MKT00720 Marketing: Case Study Analysis of Apple and IKEA

This report analyzes the marketing strategies and competitive advantages of Apple Inc. and IKEA, based on case studies. It examines Apple's success through its marketing mix, focusing on product differentiation, pricing strategies, distribution, and promotion decisions, highlighting the iPhone launch as a key example. The analysis of IKEA focuses on its use of the Ansoff Matrix, particularly market penetration and new market development strategies, to achieve international expansion and customer loyalty through lower pricing. The report uses academic literature to support the analysis, providing evidence of how both companies have successfully navigated their markets and gained a competitive edge. The report also provides key performance indicators of marketing success.

Running Head: MARKETING 1
Marketing

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Case Selection and Description...................................................................................................................3
Apple Company Success..........................................................................................................................3
IKEA Company Success............................................................................................................................4
Marketing Success Evidence........................................................................................................................4
Apple Inc..................................................................................................................................................4
IKEA.........................................................................................................................................................5
Analysis and Explanation.............................................................................................................................5
Apple (Marketing Mix).............................................................................................................................5
Product Decisions................................................................................................................................5
Price Decisions.....................................................................................................................................6
Distribution Decisions..........................................................................................................................6
Promotion Decisions............................................................................................................................6
IKEA (Ansoff Matrix)................................................................................................................................6
Market Penetration.............................................................................................................................6
New Market Development..................................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................7
References...................................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Analysis of marketing success is one of the significant processes to identify the current and
future growth of organizations in perspective industries. The major objective of this report is to
discuss about the growth and success of two different organizations i.e. Apple and IKEA. Both
are the very successful organizations in their perspective sectors. This report includes the
description about both the chosen cases and describes the marketing strategies used by these
organizations. These strategies assist them to generate revenues from their targeted markets.
For this paper, two case studies are chosen from two different journals. The marketing case of
IKEA was issued in International Journal of Business Knowledge and Innovation in Practice in
2013. It includes the analysis of current business environment and marketing success of IKEA
Company. Furthermore, second case study was published in 2015 in International Journal of
Economics and Finance that discusses about the success factors of Apple and its growth in
market. Considering the above cases, this report analyzes strategies of both the firms and
evidence of their marketing success is given by using theoretical frameworks.
Case Selection and Description
Apple Company Success
The first case study that is chosen to understand the marketing strategies of Apple Inc. purposes
to explain how a company like Apple can introduce its business in saturated market, gain success
and after completing 8 years became the market leader. This company is popular for its product
differentiation approach in the market. The organization runs its business all over the world and
works with the objective to offer quality products on premium prices to its targeted customers
(Weinstein and Winst, 2016). Till now, there is no organization that can match the quality and
specifications of Apple’s products. The aim of selected case is to recognize and assess the critical
success factors for introducing a new product by using an effective marketing approach. The
case study explains the growth and success of company’s product in the market. There are
several factors for growth and success of iPhone in market. The major factors are uniqueness in
products, innovative technology and business proficiency etc. This case explains different
success factors of the firm and the ways which assisted the organization to gain competitive

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advantage over other players (Capatina and Draghescu, 2015). The case clearly states that it is
essential for any organization to develop marketing mix of right products offered at right prices,
at right place with support of suitable promotion. This organization uses different tools and
strategies to generate growth and success in the market even from the new products.
IKEA Company Success
The second case of IKEA clearly described the marketing and business strategies which are
implemented by this company like market segmentation, targeting, international expansion etc.
The major objective of this case study is to discover how IKEA should determine its strategic
position in international expansion process (Pasquarelli, 2018). As Apple Inc., IKEA is also a
successful organization that operates its business with the objective of earning revenues by
providing the products on lower prices. This case explained the marketing and strategic position
which the company has attained by practicing its performance indicators. From case analysis, it
can be stated that the major reason behind its competitive advantage is company’s clear
marketing objectives and strategies (Harapiak, 2013). It indicates that this organization wishes to
offer its furniture and other products at minimum prices. For that, it has developed various
strategies and processes to attain above goal.
Marketing Success Evidence
Apple Inc.
As per the given case, it can be stated that market coverage percentage and product development
of Apple Inc. is one of the biggest evidences which indicates the success of company’s
marketing efforts and its competitive advantage (Wagner and Hollenbeck, 2014). There are
various organizations which failed to launch new products in the industry. Apple is one of them
that owe its fortune to new product which they have introduced. The case study gives an example
of iPhone launched by Apple that indicates that company targeted the people who require storing
the data and communicate with others. Thus, it has targeted corporate users, entrepreneurs,
students and business professionals etc. Apple has provided effective training and development
program to over 130000 employees which indicate advanced growth of this firm. By using this,
it has started supplier program for expanding its business in foreign markets (Khan, Alam and
Alam, 2015). While launching the iPhone in the market, the company has used different

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strategies of marketing mix framework like product decisions, pricing decision, distribution and
promotion decisions. Sales of iPhone are the major evidence which shows the marketing success
of Apple. It was a huge success for the company as total of 17.4 million iPhones had been sold
until 2008 (Capatina and Draghescu, 2015). The case shows that Apple implemented
differentiation strategy for successful branding of its product. This product has the capacity to
provide several specifications in single device. Under its pricing, it adopted skimming strategy
that enabled it to offer the products on higher prices initially. Growth and success of this
company can be seen through its diversified product lines. It has created Apple Pay application
that assists the customers to make online payment. The company is able to expand its business in
various countries all over the world that indicates that it is growing its business continuously. In
this way, the company is able to gain sustainable competitive edge by using effective marketing
strategies (Ottman, 2017).
IKEA
The marketing success of a company can be analyzed by using different key performance
indicators. The chosen case states that as a famous furniture retailer IKEA has generated the
success in market by implementing different marketing efforts. The article shows that company
is able to attain different competitive advantages by using its marketing strategies (Jonsson and
Foss, 2011). This success can be evidenced through the strengths of company given in the case.
From its establishment, it has experienced solid revenue growth. Strengths of IKEA assisted it to
attain KPIs. It assisted it to analyze the development and long term goals. The customer base is
also one of the biggest evidences that indicate the performance of IKEA in external marketing
environment. By using lower pricing strategy, it is able to create a larger customer and loyalty
among them. Additionally, it has made use of renewable resources that assisted it to introduce
more products and gain more competitive advantage over other players (Cosmo and Yang,
2017).
Analysis and Explanation
Apple (Marketing Mix)
By reading the case and conducting above analysis, it can be stated that Apple has attained
marketing success by using marketing mix strategies which are stated below:

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Product Decisions
As a mobile phone, Apple has introduced its first iPhone that was very different from traditional
phones. It was manufactured by providing different specifications like big touchscreen, customer
user interface, without keypad etc. It has adopted differentiation strategy for iPhone branding
that assisted it to distinguish their products from competing brands which provided it competitive
advantage (Capatina and Draghescu, 2015). Its products had the capacity to give various
functions in a single device. Thus, the innovative specifications and features of phones assisted it
to attain marketing success.
Price Decisions
While the company has introduced iPhone in the market, its established price was $599 and after
2 months, it has reduced the price to $399. The company has provided different offers to the
people who have purchased the product before reduction (Capatina and Draghescu, 2015). Apple
has always given the importance to this decision as it assists the company to enhance its revenues
and establish relationship with customers.
Distribution Decisions
While planning about where to offer the products, this firm has made the changes in outdated
distribution channels (Perrott, 2015). It has provided its products through its stores and website.
For the distribution chain operators, the crucial measure of success was wining the hearts of
customers. Moreover, the company has spread its products in China and South Korea.
Promotion Decisions
This is the most significant contributor to the marketing success of Apple. This company has
used different techniques for promotion and advertisement. It enabled it to approach a larger
customer base all over the world. It has launched its products by using different promotional
campaigns (Lovelock and Patterson, 2015).
Thus, above are the major strategies and processes which helped it to achieve marketing success.
IKEA (Ansoff Matrix)
IKEA is the organization that achieved market growth and success by using strategies of Ansoff
Matrix. These are discussed below:

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Market Penetration
Market penetration is the marketing strategy that IKEA has used to attract more customers. For
its current products, the company has offered its products in existing markets that enabled it to
boost its market share. It focused on promoting its products in the existing markets and made
efforts to sell the products to store visitors. It has increased the customer base and revenues of
IKEA across the world (Harapiak, 2013).
New Market Development
IKEA has supposed to take its existing products to international markets and it makes the
strategy for its market development. The company has expanded its products in different markets
like Turkish, China etc. which allowed it to gain more competitive advantage against its
competitors. It has developed its strategies as per the needs and expectations of customers. This
is the major reason that company was successful in its international expansion (Ghauri, et al,
2016).
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it can be stated that both of the companies i.e. IKEA and Apple are able
to gain marketing success by using effective marketing strategies. The discussion is based on two
cases which are related to company’s marketing efforts and activities. The above report clearly
explains the marketing growth of companies by using different frameworks and theories of
marketing management. By using these strategies, companies are able to attain sustainable
competitive edge over their competing brands.

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References
Capatina, G. and Draghescu, F., 2015. Success Factors of New Product Launch: The Case of
iPhone Launch. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 7(5), p.61.
Cosmo, D.E. and Yang, K., 2017. A Further Strategic Move to Sustainability-A Case Study on
IKEA. Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability, 12(2), pp.39-47.
Ghauri, P., Wang, F., Elg, U. and Rosendo-Ríos, V., 2016. Market driving strategies: Beyond
localization. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), pp.5682-5693.
Harapiak, C., 2013. IKEA's International Expansion. International Journal of Business
Knowledge and Innovation in Practice. 1(1), pp. 3-14.
Jonsson, A. and Foss, N.J., 2011. International expansion through flexible replication: Learning
from the internationalization experience of IKEA. Journal of International Business
Studies, 42(9), pp.1079-1102.
Khan, U.A., Alam, M.N. and Alam, S., 2015. A critical analysis of internal and external
environment of Apple Inc. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and
Management, 3(6), pp.955-961.
Lovelock, C. and Patterson, P., 2015. Services marketing. Pearson Australia.
Ottman, J., 2017. The new rules of green marketing: Strategies, tools, and inspiration for
sustainable branding. UK: Routledge.
Pasquarelli, A. (2018). Fewer catalogs means more kinds of marketing for Ikea, Available from
http://www.adageindia.in/marketing/cmo-strategy/fewer-catalogs-means-more-kinds-of-
marketing-for-ikea/articleshow/65236238.cms [Accessed on 24 September 2018].
Perrott, B.E., 2015. Building the sustainable organization: an integrated approach. Journal of
Business Strategy, 36(1), pp.41-51.
Wagner III, J.A. and Hollenbeck, J.R., 2014. Organizational behavior: Securing competitive
advantage. UK:Routledge.

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Weinstein, A. and Winston, W., 2016. Defining your market: winning strategies for high-tech,
industrial, and service firms. UK: Routledge.