Marketing Management Strategies: Apple Inc. iPhone Positioning

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Apple Inc.'s marketing management strategies, focusing on the iPhone's market position. It uses marketing models like the Ansoff Matrix to examine Apple's product development, market penetration, diversification, and market development strategies. The report identifies key marketing objectives for Apple, including continuous innovation, expansion of retail presence, sustaining premium pricing, and building brand anticipation. It also identifies target segments such as business professionals and young consumers, detailing strategies for fostering brand loyalty within these groups. Furthermore, the report explores the use of the marketing mix and other marketing tools to effectively position the iPhone in a competitive industry, emphasizing the importance of product, place, price, and promotion. The analysis concludes with recommendations for Apple to maintain its competitive advantage and achieve its marketing objectives.

Running head: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Marketing Management
Name of the Student
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Executive Summary
The report has helped in analyzing the different strategies of marketing positioning that has
helped Apple Inc in managing the different tasks in an effective manner. Furthermore, there
are different techniques that has been applied by Apple Inc as to gain more strategic
advantage in the economy and gain more popularity as well. The marketing mix importance
along with different other marketing tools has been applied that has assisted Apple in
managing the different tasks effectively.

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Table of Contents
Overview of Apple Inc and iPhone 3
Answer to Question 1 3
Answer to Question 2 7
Answer to Question 3 9
Answer to Question 4 12
Recommendation 15
Conclusion 16
References 17
Annexure 20

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Overview of Apple Inc and iPhone
Apple Inc is one of the American Multinational Company that is headquartered in
Cupertino, California that helps in developing and selling consumer electronics and the
online services as well. The company was founded in the year 1976 in the month of April.
Apple Inc is one of the largest information technology company as per the revenue and this is
the second largest mobile phone manufacturer in the entire world as well (Apple 2018).
Answer to Question 1
Apple iPhone has tried to position themselves in the entire competitive market by
offering affordable kinds of products such as smart phone along with innovative smartphones
users by offering the experience that is uniquely different from the other competitors in the
market. The features of iPhone offer a kind of experience that is not provided to the
customers and they are adjustable to the different demands of the different individuals in an
appropriate manner.
Furthermore, this has been seen that Apple iPhone helps to provide the customers
with best personal experience to the different users in an effective manner. The main motive
of the positioning is to analyze the different demands of the customers and try to improve
their positioning in such manner as well. With the help of Ansoff Matrix, the market

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development and positioning strategy can be analyzed and this will help in analyzing the
experience of the customers from Apple or the iPhone versions. Furthermore, it has been seen
that the main and major competencies of Apple Inc remain delivering exceptional kind of
service with the help of user interfaces. The brand personality of Apple mainly focuses on the
different emotions and the iPhone SE and iPhone 5S prices have been lowered and this has
assisted the company in meeting the preferences of the customers effectively.
Product Development- Apple tries to create new products for the customers who are
the existing customers of Apple or the different iPhone products. This was the first and
foremost entertainment tool from Apple such as iPhone X and this is powered by hexa-core
processor and this comes with 3GB RAM.
Product Penetration- Apple tries to provide different kinds of advertisements on
iPhone X for attracting their customers towards buying the same product in the market. The
company is constantly trying to advertise their products in television along with in YouTube
to make the customers aware of the products effectively.
Diversification- In September 2017, Apple introduced iPhone X which is the latest
version of iPhone and the entire market was attracted towards the product sold by them.

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Market Development- Apple introduced iPhone X which is entirely new product line
for the company and they try to develop their reach in the entire competitive market
effectively. Through such market development approach, the iPhone needs to develop the
entire market as per the requirements of the wants of the customers in the market.

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From the positioning map, it can be analyzed that the iPhone has tried to position
themselves in such a manner that the different consumers in the market choose iPhone due to
different reasons such as:
● The ease of usage
● Brand that offers consistent kind of product
● Modern type of designs
● Fits into different kinds of lifestyles
The brand positioning of Apple iPhone has helped them in focusing on the
preferences of the customers and this has helped them in analyzing the competitiveness from
the other brands in the market and this has assisted them in gaining competitive advantage.
iPhone falls under the category of high price and quality as well and this is a premium brand
that is not affordable by all in the market as well (Tomczak, Reinecke and Kuss 2018).
iPhone has been positioned in the entire competitive market in such a way that has
helped the entire company in adopting the corporate branding strategy that revolves around
the emotional experience with the products. This respective factor is efficient in nature as the
product brand development refers to the entire process of growing the entire brand and meets
the expectations of the customers in an appropriate manner as well (Ijbmi.org, 2018).
iPhone has tried to gain competitive advantage over the other competitors such as
providing superior quality products that are technologically advanced and the major
competitive advantage gained by the company is to spend their R&D keeping their eyes on

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future rather than on the present. However, lastly it can be seen and concluded that iPhone
can be bought by the high earners who are from upper class (Cascio 2018).
Answer to Question 2
The three marketing objectives that is required to be adopted by Apple Inc Company
that should be pursued by them are described are follows:
Product- Apple offers their customers with premium brand products and they are
trying to maintain large market share along with high margins of profit.
Objective 1- To continue to create groundbreaking products for the customers and
Apple Company has tried to make a name for themselves in becoming trend setter in the
entire market by introducing something new along with exciting quality.
Strategy- In order to prepare groundbreaking products, Apple will require great team
building culture for their customers with proper and accurate research and development team.
Objective 2- To dictate and innovate movement for future technology as technology is
ever changing in nature and this is the reason in which Apple continue to lead the serge of the
entire innovative world.
Strategy- The main strategy is to continue with the success of creating the best
products and Apple needs to study the entire market as to analyze and understand the wants
of the consumers as they can improve the products by the feedback provided by the
customers in the market in an effective manner (Elenkov 2014).
Place- Apple products are available in different parts of the world and this is the main
goal of the business and the main objectives are described as follows:

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Objective 1- Expansion of Apple stores in the entire world and there should be
different stores that will be extension of the stores in the world to increase their sales in an
appropriate manner.
Strategy- Apple needs to open the different stores in various parts of the world that
will be based on the demand from the different consumers in the market.
Objective 2- To make the different products that is available in possible retail channel,
online and Big Box retailers. Apple needs to make sure that the different products are
required to be accessible to the customers in an effective manner.
Strategy- Apple needs to place products in all the different retail stores that sells
different electronic devices that are featured and this will help them in delivering the products
in an effective manner (Kavaratzis, Warnaby and Ashworth 2014).
Price- Apple products are premium branded products and they come with premium
pricing as well. The different objectives include the following:
Objective 1- Enter along with sustain premium pricing in gaining huge market share
as the premium pricing is essential in nature and this will help them in including the premium
pricing as well.
Strategy- Proper price has to be strategically done as to be on the top of the market
base and serve the customers with the best quality in an effective manner.
Objective 2- To increase the margin of profit as it can be seen and analyzed that Apple
Inc has huge margin.
Strategy- Apple Inc needs to continue to push to the lower cost to make the different
products wherein sustaining in the same retail market price in the entire market (Seyed-
Javadin, Raei, Iravani and Safari 2018).

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Promotion- Proper building of the brand is essential in nature and this is the toughest
challenge that can be faced by the company. Proper promotion strategies are required to be
adopted in order to certainly demonstrate the different anticipation of the product strategies in
an effective manner.
Objective 1- To build anticipation for the new products that are upcoming in the entire
market wherein Apple needs to include different kinds of features in their new hand sets as
this will help in attracting the different customers in the market in an effective manner.
Strategy- Proper usage of the annual conference along with different events as to
announce the press release before it will hit the market. Furthermore, this will allow the
customers in building demand for the respective product before it hits the shelf.
Objective 2- To expand and sustain on the strongly branded name in which Apple has
changed the entire way for the different individuals in the market to look at the phones and
tablets (McDaniel 2014).
Strategy- Apple needs to be trend setter along with entering into the new markets
before the competition and this will assist Apple in building their brand stronger in nature and
this will help the company in gaining more competitive advantage in the entire economy
(Lidstone and MacLennan 2017).
From the above, these can be analyzed that these are the different kinds of strategies
along with objectives that is required to be adopted by the company Apple in gaining more
success and gain more competitive advantage in the competitive market.
Answer to Question 3
Identification of target Segments

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The target segments that have been adopted and targeted by Apple Inc Company are
the following:
Demographics- iPhone targets the individuals between 18-35 that mainly focuses on
the youth population in the entire market (Zenker, Braun and Petersen 2017). This group
mainly comprises of the ones who have monthly household income above 2 lakhs dollars and
live in different metros or mini metro cities.
Psychographic- An iPhone user generally looks for the different features such as the
stylish kind of appearance, technology that is user friendly in nature along with countless
applications that appeal to the senses of the different individuals in the entire competitive
economy (Panigyrakis and Veloutsou 2015). The main driving force towards buying the
iPhone is the brand name itself and this attracts the different customers in the market
effectively. The person who uses iPhone in the economy are image conscious, fashionable
and attention seeker individuals in the economy.
The major target markets of Apple Inc Company in the entire market that is
competitive in nature includes the following:
● Business People- It has been seen that the different business individuals in the
economy are intrigued towards the usage of Apple iPhone or other Apple products.
The different devices of Apple have the perfect blend of business quality which is
useful in nature. These are the different devices that are utilized in nature to finish the
work in a fluent manner and to communicate with the different essential clients in an
easy manner. In addition, sending the different documents is organized and easy in
nature (Melewar and Skinner 2018).

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● Young Children and Kids- Apple products are useful and efficient in nature to the
different young kids and children. There are different devices such as iPads and iPods
which are easy to handle and use as the touch screen quality is good for the children
and they are being able to solve the different issues easily. The parents are being able
to download learning apps on the Apple devices as to teach their young children and
kids in an appropriate manner (Wrenn and Mansfield 2014).
● Teenagers- The different teenagers are being considered one of the target markets of
Apple Inc and teenagers use iPods and iPhones for different reasons. Firstly, they
socialize with their friends and there are different gaming applications as well that are
used by them in the iPhones. They listen to music and socialize with their friends on
MSN, Facebook and twitter as well (Kotler 2015).
These are the three different target markets of Apple Inc Company wherein this has
been seen that these are the major segments of the market and the company needs to develop
loyalty towards these target customers as to gain more competitive advantage in the economy
effectively. Proper loyalty programs are required to be developed by Apple Inc Company in
the entire competitive market as this will assist the entire company in managing the target
customers in an even manner and understand their requirements in an easy manner (Keller
2017).
Apple Inc will develop loyalty with the different customers in the organization in such
a manner wherein this has been noticed that the company needs to follow certain steps that
will help them in maintaining proper relationships with them to gain more competitive
advantage in comparison to the other competitors (Piperopoulos 2016). There are different
kinds of procedures wherein it is seen that communication is required to be done by Apple in

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an effective manner as this will help them in keeping fresh in their minds that will pass along
with important information.
Furthermore, in various reviews and articles, it was seen that Apple was declared the
most customer pleasing company or organization wherein the company can provide the loyal
customers with extra perks on huge amount of purchases. This will be the different ways
through which the customers will be made satisfied and setting a proper reward system will
help the company in encouraging them to be more loyal around to stick around the products
of Apple and purchase from them as well in the future as well.
Apple Inc needs to consider different payment plans for the different kinds of
customers in the market which will assist them to purchase more products from their
company in the future. Furthermore, this can be adopted by Apple Inc as to gain more
competitive advantage in the entire competitive market with proper utilization of the
resources in an effective manner. Apple Inc needs to allow the different customers with
proper coupons and other programs that will assist the customers to understand the presence
of the activities performed by Apple Inc.
Answer to Question 4
Usage of the Marketing Mix and Other Marketing Tools to Position the brand of iPhone
The marketing mix is essential in nature that is required to be adopted by Apple Inc
Company as whole in order to improve the differences in an effective manner. Furthermore,
this has been seen that brand positioning is the actual process of positioning the brand in the
minds of the different customers in the organization. The brand positioning is often referred
to as the positioning strategy or the brand positioning statement (McDonagh and Prothero
2018).

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With the help of the marketing mix and other marketing tools, this can be analyzed
that proper usage of the tools is required to be done effectively which will determine the
positioning of the brand in which they tried to position themselves. The marketing mix can be
used by Apple Inc for creating right marketing strategy along with the implementation
through the effective tactics. The proper assessment of the roles of product, promotion, place
and price plays a vital role in overall marketing approach (Tkotz, Munck and Wald 2018).
This is essential in nature to understand the actual importance of the marketing mix
for Apple Inc and this will help in clean mix creation in which all the Ps needs to be
compatible in nature with one another and intrinsically linked with one another as well.
Furthermore, the entire marketing mix will assist in new development of the product in an
efficient manner which will help in generating new ideas related to the product that is
required to be designed by Apple Inc. Furthermore, Apple Inc has to use the marketing mix in
order to increase the product portfolio by making different minor changes in the product such
as by adding new features in the product and this will come up with enlarged kind of product
portfolio in the organization as well (Baker and Saren 2018).

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The marketing mix will assist Apple Inc Company in guiding the company to improve
the overall business effectively wherein it is seen that physical evidence is essential and it is
important P in the service marketing mix tool. In Apple Inc, the physical evidence along with
their online presence for the different loyal customers as this will increase the business of
Apple efficiently. Apple Inc can include the differentiation technique in the different products
that are being sold by them to the customers. The marketing mix will help in differentiating
their product and be competitive more than the other competitors in the entire market.
Furthermore, this can be seen and noticed that Apple Inc needs to improve their
differentiation strategy from the other competitors as this can be noticed that the
differentiation strategy can have less attractive promotional strategy that can provide them
with a chance to perform well in the market. Finally, the marketing mix will help in being
more dynamic in the economy in comparison to the other competitors in the market and this
will prepare Apple Inc Company in understanding the processes and people and respond with
better agility as well.
Additionally, there are different other marketing tools that can be adopted by Apple
Inc can use them as to conduct proper segmentation, targeting and positioning for the iPhones
sold by them in the entire market. These respective decisions will have major impact on the
decisions that will made by Apple Inc on price and promotion. Therefore, the marketing
strategy goes hand in hand with proper positioning, targeting and segmentation of the product
with an effective usage of strategy.
Apple Inc Company has to include different customer loyalty programs as these are
designed as to help them in retaining the different customers in the market. The best way that
can be adopted by Apple Inc in retaining the customers in the organization is to set up a
loyalty program for the customers which will attract more customers and the customer base

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will be strong in nature for Apple in the competitive market. The reward strategy can be
adopted by Apple Inc as this will assist them to provide the loyal customers or the regular
customers who often purchase different Apple gadgets in retaining them (Yang and
Gabrielsson 2017).
Lastly, the direct mail marketing is essential to be adopted by Apple Inc as this is the
main tool as this will mail the different loyal customers of Apple in offering them with
different coupons and other gift vouchers while buying a certain range of products from
different Apple stores. Surveys can be used by Apple as well in their marketing the products
as this will directly mail the regular customers regarding the introduction of the new product
effectively.
Recommendation
Therefore, it can be recommended that Apple Inc has different strengths along with
weaknesses in the product development and in the marketing mix strategies adopted by them.
The main recommendations that are required to be provided to Apple Inc are as follows:
● Development of the innovative culture in the company from within the organization
which will motivate the employees to perform in a better manner and increase the
overall productivity of the organization as well.
● Proper shifting of the entire responsibility to the COO of the company for the smooth
transition for a better future for the company. This has been noticed that there are
different other competitors in the market such as Samsung that can be a threat for the
company.
● Exploration of the different retail channels by Apple Inc as this will help them in
maximizing the potential sale and minimize the risks growing markets

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● Furthermore, huge opportunity is required to be provided by the company to build
proper brand equity and loyalty in the company and this will attract more customers in
the economy as well.
● Apple Inc needs to ensure that the different products continually diversify in the
market and expand technologically to keep and provide Apple as a cultural
phenomenon
● The expansion of the product along with extension is essential in nature that is
required to be done by Apple Inc in order to be ahead of the different competitors in
the entire market
Conclusion
Therefore, this can be concluded that in the report, the different usage of the
appropriate marketing models such as Ansoff Matrix and positioning map has been used in an
effective manner that has assisted the company in managing their different activities in an
effective manner. Furthermore, the different marketing objectives have been analyzed for
Apple Inc that can be utilized by them in accordance to the product, promotion, place and
price and this has helped them in targeting the market.
The importance of the marketing mix and other marketing tools are used by Apple
Inc as to gain competitive advantage in the economy in comparison to the other competitors
in the economy. Furthermore, the three loyal target market segments have been identified that
has helped the company in analyzing the tastes and preferences and tried to develop loyalty
programs for the customers accordingly as well. Lastly, the different threats such as
emergence of the strong competition and primary markets are being saturated as well in the
market which has affected the entire market in a negative manner. The different opportunities

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are required to be adopted by the company that will require Apple to increase their presence
in the emerging markets and solve the different issues in an appropriate manner without much
difficulties. The innovative technology is required to be utilized by the company in the
present as this will assist in generating strong brand image among the competitors.

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References
Apple. (2018). iPhone. [online] Available at: https://www.apple.com/iphone/ [Accessed 29
Jun. 2018].
Baker, M.J. and Saren, M. eds., 2016. Marketing theory: a student text. Sage.
Cascio, W., 2018. Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill Education.
Elenkov, D., 2014. Experiential Exercise with Multinational Student Teams: Researching
Together a Multinational Corporation and Developing Jointly a Strategic Marketing Plan for
IT Using Blackboard. Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, 41.
Ijbmi.org. (2018). [online] Available at:
http://www.ijbmi.org/papers/Vol(6)5/version-1/H0605014850.pdf [Accessed 29 Jun. 2018].
Kavaratzis, M., 2017. The participatory place branding process for tourism: linking visitors
and residents through the city brand. In Tourism in the City (pp. 93-107). Springer, Cham.
Kavaratzis, M., Warnaby, G. and Ashworth, G.J. eds., 2014. Rethinking place branding:
Comprehensive brand development for cities and regions. Springer.
Keller, K.L., 2017. Managing the growth tradeoff: Challenges and opportunities in luxury
branding. In Advances in Luxury Brand Management (pp. 179-198). Palgrave Macmillan,
Cham.
Kotler, P., 2015. Framework for marketing management. Pearson Education India.
Lidstone, J. and MacLennan, J., 2017. Marketing planning for the pharmaceutical industry.
Routledge.
McDaniel, B.A., 2014. Entrepreneurship and Innovation: An Economic Approach: An
Economic Approach. Routledge.

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McDonagh, P. and Prothero, A., 2014. Sustainability marketing research: Past, present and
future. Journal of Marketing Management, 30(11-12), pp.1186-1219.
Melewar, T.C. and Skinner, H., 2018. Territorial brand management: Beer, authenticity, and
sense of place. Journal of Business Research.
Panigyrakis, G.G. and Veloutsou, C.A., 2015. Brand Manager’s Planning Role for Fast
Moving Consumer Good Products. In Global Perspectives in Marketing for the 21st
Century (pp. 182-185). Springer, Cham.
Piperopoulos, P.G., 2016. Entrepreneurship, innovation and business clusters. Routledge.
Scarborough, N.M., 2016. Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management.
Pearson.
Seyed-Javadin, S.R., Raei, R., Iravani, M.J. and Safari, M., 2014. Presenting a conceptual
model to explain the role of strategic management and planning in Islamic banking
competitiveness. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 26, pp.46-56.
Tkotz, A., Munck, J.C. and Wald, A.E., 2018. Innovation Management Control: Bibliometric
Analysis Of Its Emergence And Evolution As A Research Field. International Journal of
Innovation Management, 22(03), p.1850031.
Tomczak, T., Reinecke, S. and Kuss, A., 2018. Introduction. In Strategic Marketing (pp. 1-
18). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.
Wrenn, B. and Mansfield, P.M., 2014. Marketing planning guide. Routledge.
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Zenker, S., Braun, E. and Petersen, S., 2017. Branding the destination versus the place: The
effects of brand complexity and identification for residents and visitors. Tourism
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Annexure
The respective articles have been selected in analyzing the marketing of Apple Inc
products especially the iPhone. In the articles, it has been seen that the strategic profile of
Apple Inc has been analyzed in the report wherein the value culture and cost culture has been
described in an effective manner which has helped in conducting the strategic management of
Apple iPhone product respectively. Furthermore, the segmentation, targeting and positioning
of the iPhone has been done in which the different positioning strategies has been adopted
and analyzed in an effective manner which has helped in conducting the entire marketing mix
of the Apple.
Furthermore, the marketing mix importance has been adopted from the different
articles in which the different organization culture of Apple Inc has been described that has
helped in developing loyalty programs for the different loyal customers of Apple Inc or for
purchasing the iPhone products in the market. The different competition or the competitive
pressures that has been faced by Apple has been analyzed effectively which has helped in
evaluating the segment and tried to position their products in an effective manner as well.
The approach of segmentation, targeting and positioning has been analyzed in the
entire assignment in which the target markets are selected and Apple tried to position their
Apple product in an effective manner. The proper determination of the segmentation of the
products along with assess the attractiveness of the respective segment has been done
effectively which will help them in managing the actual strategies that was required to be
adopted by Apple in being ahead of the different competitors in the competitive market.
The literature review of Apple marketing strategies has been adopted from the
different articles, in which this has helped the company in requirements of the STP
implementation by Apple Inc and on that respective basis, effective programs are being

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developed effectively which will be assessible in nature for the company. The bases of
positioning have been done and analyzed which has assisted in identifying the relevant set of
the different competitive products that helps in serving the market in an appropriate manner.
The perceptual map has been utilized by Apple Inc Company which has assisted in
understanding the position of iPhone in analyzing the position of Apple in comparison to the
other competitors in the entire competitive market.
Lastly, the articles have helped and assisted in choosing an effective strategy of
positioning for placing the iPhone in the market appropriately. The different innovative
strategies have been adopted by Apple Inc as to improve the overall strategy of the
organization as this will help in improving the positioning strategy and improve the overall
marketing mix and tools that has assisted in understanding the importance of the marketing
mix in an effective manner which has helped Apple Inc in gaining more competitive
advantage in comparison to the other competitors in the economy.