Integrated Business Management Project: Apple's Marketing Strategy

This project provides an in-depth analysis of Apple Inc.'s marketing strategy, exploring various aspects such as its target market, brand value, and competitive advantages. The study delves into the company's marketing plan, examining its effectiveness in the current business environment. The project begins with an introduction to Apple, followed by a background of the company, including its product range and financial performance. A literature review establishes the theoretical framework for understanding Apple's marketing strategies. The research methodology is outlined, along with data collection methods, data analysis techniques, and ethical considerations. The study aims to identify the key elements of Apple's marketing approach and assess its impact on the company's success, brand image, and customer loyalty. The project concludes with a summary of the findings and recommendations for future marketing strategies. The project also examines the innovation component of Apple and its respective position in the market. Customer feedback is studied to determine the brand value of the company.

Running head: INTEGRATED BUSINESS MANAGEMENT PROJECT
Integrated Business Management Project
Marketing Strategy of Apple Inc
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Background of Apple Company......................................................................................................3
Purpose of Study..............................................................................................................................4
Literature Review............................................................................................................................6
Research Methodology..................................................................................................................12
Data Collection Method.............................................................................................................12
Data Analysis.............................................................................................................................13
Ethical Issues.............................................................................................................................13
Results............................................................................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................17

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Introduction
The marketing strategy of a company is inclusive of the marketing goals which are
being integrated into the comprehensive marketing plan. It is imperative to formulate a sound
marketing strategy which would be based on the market research as well as focus on the product
mix of the firm (Menon et al. 2015). This would ensure the maximum profitability as well as
sustainability in the business scenario. The marketing strategy is one of the most fundamental
tactics of the organizations in gaining competitive advantage (Armstrong et al. 2015). The
marketing strategy of a company is inclusive of the decisions based on the initial condition of the
company and the evaluation of the different market orientation strategies of the company. The
marketing strategies of a company are inclusive of the different activities that are undertaken by
the company such as search engine marketing, pay per click, public relations and others
(Hanssens, Rust and Srivastava 2013). The development of the marketing strategy is based on
the analysis of the external as well as internal environment of the organization.
Apple is considered as the “largest” brand in the history of the technology industry (in
terms of revenue generated and the ranking of the brand) (Bonk 2015). The company has
gradually evolved over the years and has incorporated breathtaking technology in their products.
The company enjoys a dedicated target market in which the customers are usually loyal to the
company (Menon et al. 2015). The loyal customers of Apple are not willing to switch over the
company and hence the company has created a niche market for itself (Okonkwo 2016). Apple
has displayed dedication in incorporating innovation in their product range so that they can
satisfy the target market. The brand also makes it a point to keep updated about the latest
technologies and choose its markets carefully so that they can make significant contribution in
them.

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This research would try to explore the marketing strategy of Apple in the current business
environment. The various aspects of the company would be defined and the purpose of the study
would be defined. An in-depth literature review would be done, which would be followed by the
research methodology. The ethical issues of the research would be highlighted. The research is
expected to gain insights into the present marketing strategies of the firm.
Background of Apple Company
Apple is one of the most renowned companies of the world, which is headquartered in
California, United States of America (Apple 2017). The company is responsible for designing,
developing as well as selling of the computer software, electronics and other online services. The
hardware products of the company include the iPad tablet computer, iPhone smartphone, iPod
portable media player and Apple TV digital media player (Menon et al. 2015). The consumer
software products of the company include iOS operating systems, macOS, iWork creativity, Mac
App Stores, Apple Music and iCloud. The main product of Apple includes consumer electronics,
computer hardware, computer software, semiconductors, fables silicon design and others (Menon
et al. 2015). The operating income of the company includes US$ 60.024 billion in the year 2016
and the net income includes US$ 45.687 billion (Apple 2017).
The electronic gadgets are considered to be small machines that are capable of doing
particular functions, which serve a wide variety of purposes (Sreekanth 2016). The gadgets are
considered as the computer programs which give services without depending on any external
applications which need to be launched for each one. These kinds of electronic equipment run on
the environment which have the ability to manage multiple gadgets.

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The founders of Apple Inc include Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in the
year 1976 (Apple 2017). The first product of the company was Apple I, which was sold as the
motherboard (RAM, CPU and various video-textual chips). Apple Computer Inc was founded in
the year 1977 and the company gained funding through the donations made by the
multimillionaire Mike Markkula. The first five years of the company witnessed exponential
growth and it doubled after every four months (Apple 2017). After the year 1970, Jobs realized
that the future computers would be having unique features such as Graphical User Interface
(GUI) (Apple 2017).Apple also engaged in the development of the alternative platforms such as
A/UX. The company also allied with Motorola and IBM in the year 1994 with the goal of the
creation of the new computing platform) (Apple 2017). There was subsequent success with the
Macintosh, which was followed by the PowerBook series.
There was a return of profitability of the company from the year 1997 to the year 2007.
On the year 1998, Apple was introduced a brand new “All-in-one computer” known as iMac
(Apple 2017). The company engaged in various acquisitions so that digital production software
can be created. The 2007-2011 phases were mostly characterized by the success of the mobile
phone devices by the company (Apple 2017).
Purpose of Study
The purpose of the study is to explore, understand, identify and evaluate the marketing
strategy adopted by Apple Inc. The marketing strategy of the common is responsible for greater
sales of the company since it increases the visibility among the target audience (Apple 2017).
This activity is directly responsible for increasing the sales of the company. This study would
explore the marketing strategy of Apple in detail and find out it effectiveness in the pre-
determined target market.

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Apple is considered as the most admired company and is considered as the number one
company among the world. Apple has built their brand with the help of consistent design and
value-added features. The company is being perceived as reliable, powerful and intuitive, which
has led to the dedicated niche market of the company (Apple 2017). The brand is known for
status symbol of upper middle class and the affluent class, due to which it is considered as one of
the top brands. This project would strive to understand why the brand is considered as the
number one brand in the world.
This project would also the innovation and the brand value of Apple in the global
market. The company is considered as the most valuable company in terms of sales and revenue.
It is important to consider the innovation component of the company and the respective position
of the company in the market. This project would strive the distinctive, specific and brand value
of one of the biggest companies. The innovation and the brand value of Apple would be analyzed
with the help of customer satisfaction rates. The customer feedback would also be studied which
would help in the determination of the brand value of the company.

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Literature Review
As defined by Bhattacharya (2016), the marketing strategy of a company is defined as
the various tactics for achieving the overall business objectives and reaching out to more number
of audiences. The value proposition of the company needs to be embedded in the marketing
strategy of the firm. The marketing strategy concerns the marketing plan, which details out the
type and the time of the various marketing activities. There are various other components of the
marketing plan such as information on the target customers, important marketing messages and
the execution of the marketing plan. The marketing plan should be creative and should
communicate the key message of the company well.
The findings of Winston and Weinstein (2016) reveal that there are three distinct target
market of Apple that are being increasingly limited to three main areas. The first class of the
target market includes the music lovers, who are addicted to the iTunes and iPod. The second
class of target market includes the teenagers and the working professionals who are fascinated by
the high-end gadgets by the company. The gadgets such as Macbook, Tablets and other gadgets
can be used by any customers, irrespective of their ages (Apple 2017). The third category of the
target market is concerned with the usage of the other products of Apple such as Apple TV and
Apple iWatch (Apple 2017). Despite all the different segregations of the target market, the
company aims the higher middle class and the affluent class who are ready to purchase luxury
products. The company aims to design the best personal computers of the world and bring a
digital revolution by its innovative products. Kim and Mauborgne (2014) opined that reinvented
the phones so that the future of the mobile media as well as computing devices can be defined
well. Apple focusses on the innovation component of the product development and they

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incorporate innovative technologies in their products. This is done by a high level of
collaboration among the different business entities of the group.
According to Wagner III and Hollenbeck (2014), Apple has several competitive
advantages which makes it one of the favorite products in the market. It has superior technology
products like the superior operating system used in Mac book or the iWatch (Apple 2017). The
company has high degree of technology infusion in its products such as retina scan and iris scan
in their smartphones. There is a high degree of brand equity in which the company retains its top
position in the market. There is an increasing growth of revenue of the company and it has high
profit margins owing to the high prices of the products. One of the most important activities of
the company include that it spent heavily on the R & D activities, which makes them to focus on
the emerging, future technologies rather than the current ones (Apple 2017).
Wei, Samiee and Lee (2014) argues that at present the product strategy is present at the
core of the marketing strategy of Apple. The products of the company are user friendly and they
are also considered as highly intuitive as compared to the other competitors. The simple, uniform
and sturdy design of the electronic gadgets of the company is being done to attract a high number
of customers (Apple 2017). The products of the company give premium user kind experience
through the application of design considerations and advanced features (Wei, Samiee and Lee
2014). The company is known for the implementation of the proactive as well as retroactive
approach, which is embedded in the product strategy of the firm (Peppard and Ward 2016). The
company engages in the development of the products, which is based on the existing features of
products of the close rivals (Wei, Samiee and Lee 2014). The company aims by improving the
undesirable characteristics as well as integration of the differentiating features. The results of
these strategies are that they appear innovative and new (while being recognizable and familiar).

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According to Ryan (2016), the extensive as well as controlled portfolio of Apple is
responsible for the creation of unique as well as uniform consumer experience and product
usability. For example, the sleek body of the MacBook signals a sense of uniformity. The user
interface of the electronic gadgets incorporates the same design and functional principles that
revolve around the factor of simplicity (Wei, Samiee and Lee 2014). Apple now has a pool of
loyal consumers who are not ready to switch to other brands.
Pinson and Brosdahl (2014) agrees to the fact that the products of Apple are pretty
expensive when there is a comparison with other similar brands. An Apple smartphone is far
more expensive than the conventional Android phones (Wei, Samiee and Lee 2014). This similar
logic is also applicable for MacBook series where it is far expensive than ordinary Windows
laptops. Apple has adopted the premium pricing strategy by believing in the fact that the higher
price would make the audience perceive that the products offered by the company are premium
quality (Menzel 2013). The high price strategy is included in the marketing strategy of Apple,
which has helped the company to promote as well as maintain a favorable perception among the
target audience (Wei, Samiee and Lee 2014). There are customers who are in the belief that the
higher price products have exceptionally high product features. This is the reason that the
products of the company are superiorly positioned in the minds of the consumers though
premium pricing strategy. As argued by Vigneron and Johnson (2017), the luxury has a
psychological association with premium pricing level. The customers are willing to pay extra so
that they can get a part of the status symbol and they can have a sense of indulgence. It is
imperative that the company is providing adequate features in their gadgets, which is justifiable
for the prices they are charging (Wei, Samiee and Lee 2014). The product strategy is concerned
with providing premium user experience and this is done by the help of design considerations.

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As commented by Gürhan-Canli, Hayran and Sarial-Abi (2016), the pricing strategy of
Apple is aimed for maintaining the high brand image of the company and this would also make
the consumers perceive that they are making value added purchases (Wei, Samiee and Lee
2014). Another aim of this pricing strategy is that the company’s products are capable of
attracting small market share, which typically comprises of the upper classes and the middle
classes. The high profit margins of the company help it to maintain its high profit margin (Wei,
Samiee and Lee 2014). As argued by Rosenzweig (2014), Apple tries to create Halo Effect, in
which the loyal customers of the company wait for the latest versions of the technological
gadgets. Apple’s premium price strategy is aimed at increasing the profit margins of the
company rather than increasing the market share of the firm (Rosenzweig 2014). This also
enables the company to offer limited number of products to the customers at a point of time.
As argued by Stiglitz and Rosengard (2015), the company aims to increase the market
demands of the products through the use of product differentiation, an act by which the
companies give attractive and unique products to the consumers. Despite of the high cost of the
products, Apple is successful in creating high demands for their products by the creation of
different features and innovative advertising campaigns (Rosenzweig 2014). The company is
successful in creating an artificial entry barrier to the competitors.
Apple is involved in the selling as well as reselling of the products to the third-party
products in almost all major markets. There are direct sales to the consumers, online stores,
indirect distribution channels and the various third party cellular network options (Stiglitz and
Rosengard 2015). The company uses one retail strategy known as “minimum advertised price”
which prohibit the dealers and the resellers from advertising the company’s products below a
particular minimum price (Rosenzweig 2014). The minimum advertised price is usually enforced

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with the help of marketing subsidiaries, which is being offered by a manufacturer to the various
resellers. Apple is successful in maintaining the popularity of its high-priced products through
the tapping in the offerings of the retails such as Wal-Mart (Wilson and Wilson 2017). The small
percentage of the savings which is provided by the marginal wholesale discount is balanced by
Apple as it provides monetary incentives to the retailers for selling the goods at pre-determined
prices being set by the company (Stiglitz and Rosengard 2015). The pricing strategy of the
company has been successful as it prevents the retailers from competing directly with the own
stores of Apple and it also makes sure that no particular reseller is able to gain an advantage over
that of another. This way Apple is being able to make more money as a result of direct sales.
As opined by Moriarty et al. (2014), Apple keeps minimal budget for their advertising
purposes. Apple engages in advertising in broadcast and print media on occasional basis. It also
engages in the rare production of content for the purpose of social media and another online
media distribution. The consumers are exposed to the different traditional media, in which the
customers are exposed to the different advertisements in an emotional manner, which would
make the customers think about the company (Stiglitz and Rosengard 2015). The marketing
mix’s promotion component of Apple comprises of the advertising, sales promotion, public
relations and personal selling. As argued by O'guinn et al. (2014), the advertising function is
done through the help of website of the company and Apple Stores. The advertising function is
also done through the help of other technology news sites. Apple also uses the personal selling
approach to give product related information to the customers who are convinced to visit the
Apple store for making purchases (Stiglitz and Rosengard 2015). The Apple stores are also
characterized by the sales promotions, which gives attractive offers to the customers. For
example, the company provided old smart phones at discounted prices when there is purchase of

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more expensive product. The company also uses public relations activities to improve their
corporate image (Stiglitz and Rosengard 2015). Apple carefully implements the new product
releases, interviews and the product features and they optimize them carefully for making the
maximum positive publicity.
According to Moriarty et al. (2014), Apple is successful in creating an emotional
attachment with their customers. The brand understands the preferences and the likings of the
upper middle class and the affluent class, which has led to the increased popularity of the brand.
Apple is successful in creating a humanistic and realistic corporate culture, which is being
supported by strong corporate ethics (Moriarty et al. 2014). It is an ethical organization which
has the least number of instances of unethical activities. It has implemented technology in a
judicious manner and they have also engaged in several corporate social responsibilities.
Gopinath and Stanyek (2014) commented that Apple has unique visual capability and it
has strong verbal vocabulary, which has led to the increased popularity of the brand. It has clear
advertising and excellent product design, which has made it one of the popular brands of the
modern times (Gopinath and Stanyek 2014). The products of the company as well as
advertisements are clearly recognizable in the global marketplace. The company is successful in
the creation of a successful connection with the customers (Gopinath and Stanyek 2014). It has
also successfully built upon the trust of the consumers and the products are designed around the
expectations of the target market. For example, Apple is successful in creating an emotional as
well as sensory experience to the computing technology in iPod (Gopinath and Stanyek 2014).
The design of the products are driven by the needs and wants of the people.

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The opinions of Wei, Samiee and Lee (2014) suggests that Apple is a powerful brand and
it has gained sufficient large number of audiences in the global market. The innovative product
base like iMac and iPod. The global presence of Apple can be attributed to the premium appeal
of the brand (Stiglitz and Rosengard 2015). Apple is considered as the favorite brand of the
celebrities, bureaucrats and the high society people where smartphones represents a status
symbol. The company is able to create deep and lasting bonds with their customers ( O'guinn et
al. 2014). Apple is said to have combined design, imagination and innovation in their product
range, which has made it one of the most loved brand in the global market (O'guinn et al. 2014).
The experimental nature of the brand has also created a huge target market for the electronic
gadgets. The logo of the company has gone through significant changes before it has been
finalized to the present ones (Stiglitz and Rosengard 2015). Earlier, there was rainbow-hued
nature of the Apple logo, which depicted that of a minimalist monochrome one. This logo was
being loved by the audiences as it gave their laptops a colorful look (O'guinn et al. 2014). This
was one of the strong tactics used in the advertising component.
According to the views of the (Lindtner, Hertz and Dourish (2014), Apple is instrumental
in shaping the innovation factor in their products. There is the presence of products, which are
better than the products offered by Apple. However, the products of Apple have tremendous
credibility as well as the customers are willing to pay an extra price for the products of the
company (Stiglitz and Rosengard 2015). Apple is known for its innovative features in their
products and the company is known for good ideas. The commitment of Apple is known for the
cultural driven and not process related. Apple is able to stimulate new ideas for introducing new
products, launch successful products, streamlining the design process and implementing
profitable new innovative business processes (Culén and Kriger 2014). The company has

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constantly expanded into new product lines and their research team is constantly striving to
incorporate new features in their product systems. For example, the innovative features of S2
chip has been developed to deliver more lauded process improvements without having to
sacrifice on the battery life of the Smartphone (Stiglitz and Rosengard 2015). The fact that the
iPods is able to deliver dual music to the two individual wireless devices has been caused by the
innovative process of programming that has been embedded in the W1 chips (Gopinath and
Stanyek 2014). The company is able to improve the level of innovation in their products.
As defined by Savitz (2013), Apple is one of the most reputed companies that has
consistently enjoyed high brand value all over the years. There has been an overall increase of
10% of the brand value and the present value of the brand has been over 21% of the present
value of the company (Forbes.com 2017). The brand is considered as the most valuable brand in
the global market and it is estimated at about $154.1 billion in the year 2016 (Forbes.com 2017).
Research Methodology
It is important to conduct the research in a systematic manner so that the research goals
can be verified. This would also help in the verifying the established facts in the earlier sections.
The selected data collection process for this research would comprise of secondary research.
This kind of research is concerned with the collection, collation as well as the extraction of the
existing research (Neuman and Robson 2014). The secondary research is helpful in the
preliminary stages and extract data about the existing research. This kind of research takes into
account the data collected by the first party and then analyses the particular data set.

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Data Collection Method
The secondary sources for this research would comprise of the newspapers, research
papers, journals, magazines and other relevant. A significant amount of the data collection
process would be done with the help of websites, which would provide relevant data about the
different marketing strategies adopted by Apple Inc. The reputed websites such as Apple.com
and Forbes.com would be used to perform this research. The focus would be given to the
different marketing activities of the brand and which has helped them to retain their market
position. A wide variety of international journals would be used to extract relevant data on the
brand strategies adopted by Apple Inc. A wide number of publications would be used to explore
the marketing mix of the concerned firm. The reputed magazines such as Business Insider, The
Economist, Blommberg Businessweek would be used for the collection of recent updated data ().
These magazines would help in the gathering of the recent marketing activities of the company,
which would help in the establishment of the marketing activities of the firm. These wide variety
of secondary data sources would help in the establishment of the research purpose.
Data Analysis
The secondary data analysis involves the careful selection of the appropriate data from the
various data sources. It is important to figure out the particular data needed for this specific
project. The data analysis would be done with the help of the following steps-
 Determination of the section of data that are responsible for the establishment of the
research purpose
 Interpretation of the data in order to understand the current trends of the electronics
industry and the new initiatives of Apple Inc. concerning the marketing domain
 Cross analysis of the data collected from one source to that of the other

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 Comparing same results from multiple sources so that necessary deductions can be drawn
 Making of recommendations, judgements and advising ideas to improve the future
innovation strategies and brand value being undertaken by the company
Ethical Issues
It is important to identify the different ethical considerations that are important for weigh
for the purpose of the research. This act maximizes the value of the investment in the data
collection and also reduces the liability of the company ad ensure greater transparency of the
collected data. The following are the ethical considerations for the research-
 Use of the data should not result in any distress or damage to any external third-party
association
 Prior consent should be obtained for using the company websites or any government
reports.
 Disclosure of sensitive information about Apple would not be done without the prior
approval of the concerned company.
 Confidentiality and security of the data should be ensured at every stage of the research
so that the concerned company does not suffer due to this particular research
 Data misinterpretation should be avoided and only true data should be represented
throughout the length and breadth of the research
 Informed consent should be obtained wherever required and the concerned parties should
be informed about this particular research
 Data anonymity should be ensured and the data sources should not be revealed

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Results
The results of the research help in better understanding of the fact that how Apple’s
marketing strategy helps them to become the top brand in the global market-
 Apple knows how to work with the emotions of their target market and they know how to
use them in their marketing campaigns
 Marketing campaign of Apple strengthens the imagination, lifestyle, passion, innovation,
aspirations and the empowerment of the brand
 Marketing strategy of the brand focusses on enhancing the experiences of the products,
which would make the customers remember about the purchase
 Apple incorporates customer experience into the branding process by giving sole
importance to them and placing them in the middle of the marketing process
 Apple has made the ordinary smartphones or laptops into beautiful ones, which would
delight the customers. They are not only good in their looks but they have good features
too.
 Apple knows how to justify the high prices of their products and they have strategic
pricing mechanism, which acts as a powerful tool for influencing the customers. The
justification for the high prices of the products is being done by incorporating both
features as well as benefits.
 Marketing tactics of the company include that the company always highlights the
customer benefits rather than talking about the technical details and the product
specifications. The technical jargons are not understood by the customers and hence the
company avoids using them.

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 Apple extends the customer experience beyond the actual purchase of the product. They
prefer to give good unboxing experience to the customers and designing good user
experience
 Brand statement or the mission statement of improving the customer loyalty is being
reflected in the marketing strategy of the company.
 Apple is successful in creating a unique selling proposition for their products, which
differentiates these products from that of the competitors.
Conclusion
Apple is a successful company with a pool of loyal customers who are not willing to shift
to other companies. The company gives value added features as well as benefits to the products,
which is justified by the high pricing of the products. This has helped the company to make huge
profits through the implementation of premium pricing. The high price strategy is included in the
marketing strategy of Apple, which has helped the company to promote as well as maintain a
favorable perception among the target audience. The high price strategy is included in the
marketing strategy of Apple, which has helped the company to promote as well as maintain a
favorable perception among the target audience. Apple also uses their power to connect with the
emotions of the people and not with the technical details of the products only. This has made the
brand immensely popular among the masses.
The example of Apple is succinct in understanding of the marketing mix process applied.
The company is often said as the torchbearer in the digital industry and is the market leader in
the global market. The high-end appeal of the smartphones, laptops and tablets has led to
immense popularity in the affluent class of the society. This can be attributed to the intelligent
marketing mechanisms being sought by the company. This report is going to understand the

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marketing details of the company and how it has strived to achieve the number one position in
the global market.

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