MKT82210 Marketing Plan: Launching Apple's New DSLR Camera

This report details a comprehensive marketing strategy and plan for Apple's launch of a new Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera. It includes a background of the company, its mission, and marketing objectives, followed by a SWOT analysis, segmentation, targeting, and positioning strat...Read More

RUNNING HEAD: Marketing Strategy and Plan 0
APPLE COMPANY
Marketing Strategy and Plan
(Student Name)
9/21/2018

Marketing Strategy and Plan 1
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Background of Company...........................................................................................................2
Mission of the company.........................................................................................................3
Objective.................................................................................................................................3
Marketing Objectives.................................................................................................................3
Marketing Strategy.....................................................................................................................4
SWOT Analysis......................................................................................................................4
Segmentation Targeting and Positioning................................................................................6
Marketing Mix........................................................................................................................6
PESTLE Analysis.......................................................................................................................8
Market Analysis.........................................................................................................................8
Competitive Analysis.............................................................................................................8
Industry Analysis....................................................................................................................8
Marketing Budget for Apple......................................................................................................9
Promotional Budget Plan.........................................................................................................10
Implementation Plan................................................................................................................10

Marketing Strategy and Plan 2
Recommendation......................................................................................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................12

Marketing Strategy and Plan 3
Introduction
In the competitive market, advancement of technology in the electronic devices plays a vital
role in the business world. Companies need to use strategy tools in the activities of marketing
(Baker, 2014). The big brand Apple has carried different strategies on innovation, being
among the market leader in the competitive industry. The Apple has gained the brand value in
the market with the advantage of its strong financial position and excellent data access
manager (McLaughlin and Bridgman, 2018). The company also has faced some
disadvantages such as changing management and ineffective use of the cloud. In the external
environment, Apple is famous for their smartphones while it needs to be beware of the
competitive rivalry arising out of technological advancement (Nagle and Muller, 2017). The
uncertain economic condition and pressure from regulatory bodies has created a great impact
on the company (Baltes, 2015).
The company is continuously trying to stand in the fluctuating market; various strategies have
been adopted by the company and continuously focusing on innovation (Khan, Alam, and
Alam, 2015). The company has a planning to launch a new product in the market. It is in the
pipeline and about to come within next one year. The company is working on launching
Digital Single-lens reflex camera which has a probability to be launch in December of next
year.
In the following context, there will be a detailed discussion on the way product will be
introduced in the market, in which there will be a detailed analysis of market which covers
situational analysis, the targeting market, segmentation and the promotional activities that has
a planning for the new product. There will be an overview of various marketing strategies
that will be used to launch the product and the process of implementing the plan in the market
for the final product to be launch or introduce.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 4
Background of Company
Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs introduced Apple on April 1, 1976. It has been represented as
a multinational technology-based company. Headquarter of the company is in California.
Apple has over 240 stores which cover all over the world (Fang, Zhang, and Li, 2014). Apple
is known for consumer goods and evaluating its value requires understanding its products and
consumers. It has established a unique reputation in the electronic industry of consumer with
a strong consumer base. The company began to transform itself into a mobile device
company, integrating its products into every days life (Nicolas Marin Ximenez and Sanz,
2014). The company has introduced and designed various electronic devices which include a
personal computer, mobile phones, watches, portables digital music, and other media devices.
The Apple is dealing with the products of iPhone, Ipad, Macbook, Apple Tv, Airports, iPod, I
watch, Ios App Store (Piao and Kleiner, 2015). It covers various ranges in the same products.
Apple developed, design and sold computer software, computer electronic and also deliver
online services.
(Source: HEFFX Australia, 2018)

Marketing Strategy and Plan 5
Company Mission
The main mission of the Apple is to provide innovative hardware, software as well as internet
offerings to the customers around the world. Apple designs Mac that which will be
considered as the best personal computer in the world along with professional software, OS
X, iLife and iWork. The iPods and iTunes online store leading in the digital music revolution.
The company has focused on reinventing the mobile phones with its revolutionary features
and App Sores. It defines the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad of
Apple (Pace, 2017).
The company has a mission to ensure to meet the standard of social responsibility at a great
level by providing safe working condition, treat employees fairly and adopt environmentally
responsible manufacturing process wherever products of Apple are made (Clarke and
Boersma, 2017).
Objective
 The main objective of Apple is to introduce products which are a free-from hassle that
provides service and employment for the customer.
 The company focus to create ground-breaking products with an objective to deliver
something new and exciting to the world.
 The next strategic objective is to manage stable competitive advantage and must
provide world-class innovation and integration through deliver quality goods and
services and empowering themselves to defeat their competitors in the market
condition.
 Enhancing and expanding investment of the company in research and development
(Guler, Gannon and Sicchio 2016).

Marketing Strategy and Plan 6
Marketing Objectives
Apple has a target to expand or wider their sale to those customers, who have not used any
product of Apple yet. Therefore, the main objective of marketing a new product is to be
(Ocasio and Joseph, 2017):
 To lead as a supplier of DSLR in all market in which the company operate
 To increase the sale of the product by twenty-five percent
 Increase the revenue of the company by twenty percent
 To uplift the market share of the company by at least ten percent
 Encourage the existing customers to increase the use of the product
 Expand the existing market by twenty-five percent till the next year
 Innovate and dictate the movement for future technology
 Expand nationwide chain of Apple store globally
Marketing Strategy
SWOT Analysis
In the SWOT analysis, if Apple represents the achievement of the company used its
competitive advantage to become the dominant player in the technology industry. It identifies
all the key strength, weakness, opportunity and threat that may affect the company most. The
analysis is explained in below points (Coorevits, Schuurman and Logghe, 2016).

Marketing Strategy and Plan 7
(Source: Brandingbeard, 2018)
Strengths
 Core competencies
The company is expertise in technologies which is the biggest strength lies in the focus they
have on their core competency. The company develops and design its own hardware,
software, application and services that allow the company to introduce DSLR which
represent a unique, innovative and easy to approach the customers.
 Brand image
The company Apple is the most recognizable and valuable brands in global. The company
has an image in the market of developing highly innovative, well functioned and well-
designed products as well as great customer experience and sound financial performance.
Thus, the DSLR can easily take a step in the market because of the brand image of the
company.
 Premium products
The products of the company are of premium quality therefore only premium class customers
are the target of the company. DSLR also include in the premium product thus, it would be

Marketing Strategy and Plan 8
easy for the company to target the customer because the premium customer is the existing
user of the company.
 Strong advertisement and Marketing Capabilities
Apple is a well-known brand in the world. The company has a strong advertisement and the
marketing strategies of the company are at a string level, therefore, the company can launch
their new product which is DSLR in the market through advertisement and marketing
capabilities.
Weakness
 Complex device
The company may face the issue of a complex device. As the product is not easy to
understand by the new people which may create lag in purchasing DSLR by the customers
 Expensive product
The product of the company is always quite high. The company faces the issue of targeting
the customers as they can target only premium customers for the product which limit the
market segmentation of the customer. The company may lag in the pricing of the product
because the price is quite high for the DSLR which may stop the customers to buy the
product.
 Inability to satisfy the mass market
Apple caters more to the specialist group than the mass market and thus they have been more
successful with mobiles that customers want primarily because of their attention to details.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 9
The company unable to safety market which may give them volume but instead need to focus
on value.
Opportunity
 New Market
The technology of optical has expected to grow in near future; therefore it is the opportunity
for the company to enter in the optical market with a strong research team working in this
domain.
 New technology
The company is known for the innovative product in the market therefore, Apple can
maintain their image by introducing new technology in the market. It is the opportunity for
the company to introduce a new product which is DSLR in the market.
 Expansion of brand
It is the opportunity for Apple to expand their brand in the competitive market by introducing
DSLR or entering in the market of optical technologies.
 New Segment market
The company target the new segment market for DSLR such as young people, professional
photographers which help the company to cover the huge market in the competitive world.
Threat
 Competition

Marketing Strategy and Plan 10
Apple as a company does not have any threat but as a product, each of the products is I facing
a strong threat from the competition. The company is launching a new product which is going
to face competition especially from other brands such as Nikon, Canon, Casio, Kodak,
Panasonic and Olympus.
 Changing trend in the technology
The changing trend in the technology creating a huge threat to the business engaged in this
sector primarily because of the cost to be invested in research. Therefore, the company may
face such issues while introducing the DSLR.
Segmentation Targeting and Positioning
Apple utilizes the market segmentation to subdivide the target into various categories which
are based on their demands, interest, and needs. It helps the company to recognize the aspects
of their target market. The segment of market is based on behavioral, psychographic,
demographic and geographic which are explained in below points (Al-Refaie and Bata,
2016):
 Demographic - The main target for the company is customers consist of individuals
with the age group between 18 to 42 years old, professionals who are associated with
technology and corporate customers with the range of income between medium to
high.
 Geographic- the company has a target to launch the DSLR all over the world and
deliver the product in every store of the company to cover maximum customers for
the product.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 11
 Psychographic – The Company has decided to put efforts on those customers who
mainly use the camera for entertainment purpose and for amateur photographing and
the gentry of high class in the market.
 Behavioural- the benefits cover good price-quality proportion with the potential user.
The uses of the product can be low, medium or high it depends on the work of the
individual. It can be used for any occasion to capture the memories.
Marketing Mix
While marketing the product, Apple requires designing a marketing mix which is effective
and includes price, product place and promotion to achieve the desired goal (Londhe, 2014).
The marketing mixes are explained in below points:
(Source: LearnMarketing, 2018)
Product
The DSLR of Apple is the new product in the market. The company high spot its unique
features to attract the customers. The features cover:
High resolution

Marketing Strategy and Plan 12
USB 4.0 interface
35 MP APS-H crops
1090/31p video and 58 megapixel sensor of CMOS
The more features of the product covers 6fps continuous shooting
It allows users to capture extra resolution.
Apart from this company ensure the audience that the product is durable with high
quality by using superior quality of the material.
Place
Apple has a strong supply chain which will be used to introduce DSLR in the market. It will
be distributed in its own retail outlets and online stores along with dealership with others
other stores. The company will adopt a hybrid distribution strategy and place the product in
the warehouse thus; products will be easily accessible by the customers. Apple will also use
the source of retailers which handles e-commerce such as Amazon, Snape deal and eBay to
cover more customers with its new product.
Price
The success of any product greatly depends on the price of the product. To attract potential
and loyal customer, the company balance the equilibrium between cost of production and
selling cost. The company will adopt the model of competitive pricing for the reason that the
aggressive competition forms such as Nikon, Sony, Canon, and Olympus.
Promotion
In the promotion marketing mix, the approach is categorized by trade shows, advertisement,
and public relation because the DSLR of Apple is new in the market. The important tool in
the market for promotion is an advertisement. Through the advertisement, the audience will

Marketing Strategy and Plan 13
get know about the new product launch by the company. The information in the
advertisement about the DSLR is accessible to prospective customer through radio,
newspaper, social media (such as Facebook, YouTube, Websites), magazines, television,
mobile application and so on. This is the best way to introduce a DSLR of Apple in the
market.
PESTLE Analysis
The PESTLE analyses of the company are explained in below points (Lake and Drake, 2014):
Political Factors- the Apple majorly earn the sale contribution for the outside U.S which is
amounting to more than $113.8 billion, therefore any political insurgency in these countries
can greatly affect the company negatively. The DSLR of the company will be launch after
analysing the political factor.
Economic factor- The high rate of U.S dollar has a possibility to increase the exchange rate
which makes it more expensive for the company to introduce a new product which is DSLR
in the market of Europe and China.
Social Factor- it has been analyzed that the world such as Africa will have biggest growth in
consumer spending in upcoming decades. It will be spread in the areas of where people are
not familiar with the products of Apple. Therefore, the Apple can expand their new market
and can launch DSLR in such countries.
Technological Factors- The increasing demand for smartphones and tablet may lower the
demand for DLSR or a company.
Legal Factor- The new product launch by the Apple could increase litigation, insurance and
regulatory cost at company Apple.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 14
Environmental Factor- China is now focusing on gases such as greenhouse and focusing on
limit fossil fuel which has a possibility to increase electricity rate and cost of manufacturing
for the DSLR of apple in the country.
Market Analysis
The market for the digital camera is highly mature and is highly flooded with slow growth.
The market for imaging and the optical product is capital intensive with automated machinery
which is resulting in high exodus obstacles while it is overcrowded by other companies at the
same time in the Meta market.
Competitive Analysis
With the flourishing DSLR market and the advancement of technology, that can change the
competitive scenario for the Apple. The market for digital imaging is not constantly crowded
by the peer’s companies such as Kotak, Canon, Nikon but it is also becoming the target sector
for the companies such as Panasonic, Samsung and so on. The company needs to enter into a
licensing agreement to cope up with the competition such as HP Inc., Ricoh Company Ltd.,
and other companies for generating competitive product and services and leveraging its
technical know-how (Chen and Ann, 2016).
Industry Analysis
The industry analysis cover porter five force framework which is explained in below points
(Pisano, 2015):

Marketing Strategy and Plan 15
(Source: Closa, 2018)
Threat of New entrance
Apple is entering a new market with the product of DSLR which carries innovation and
different ways of doing things that put more pressure on the company through a strategy of
lower pricing, reduction in cost and providing new value propositions to the customers.
Apple has to cope up with such challenges and build effective barriers to protect the
competitive advantage.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
The suppliers play a prominent role in the industry of business equipment. The powerful
suppliers use their negotiation power to extract higher price which may create a great impact
on Apple by lowering the overall profitability of DSLR.
Bargaining Power of Buyer
The customers always demand a quality product at lower or minimum price. This may put a
pressure on company profitability in the long run. The customer of Apple has the higher
bargaining power and high ability to pursue increasing discounts and offers on DSLR.
Threat of Substitute Products or Services

Marketing Strategy and Plan 16
The company may face the threat of the same product and services in the market. Therefore,
it can cope up by offering a unique value proposition of DSLR from the present offering of
the industry.
Rivalry among the existing competitors
Apple will introduce the DSLR in a business equipment industry of competitive world. It can
take a toll on the overall long-term profitability of the organization.
Marketing Budget for Apple (In million Dollars)
Particulars 1st 2nd 3rd
Traditional
advertisement
5000 7000 9000
Direct marketing 22000 19000 18000
Sales 17000 14000 15000
Social Media
marketing
5500 6400 7300
Total 49,500 46,400 49,300
Promotional Budget Plan (In million Dollars)

Marketing Strategy and Plan 17
Item
Price(excludin
g GST)
GST
Price
(including
GST)
Total
Value
Social media 300 70.00 370 250
E-mail marketing 700 50.00 750 500
Website 1500 150.00 1650 750
Retail advertising 450 50.00 500 550
Flyers 300 50.00 350 580
Banners 400 70.00 470 560
Search engine
optimization
1000 90.00 1090 1090
TOTAL $4,650 $530 $5,180 $4,280
Implementation Plan

Marketing Strategy and Plan 18
Activity Time Period Authority Objective of
Growth
Concerned
Department
Business Plan
Initiation
2 month Marketing
Manager
Increase the
number of the
product of the
company
Marketing
Department
Analysis of
Market
15 days Research
manager
Analyse the
demand and
compete in the
market
Research and
Development
Department
Hiring of Expert 15 days Manager of HR The hiring of an
expert for new
product
Department of
Human
Resource
Budget Plan 1 month Financial
Manager
Analysis of
financial
requirement for
the product
Finance
Department
Production
Process Start
2 month Head of
Production
Provide best
quality product
Department of
Manufacturing
Development of 2 month Designing Introduce smart Department of

Marketing Strategy and Plan 19
Software Experts technology for
the product
produce
Information
Technology
Advertisement
and Promotion
2 month Marketing
Manager
Aware about the
product to the
customer at the
maximum level
Department of
marketing
Distribution 1 month Supply Chain
Manager
Availability of
product in every
store and outlet
of the company
Supply Chain
Department
Sales 1 month Sales Manager Selling of
product online
and offline to
maximize the
sale of the
product
Sales
Department
Recommendation
Therefore, it is recommended that the company should analyze the market properly before
introducing DSLR in the market because the company has huge existing competitors in the

Marketing Strategy and Plan 20
market. The price of the DSLR should depend on the competitive price and DSLR should
have some unique features that separate their product from other companies. The Apple
should review the PESTLE analysis properly which may prevent from the negative impact on
the company.
Conclusion
From the above, it is concluded that marketing strategy plays a prominent role in the
competitive world. Every organization need a strong marketing strategy to sustain the market
or for entering a new market. Various strategies have been adopted by strong companies to
make a brand and exist in the competitive world.
The Apple is one of the biggest brands in the world. The company is planning to launch a
new product in the market which is DSLR. It would not be tough for the company to
introduce a new product because the company has the strength of a brand name and strong
marketing strategy which will apply to launch the product.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 21
References
Al-Refaie, A. and Bata, N. (2016) Market Segmentation and Conjoint Analysis for Apple
Family Design. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International
Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial
Engineering, 10(4), pp.1138-1142.
Baker, M.J. (2014) Marketing strategy and management. London: Macmillan International
Higher Education.
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),111.
Brandingbeard. (2018) Creating a SWOT Analysis [online]. Available from:
https://brandingbeard.com/concepts/marketing-101-creating-a-swot-analysis-for-your-blog-
plus-example/ [Accessed on 17/9/2018]
Chen, C.M. and Ann, B.Y. (2016) Efficiencies vs. importance-performance analysis for the
leading smartphone brands of Apple, Samsung, and HTC. Total Quality Management &
Business Excellence, 27(3-4), pp.227-249.
Clarke, T. and Boersma, M. (2017) The governance of global value chains: Unresolved
human rights, environmental and ethical dilemmas in the apple supply chain. Journal of
Business Ethics, 143(1), pp.111-131.
Closa. (2018) Is Michael Porter Still Relevant Today? [online]. Available from:
https://www.closa.com/en/newsletter-April-2017/is-Michael-porter-still-relevant-today.html
[Accessed on 19/9/2018]

Marketing Strategy and Plan 22
Coorevits, L., Schuurman, D. and Logghe, S. (2016) Bringing personas to Life: user
experience design through interactive coupled open innovation. Persona Studies, 2(1), pp.97-
114.
Fang, Y., Zhang, H. and Li, X.(2014) Detecting hot topics from Twitter: A multiview
approach. Journal of Information Science, 40(5), pp.578-593.
Guler, S.D., Gannon, M. and Sicchio, K. (2016) A brief history of wearables. In Crafting
Wearables, 7(81) 3-10.
HEFFA Australia. (2018) Apple Inc [online]. Available from:
https://www.livetradingnews.com/apple-inc-nasdaqaapl-correction-to-181-30-
92205.html#.W6Soz2gzbIU [Accessed on 19/9/2018]
Khan, U.A., Alam, M.N. and Alam, S. (2015) A critical analysis of the internal and external
environment of Apple Inc. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and
Management, 3(6), pp.955-961.
Lake, P. and Drake, R. (2014) Strategy. In Information Systems Management in the Big Data
Era,8(20), 19-52.
LearnMarrketing. (2018) The Marketing Mix and The 4P’s [online]. Available from:
http://www.learnmarketing.co.uk/marketingmix.htm [Accessed on 17/9/2018]
Londhe, B.R. (2014) Marketing mix for next-generation marketing. Procedia Economics and
Finance, 11, pp.335-340.
McLaughlin, C. and Bridgman, T. (2018) Apple and the true costs of production. In The Dark
Side 66 (71), pp. 66-71.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 23
Nagle, T.T. and Müller, G. (2017) The strategy and tactics of pricing: A guide to growing
more profitably. New York: Routledge.
Nicolas Marin Ximenez, J., and J. Sanz, L., 2014. Financial decision-making in a high-
growth company: the case of Apple incorporated. Management Decision, 52(9), pp.1591-
1610.
Ocasio, W., and Joseph, J. (2017) The attention-based view of great strategies. Strategy
Science, 3(1), pp.289-294.
Pace, S. (2017) Shaping Corporate Brands: From Product Features to Corporate
Mission. International Studies of Management & Organization, 47(2), pp.197-205.
Piao, M. and Kleiner, B. (2015) Excellence in the Electronics Industry: The Comparison of
the Organizational Culture among Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics and Google Inc. Conflict
Resolution & Negotiation Journal, 205(1), 150.
Pisano, G.P. (2015) You need an innovation strategy. Harvard Business Review, 93(6),
pp.44-54.

Marketing Strategy and Plan 24