Apple Inc. Marketing Strategies: A Comprehensive Analysis

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UNIT 2 MARKETING ESSENTIALS
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1...................................................................................................................................... 4
PART A..................................................................................................................................4
A) KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MARKETING FUNCTION OF APPLE..........4
B) RELATION OF MARKETING ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES WITH WIDER
ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT................................................................................................9
C) ANALYSIS OF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MARKETING WITH MARKETING
ENVIRONMENT...................................................................................................................10
D) SIGNIFICANCE OF INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF MARKETING WITH OTHER FUNCTIONAL
UNITS AT APPLE..................................................................................................................11
PART B................................................................................................................................ 12
1) COMPARISON OF THE WAYS HOW MARKETING MIX IS APPLIED BY DIFFERENT
ORGANISATIONS TO ATTAIN BUSINESS OBJECTIVES..........................................................12
2) DIFFERENT TACTICS APPLIED TO ATTAIN BUSINESS OBJECTIVES................................15
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................... 17
MARKETING PLAN FOR APPLE THAT TACTICALLY APPLIED 7PS TO ATTAIN MARKETING
OBJECTIVES.........................................................................................................................17
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................... 22
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 23
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INTRODUCTION
Marketing and its principles form a vital base for gaining understanding related to the basic
marketing plan and the marketing mix elements which helps in attaining the desired
objectives of the organisation (Priya, 2018). This report will deal with the marketing
concepts and the principles that will help Apple Inc. in attaining the desired marketing
objectives within the time frame. This report will also help in enhancing career opportunities
by gaining better insights into the marketing concepts and aspects and will help in
developing a marketing plan for Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is considered to be an American Multinational technology company which was
founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak. It serves nearly about
500 retail stores at different locations. The products and s4e4rvfice4s offered by Apple Inc.
include the Software, computer hardware, cloud computing, digital distribution, financial
technology and so on.
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TASK 1
As an applicant for the role of Marketing Manager at Apple Inc., the concept of marketing
will be discussed together with the roles and responsibilities that it caters to. The
interrelationship of the marketing function with the wider organisational context of Apple
will also be discussed.
PART A
A) KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MARKETING FUNCTION
OF APPLE
DEFINITION OF MARKETING
Marketing is defined as the concept which is a business activity carried out to directly move
the goods and services in accordance with the customer's needs. According to Philip Kotler,
it is defined as the process of creating, offering and providing the exchange of the products
and services with the customers in exchange for the value (Priya, 2018).
NATURE OF MARKETING
The nature of marketing is considered to be a human activity which involves human efforts
towards the satisfaction of the customers. It is a customer-oriented process which meets
the needs of the customer’s effectively with a reasonable profit earning (Lovelock and
Patterson, 2015). It is a science as well as an art technique to provide the products at the
right place and at the right time.it is the process of creation of utilities and is goal oriented
which satisfy the customers. It is a dynamic process and a system of interacting with the
customers so as to attain the business objectives through continuous planning and
implementation (Priya, 2018).
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Figure 1: Nature of marketing
(Source: Priya, 2018)
MARKETING CONCEPT- CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS
The marketing concept is viewed as a belief that Apple Inc. should also consider so as to
analyse and identify the needs of the customers and then take the retinal decisions. This is a
process wherein Apple Inc. can beat up the competition by effectively meeting the needs of
the customers (Baker, 2016).
The concept of marketing involves the following concepts:
Figure 2: Concept of marketing
(Source: Author’s Work, 2019)
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Concept
of
Marketing
Marketing
Product
Productio
n
Selling
Societal

Production concept
Under this concept, Apple Inc. can focus on the quality of the products and strive for
increasing the outputs and supply (Baker, 2016).
Product concept
This concept adopted by Apple believes that the customers always prefer the products with
high quality and the innovative aspects so it designs the products keeping mind the same
concept (Pride and Ferrell, 2016).
Marketing concept
Under this concept, the philosophy of Apple is to beat the competitors by communicating to
the customers such that it focuses on the client’s needs, ensures the profitability, captures
the right target market and integrates the marketing activities (Baker, 2016).
Selling concept
Selling concept is vital for Apple as under this the promotions are conducted such that the
sales increase by adopting the appropriate selling tools and tactics (Pride and Ferrell, 2016).
Societal concept
This is a concept wherein Apple will identify the needs, interest and wants of the customers
falling under target market and will thus render the satisfaction by producing the products
in accordance to the customer’s wellbeing (Zhang and Yeung, 2016).
Some of the current and future marketing trends that can bolster the success of Apple Inc
are as under:
The relationship marketing is the one that emphasizes on customer retention by enhancing
the satisfaction level through strengthened communication tool and ensuring direct
communication (Baker, 2016).
Another trend of marketing is industrial marketing where the products are sold by Apple
through the technological revolution and injecting innovation.
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Societal marketing is blooming in marketing and is the way which helps Apple in meeting the
interest of the target market and delivers them satisfaction.
MARKETING PROCESSES
Apple Inc. also needs to consider the marketing processes which usually involve the
following stages:
Situational analysis
This involves the identification of the preferences of the customers and the environment of
the business in which Apple operates in (Zhang and Yeung, 2016). this can be done by
internal as well as external analysis so as to make rational business decisions.
Strategic planning
Under this Apple identifies the best opportunity and then carries the strategic plan so as to
conduct effective segmentation, targeting and positioning (Zhang and Yeung, 2016).
Marketing mix
The marketing mix is another stage of the marketing process wherein Apple undertakes
tactical decisions and meets the needs of the customers by the effective alignment of all 7Ps
of the marketing mix (Lovelock and Patterson, 2015).
Control and implementation
This is the last stage wherein effective control and implementation is ensures by closely
monitoring the product launching by Apple. This ensures the success of the marketing
process (Pride and Ferrell, 2016).
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MARKETING AT APPLE
The key roles and responsibilities of the marketing manager at Apple Inc. involve the
following:
The marketing manager of Apple is responsible for conducting the activities of
commercialisation and ensuring that the marketing strategy is devised such that the
marketing objective of Apple is attained well (Zhang and Yeung, 2016).
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Another role of the marketing manager at Apple is to coordinate with the other
departments and ensure effective communication flow
The marketing manager is also responsible at Apple to check on the marketing budget and
to coordinate the marketing campaigns so as to conduct the marketing activities effectively
(Sheth et al., 2016).
At Apple, the marketing manager is also responsible for conducting market research so as to
analyse the needs of the customers and then plan the activities accordingly (Zhang and
Yeung, 2016).
The marketing manager at Apple estimates the demands and then implements the
strategies so as to capture a wide customer base.
The role of marketing manager at Apple is to conduct brand management and campaigns so
as to improve the marketing efforts and build relationships effectively.
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B) RELATION OF MARKETING ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES WITH
WIDER ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT
INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARKETING AND OTHER FUNCTIONAL UNITS
The marketing department is interrelated with other functional units of apple such as
operations, research and development, human resource department and the finance
department. Thee interrelationships with the functional units help in rendering much
importance to Apple as the responsibilities of marketing is interrelated with other functional
units as well (Lovelock and Patterson, 2015).
Relation of marketing with the finance department
The marketing department is related to the roles of the finance department as the
marketing plans need to involve in it the financial information related to the budget and the
sources of finance required for new product development. Thus the finance department
meets the monetary inputs of the marketing department (De Mooij, 2018).
Relation of human resource with the marketing department
The marketing department is interdependent on human resource department as well as it
estimates the need of workforce and helps to render the marketing department with the
competent and skilled marketing experts (Zhang and Yeung, 2016).
Relation of marketing with the R&D department
The marketing department also interrelate with the R&D department as the idea related to
the new product development and needs are gained and the marketable products are thus
identified effectively (Sheth et al., 2016).
Relation of Marketing with the Production department
Marketing department helps in ensuring the effective estimation of the units to be
produced. This helps the production department in gaining insights about how many units
to produce and how to respond to the market demands on time (De Mooij, 2018).
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C) ANALYSIS OF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MARKETING WITH
MARKETING ENVIRONMENT
ROLE OF MARKETING WITH B2B AND B2C CONTEXT
The roles and responsibilities of marketing with the marketing environment can be better
understood by the role played by marketing in Business-to-business and business-to-
consumer.
Business-to-business marketing helps in streamlining the buying process which aims at
saving money and time. It is the concept wherein no personal emotion of marketing is
involved and the focus is laid on better understanding about the buyers (De Mooij, 2018).
The role of marketing under B2B context is to focus on the product and services such that
the resources and time both can be saved and the money can be saved by enhancing the
productivity and return on investment (Lovelock and Patterson, 2015).
For instance, Apple can better sell its products by showing its prospective clients its pros
which will save money as well as time and will help in boosting sales volume quickly.
Business-to-consumer marketing plays a vital role by emphasising more on the emotions of
the consumers and showing clearly the benefits of the products. Apple adopts B2C
marketing as well as a strategy that helps in focusing on benefits and altering the products
in accordance with the needs of the customers (De Mooij, 2018).
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D) SIGNIFICANCE OF INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF MARKETING WITH
OTHER FUNCTIONAL UNITS AT APPLE
The marketing role and the interrelationships shared by it with other functional units have
much value and importance in context to Apple as it helps in spreading the information
from one department and one functional unit to other ensuring efficiency of operations
(Scott, 2018). Through the interrelationship, the marketing role effectively engages the
buyers in conducting the campaigns and thus reaches the customers effectively (Zhang and
Yeung, 2016). The significance of interrelationships is also in terms of the sales that increase
of the products offered by Apple as through the R&D department the market research is
utilized by the marketing department which then leads to meeting the needs of the
customers in an effective manner leading to more satisfaction level (Lovelock and Patterson,
2015).
The brand image and reputation of Apple also get enhanced as a result of the
interrelationship of the marketing function with other functional units as this helps in
sustaining healthy competition and contributing to the better product awareness among
customers (De Mooij, 2019). Through the effective interrelationships between the
marketing department of Apple and its functional units, trust is generated that helps in
building confidence and helps in eliminating the time gaps (Scott, 2018).
Through the interrelationships within the functional units and marketing unit at Apple, the
customer services are also improved which is due to the effective communication with
customer care.
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PART B
1) COMPARISON OF THE WAYS HOW MARKETING MIX IS APPLIED BY
DIFFERENT ORGANISATIONS TO ATTAIN BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
MARKETING MIX
The marketing mix is defined as the set of elements that is a foundation model for business
and is defined as the tool that Apple will use so as to attain the marketing objectives in an
effective manner. Some of the main elements of the marketing mix applied by Apple include
the price, place, promotion and product. It has its extended service mix as well which
involves the elements such as process, physical evidence and people (Bhasin, 2019).
COMPARISON OF 7PS OF MARKETING MIX APPLIED BY APPLE AND MICROSOFT
Product
The product element of Apple is marked wide and simple designs that are convenient in use.
The products are highly durable and of good quality. The products of Apple are innovative
and have unique capabilities. The product ranges of Apple are unique and are available in
different sizes, colours and variety (Dudovskiy, 2019).
Microsoft on other hand has its product range which includes different categories such as
intelligent cloud, productivity and business process such as LinkedIn and more personal
computing products such as Windows devices, PC accessories and so on (Bhasin, 2019).
Place
The place mix of marketing of Apple is integrated with the different sales channels that help
it in having a wide reach in the market (Dudovskiy, 2019). The sales channels used by Apple
to reach wide masses involves the Apple Stores, Third party cellular network carriers,
wholesalers, direct sales, online stores and value-added resellers.
Microsoft has its official website through which it targets customers and it also has online
stores that provide a convenient platform for the customers to choose to from its different
categories of products and services (Dudovskiy, 2019). It also has authorised distributors
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