Apple AirPods: Marketing Principles and Challenges Report

This report delves into the marketing challenges associated with Apple AirPods, examining issues such as technical bugs, market competition from brands like Beats and Sony, and the impact of negative rumors. The report identifies problems including software and hardware issues, the spread of mi...Read More

Running Head: MARKETING PRINCIPLES
Marketing principles
Student’s Name
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Author’s Note

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Problem identification
This wiki page report will be discussing the issues and marketing challenges associated
with Apple air pods. One of the biggest issues associated with the air pods is the development
challenge that might account of the delay in release of the latest version of the air pods. There
have been issues with the options for “on” and “off” of the device. The inefficiency of updating
the software led to the issues like pairing problems. Because of that, customers faced severe
problems at the time of conducting video calls or listening to music and videos. In this context, it
can be communicated that in spite of testing several manufacturing design testing over a time
period of 18 months, the company have not been able to come up with a technology that offers
noise cancellation equipped over the ear headphones that market rivals like Bose or Beats by Dre
band is able to offer (Davidson 2017). Considering the hefty price tag it is expected that although
the features of the airpods are not up to the mark with their rivals, the products would be at least
bug free. However, apple has not been able to guarantee that to the customers.
Owing to these issues Apple is facing severe market competition from multiple brands
like Beats, and Sony.
Lastly, the organization also faced the impediments in market expansion owing to the rumor
conveying the use of cellular technology causes cancer. In was inferred that because of high level
of radiations, the chances of cancer were particularly high for air pods of Apple.
Problem delineation
The technical bugs that have been hampering the development of a clinical design of
Apple air pods also created big marketing challenges for the organization. In the first place, they
are facing severe competition from Sony. Sony introduced earphones with advanced technical

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specifications much after Apple brought products with innovative technicalities in the market.
Nevertheless, one of the major issues Apple faced in context to market acquisition is that they
were not able to offer bug free products to the customers. In this context, Davidson (2017),
comments that one of the primary reasons why apple is favoured by the customers as a premium
brand is the perfection in their product development. Apple is a brand that has never excelled in
providing bet in class products inclusive of all kinds of latest technicalities. However, they have
developed products that are elegant and are of the highest category (Hartmans 2017). In this
context, the air pods were misplaced. With this product the company was trying to provide the
customers most advanced latest technologies. Nevertheless, Apple compromised with product
quality, which was unexpected for a brand operating in the premium priced segment.
Other prevailing brands in the same price category like Sony or Dr Dre (Beats) were able
to develop earphones with the same product features at a considerably lower price. The product
reviews and market statistics show that almost no claims of technical bugs have been raised by
the customers against the Sony products (Davidson 2017). In this context, although Beats
recorded some technical issues, it can be argued I that context that the brand awareness of the
company is significantly lower in comparison to Apple, because of which the market
expectations of the two brands are different (Hartmans 2017). The impact created by product
malfunctions of Apple on their brand awareness and brand reputation is much higher in
comparison to the same in case of the other two brands that also belong to the same price range.
The customer market was also misguided by the ill-fame that extensive usage of the
product could cause cancer. Although it had been later established that the claim was absolutely
baseless, the consumer perception had been already corrupted which affected sales of air pods.

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The damage was specifically more vital, considering the fact that the rumor started to spread at
the inception of market acquisition of the product.
Information gathering
There are various sources which have been utilized for gathering information regarding
the product and the challenges that have been faced by Apple in endorsing the product.
Secondary sources were used for collection of data that was used by the researcher for
developing this wiki page report. The majorities of the sources were online and included the likes
of You Tube, The official journal publications of Apple, the business journals, academic
journals, online marketing journals and other resources as well. The researcher also visited the
brand shops of Apple in order to do extensive primary research about the issues about air pods
which have been reported by the consumers.
Idea generation
The market positioning of the apple ear pods have been somewhat controversial. The
problems and negative propaganda spread in the market has resulted in decrease of sales figures
over the years. These problems mainly arises due to the high process of apple products and
people who cannot afford the product are spreading rumors about the product without even using
it. Therefore, to tackle such issues Apple Inc. must attain unique ideas to get rid of these
problems.
The problems and their respective solutions
a) Technical Bug:

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The technical aspect of the product has been hugely controversial and it has been
proven that there exists problems with switching on and switching off the product. On the
other hand, the compatibility with the mobile often creates a problem during usage of the
product.
Therefore, to tackle the problem of the hardware issue, the research and
development team must perform changes in designing and positioning the components of the
product. Especially the position of the on/off button must be placed in such a position that it
reduces the space between the Bluetooth component and the switches.
The second part of the problem deals with the software issues which creates a problem
during the connectivity process of the Apple ear pods and respective devices. The problem
mainly occurs when the Apple List of Connections through remote sensing is full and a new
device is to be connected. The estimated time takes almost five to ten minutes.
Therefore, to tackle the problem of the software issue, the latest update of the operating
system must be made available as soon as possible. In the new update special focus must be
given on this software issue and clearing and forget device option must be used as in Android.
b) Rumor of Cancer:
Earphones in general are harmful to the human body as are every technological
devices that exist in the market. The social media turned this rumor big and the more
people began to join the issue. But in reality due to increased base in the earphones the
vibration level hitting the eardrums is more which causes an uneasy feeling while
listening to the music.

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Therefore, to solve this problem firstly, the high enhanced bass technology must
be reduced. This will help in the reduction of vibrations in the eardrum and reduce the
uneasy feeling while listening to the music or other purposes. To solve the problem of
this rumor about the product, social media must be used effectively to reposition the
product in the market. Social media influencers must be used effectively who will show
the characteristics of the product with effectiveness.
c) Price Quality Issues:
The Unique Selling Proposition of Apple has always been its price
through which it targets the niche market. However, other brands like SONY and
BEATS are selling identical products but at a lesser price. Therefore, to tackle the
problem the company has to come up with some variants of the same product.
Changes must be done based on Colour and Design of the product targeting the
psychographic segmentation of the customers.
Idea evaluation
If the first idea is incorporated i.e. changes in the hardware and software issues with
connectivity will help to regain the faith of the customers towards the brand and will increase
the market capitalization of the company.
The second idea which is concerned with the rumor of cancer, firstly the technological
changes must be made effectively and the social media with the help of influencers must be used
effectively to solve the problem.

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The third idea regarding combatting the problem of price and competition more variants
of the product must be introduced in the market to solve the issue.
Selection
The best idea the company must adopt is to improve the hardware and software quality of
the product. It must successfully change the problem of on/off switch and Bluetooth connectivity
of the device. If the product becomes genuine and reflects the price of the product then other
problems in the market will be automatically solved with time.
Refinement
If the undertaken idea is successfully implemented, the quality of the product will
automatically increase. On the other hand, Apple enjoys a market leadership in the segment it
operates, so if the problems are dealt with efficiently then the loyal customer base will increase
with the increase in population. In the Long Run, the market size for the company will increase
and the completion of the product will be removed automatically.

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Reference List
Davidson, G., 2017. Airpods: The Next Step In Headphones (Vol. 1). Van Helostein.
Hartmans, A., 2017. article entitled “These beautiful wireless earbuds are a worthy alternative to
Apple's AirPods”, Skybuds wireless earbuds, from Alpha Audiotronics: Review, Photos—
Business Insider, dated Mar. 9, 2017 in 11 pages. Printed from http://www. businessinsider.
com/skybuds-wireless-earbuds-alpha-audiotronic, s-review-phot.
Ho, C.Y., Li, P.C. and Young, S.T., 2017. Reference equivalent threshold sound pressure levels
for Apple EarPods. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 141(2), pp.EL115-EL119.
Lo, C.Y., Dillon, H., Cameron, S. and McMahon, C., 2015. Evaluation of headphone effects on
performance in the LiSN& Learn auditory training software.