four elements in
Ansoff Matrix that depict the growth strategies of organization. The elements are Market
development, diversification, production development and market penetration (Hussain et al.
2013). The product development strategy reflects the construction and execution of new
product offering. The product development strategy targets existing market with new product
idea. In the concept of market development, a new market is targeted through existing
product or service offering. Market penetration is targeting a wider range of existing
customer with existing offerings. Diversification growth strategy targets newer market with
newer product offering.
The recommendation for Apple Inc. is based on the strategy of product development
by introducing and Augmented Reality Smart glasses (Lehman and Haslam 2013). The new
product will target the existing market, technology lovers, between 20 to 45 age group and

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the upper class and upper middle class consumer group. Another strategy for improving the
existing operations of Apple can be development of market by introducing affordable
products for middle class group, by the strategy of expanding and/or shifting the current
manufacturing hub, as it will decrease the cost of production.
Marketing Plan:
Customer segment for targeting-
Geographic segment- The new product Augmented Reality Smart glasses can be targeted to
the urban areas of various cities and town.
Demographic segment- The target customer will be under the age group of 18-50 years, who
are existing or potential customer segment of Apple Inc. products. There will not be any age
biasness amongst customers, but at the primary stage the marketing campaigns can mainly
address the activities where young population is majorly involved. Both married couples and
bachelors will be considered as potential customer for this new product development of
Apple Inc. For the new product, both high income and middle income group (Boone and
Kurtz 2013).
Psychographic segment: The social class for the new product will be upper class, upper
middle class and middle class. The lifestyle based on the characteristics of optimism, explorer
and aspirer. People with creative vision and positive innovative characteristics will be
influenced by product specifications and design of the new Augmented Reality Smart glasses
(David 2013).
Positioning strategy for target market-
The positioning strategy for the selected target segment will be based on Product
characteristics. The value of the Augmented Reality Smart glass can be reflected in the form

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of technological innovation and comparative affordability in respect to other product and
service offerings of Apple Inc.
Marketing Mix-
Product: The product will be Augmented Reality Smart glass with the touch screen
characteristic, head gesture compatibility and the applicability of voice activation.
Price: The pricing strategy followed for this product can be cost plus pricing
Place: The new product will be available through Apple own retail outlets, apple website and
Apple licensed retailers (Jackson and Ahuja 2016).
Promotion: The focus of the promotional campaign for Apple’s existing and new product will
be based on social media marketing for wider reach amongst target age group.
IMC Plan-
The IMC plan of the new product will be based on the purpose of increasing the awareness
and reach of the new and existing products.
Channels: Audio visual example Television, visual example Billboards, social media example
images, videos and blogs.
Message: The message will focus on involving the target customer for participating in the VR
or AR games and understanding of the concept of AR through teaser advertisements. The
message can be structured with a hashtag, ‘#NewMemberOfAppleEcosystem’, for the
purpose of demonstrating a community for existing user group and for increasing the
customer base by increasing curiosity (Yee and Yazdanifard 2015).
The IMC plan will solely focus on increasing curiosity for the new product development and
for involving customer by co-creating the promotional campaign.

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Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded from the paper that Apple being an established brand
should focus on incorporating continual improvement process in regards with quality
standards and value offerings. Apple is recommended to introduce new product for the
existing and expanded customer group for responding to the future competition in terms of
technological advancement.

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