CMU304 Marketing Communication Report: Apple Inc. Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Apple Inc.'s marketing communication strategies. It begins with an executive summary and an introduction that highlights the importance of marketing. The report then delves into a brief overview of Apple Inc., its current marketing situation, and target audience segmentation, including geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral factors. It also outlines Apple's communication objectives, focusing on brand awareness, product knowledge, and influencing customer interest. The report further explores advertising strategies and proposes a media plan to enhance brand awareness, leveraging social media for maximum reach. Finally, the report includes a discussion on evaluating the effectiveness of the media plan and concludes with a summary of key findings and recommendations. This report fulfills the requirements of a CMU304 Marketing Communication assignment.

Running head: MARKETING COMMUNICATION
MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Executive summary
This report talks about the company Apple Inc., discusses the current marketing situations of
the company and is going to provide suitable alternatives that will help the company to gain
more profits in the market and help in retaining the top position the company is currently
enjoying.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Brief overview of the company..............................................................................................3
Brief overview of the current marketing situation of Apple Inc............................................3
Target audience of Apple Inc.................................................................................................4
Communication objectives of Apple Inc................................................................................6
Advertising for Apple Inc......................................................................................................8
Media plan for Apple Inc.......................................................................................................8
Evaluation of the media plan..................................................................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10

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MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Introduction
Marketing is the operation of promoting products or services in order to sell them to
the target audience. Marketing includes work like research of the market and advertising.
Marketing is an important factor that helps in informing, attracting and convincing the target
audience to buy the products and services that a company provides. Companies need to
market their products or services to create a brand value for better sales that will help in
making profits and paving way for the success of the business. This paper talks about the
company Apple Inc., sheds a light on their current marketing situations and provides
alternative marketing style that will benefit the company in order to attract more customers.
Discussion
Brief overview of the company
Apple Inc. is an American technology company that designs and develops computer
software, online services and consumer electronics. The company was founded in the year
1971 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak. The headquarters of the company is
in Cupertino, California, United States and currently the CEO of the company is Tim Cook.
The company is famous for the innovative electronic products like the iPhone, iPod, iPad,
MacBook, Apple watch and many more. The company also provides services like iTunes and
Apple Pay and operating softwares and systems like iOS.
The company is one of the most popular brands in the market and has acquired brand
loyalty over the years. The marketing objective of Apple Inc. is to increase the sales of the
company and increase customers who rate the Apple products as extraordinary to a larger
percentage.

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MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Brief overview of the current marketing situation of Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is one of the largest technological companies. The company currently
markets their products as premium and luxury brand. The company promotes through print
ads and commercials that mostly focus on the innovation and the new designs that company
introduces and how the brand is different and better from the competitors. Apple Inc. usually
runs the commercial ads when products are launched and continues for a considerable
amount of time to create a buzz and make people aware of the new products launched. The
print ads run throughout the life of the product. The advertisements of the company mostly
follow the similar style that is using either white or black background. The company focuses
the logo at the end as the logo of the company is popular and helps people identify the brand
at one look. The advertisements are to the point and simple, usually focuses on the key
feature of the products (Uribe 2016). Recently they are coming up with advertisements that
are creative and attract the target audience because of the creative content.
Target audience of Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. positions the company as a premium and luxury brand that offers services
and products with advanced capabilities and functions for extra cost. Apple Inc. target
audience segmentation is mostly people who belong from the high income group, who have
the capacity and are willing to purchase technology services and products with advanced
functions, capabilities and designs at a higher cost. The company uses multi-segment
positioning because of the increase range in the products. The company’s target audience
segmentation is the following:
Geographic
Apple Inc. considers geographical area to be an important factor while segmentation of the
target audience. The company focuses mainly on people who belong from urban cities and
areas as people here are well equipped and developed and are willing to purchase products at

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a higher cost. With the advent and the high demand of the internet the company now sells
products online as well to reach out to people all over the globe.
Demographic
Age- Apple Inc. provides innovative products that are easy to use with attractive designs. The
company targets people between the age group 18 to 45. Apple caters to people who are
inclined towards new innovative technology and who like to use premium products.
Gender- Apple Inc. caters and targets both male and female.
Income- Apple Inc. is a luxury and a premium brand thus the target audience of the company
is people who belong from high income group so that they can afford the expensive products
that the company produces (Khan, Alam and Alam 2015).
Occupation- Students and people with jobs at managerial posts, executives and professionals
are the target audience that the company wants to cater to as these jobs provide a handsome
salary who will be able to afford the products that are produced by the company that are very
expensive.
Behavioral
Degree of loyalty- The company targets people who are loyal towards the brand and also
cater to people who are likely to switch and are in search for a better replacement of the
existing products the customers might be using (Uyar 2018).
Seeking for benefits- The company segments their targets by analyzing the features the target
audience searches while buying a product. Every individual spends money according to the
benefits. An individual will be ready to pay extra money for a product that will be unique and
provide what the customers demand (Potra et al. 2018). The company targets audience who

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want high speed, advanced capability and features as the products offered by the company
match those criteria.
Personality- Apple Inc. feels that the products that are designed and manufactured by them
are premium and luxury brands. People who are ambitious and determined are the ones likely
to buy Apple products.
User status- The company targets audiences who are potential users and the non users. The
company tries to attract people who have not used the products and want to experience the
products because of the high quality that is offered.
Psychographic
Social class- Due to the high quality and the expensive products offered by the company
Apple Inc. the company mainly focuses on people who are middle class, upper middle class
and high class.
Lifestyle- People who are aspirers, succeeder, explorer and resigned are the people Apple Inc.
targets as people having lifestyle like this are likely to buy Apple products because of the
design and the innovative products that suit the people (Aery and Kapila 2018).
Communication objectives of Apple Inc.
Communication objectives are an important and an integral aspect in selling a product
or a service. The main purpose of marketing is to communicate thoughts and ideas to the
target audience. The communication objectives of the company Apple Inc. are the following:
Developing brand awareness- Brand awareness is basically the degree of customer or
consumer recognition of a service or product by the name (Zhang 2018). Developing brand
awareness is an integral factor in promoting a product in the market. Apple Inc. is one of the
largest multinational technology companies that have developed positive brand awareness

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MARKETING COMMUNICATION
over the years. Apple Inc. is recognized worldwide for the famous logo and the to the point
advertisements. In the age of digitalization Apple Inc. needs to create brand awareness
through other mediums in a creative way to attract the consumers and to make them aware of
the brand. Apple Inc. is a company who always introduces innovative products in the market.
Apple should market their products through different campaigns and through social media
where most people consume news and information these days. It will be helpful and easier for
the company to market their products and make consumers aware of the brand in a short
period of time and reach the desired target audience.
Promoting product and company knowledge- Apple Inc. is a company that is famous for
its unique designs and innovative products that are different from their competitors in the
market. Apple Inc. products are constantly evolving and new innovations are introduced. It is
important for people to be aware about the new key features of the product that will help the
people to assess and then buy the products (Martinović 2018). Brand name is a key factor but
it is necessary for the product to be good in order to sustain in the competitive market. People
need to understand and appreciate the innovations that the company is making that show the
constant effort of the company to serve their customers in the best possible way. In this age
people are inclined to unique and creative advertisements that leave an impression in the
minds of the customers. The company needs to promote the products in unique and creative
ways in order to attract people and gain their attention like collaborate with technical
influencers and critic, make creative videos about the key features that the product is
introducing.
Company knowledge is basically the knowledge gained by reports of a detailed
inquiry that contains necessary and important information of the daily operations of a
business. This is helpful for employees as they critical information are accessible that help to
address issues in the customer service division, resolve problems and gain an insight about

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the workplace. Knowledge management solution helps to acquire information, utilize data,
and enhance the support the company offers to the customers. This paves way for customer
satisfaction that is the main goal of the organization that will result in positive sales of the
company.
Influence interest of customers- Apple Inc. prioritizes customers that are one of the key
factors that influence the interest of the customers. The primary interests of customer are to
have efficient and effective products at a reasonable cost. However the high cost of the Apple
products are acceptable as the products are worth the hype and matches the aesthetics and the
high quality that people demand. This highly influences people to buy innovative products
that are not available in the market. CSR programs will help Apple Inc. to influence many
customers as people want to associate themselves with sustainable and brands that look after
many different aspects like environment other than just the customers. This may influence
people to buy Apple products.
Advertising for Apple Inc.
Brand awareness is one of the key aspects of a business. It is necessary for people to
be aware of the brand in the market that will help in making customers feel secure and happy
when associating with a brand that is famous for all the right reasons. Brand awareness is
important as people do not want to associate with brands that do not have a good position in
the market. In the age of digitalization and after the advent internet people mostly have been
consuming content online. Creative measures are needed to be taken to promote the brand
online so that it reaches to maximum people in a short period of time. Good and creative
content creation will help people of all age groups resonate and ethical content must be
presented in order to make the content appreciated and create brand awareness (Baltes 2015).

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Media plan for Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. needs to create brand awareness online as most people consume all kinds
of information online. Social media is emerging and organizations have implemented the use
of social media in the workplace for marketing purpose. The media plan for creating brand
awareness will be done through social media so that maximum people become aware of the
brand Apple Inc. that will help the company generate more revenues and be beneficial for the
company.
Campaign type Goals Target
audience
Medium Content
Social
marketing for
Apple Inc.
To create brand
awareness
among
maximum
people.
Consumers both
male and female
between the age
group of 18 to
45 belonging
from middle
class, upper
middle class and
high class.
Popular social
media sites like
Facebook,
Instagram,
Twitter and
Pinterest.
Creative videos
and
advertisements
that promote the
brand and attract
the audience.
The videos ask
the consumers to
try the
innovative
product for their
benefit and
provide them a
luxury feeling

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for life.
Media plan
Evaluation of the media plan
The media plan for brand awareness will be effective as the medium for
communication used will be social media. Social media has become one of the biggest
marketing strategy corporates are using. People like watching creative videos online and
people share these videos which go viral which means reaches a huge amount of people.
Providing creative content about the company Apple Inc. will help the company to create
brand awareness easily.
It is important to track the campaign to measure the effectiveness. The campaign will be
tracked by the Open rate like how many people have clicked on the video to view it. It is
important to track the comments, how people are reacting, how many people have been
sharing the video and how many likes and dislikes the video has got will help to evaluate and
assess the media plan.
Conclusion
Marketing has become one of the integral parts of an organization. Apple Inc. is one
of the most famous and one of the largest technology companies that produce innovative
products and services. However, it will be difficult for the company to retain the position if
effective and efficient marketing of the products are not done. Apple Inc. has a limited target
audience in comparison to other brands because of the high cost of the products thus the
company needs to effectively market the products to the target audience in order to create
brand awareness and promote the products that will help the target audience to get the

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information about the brand and the product which will pave way for the success of the
company and help the company retain a positive and high position in the market.
Reference
Aery, M.K. and Kapila, J., 2018. E commerce Technology Advances. Journal of Advanced
Research in Computer Technology & Software Applications, 1(1), pp.21-23.
Baltes, L.P., 2015. Content marketing-the fundamental tool of digital marketing. Bulletin of
the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, 8(2), p.111.
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.
Martinović, M., 2018. Competitiveness Through Consumer Loyalty: The Influence of
Switching Costs. In 6th International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and
Entrepreneurship. New Business Models and Institutional Entrepreneurs: Leading Disruptive
Change. April 13th-14th, 2018, Dubrovnik, Croatia (pp. 177-191). Zagreb: Governance
Research and Development Centre (CIRU).
Potra, S., Pugna, A., Negrea, R. and Izvercian, M., 2018. Customer perspective of value for
innovative products and services. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 238, pp.207-213.
Uribe, R., 2016. Separate and joint effects of advertising and placement. Journal of Business
Research, 69(2), pp.459-465.