T-C-B and I-D-U Positioning Modeling - Essay Example

? Presented by (Your school) T-C-B and I-D-U Positioning exercise T-C-B model analysis T-C-B positioning model was designed by Rossiter and Bellman in 2005. The acronym stands for Target customers of the product, Category of needs that the product satisfies and the Benefits offered by the product (Butterfield, 1997). Target Apple’s ipad is targeted to all users of computer tablets. Apple’s Ipad is currently the market leader in the computer tablets industry. Of recent past, Ipad has received a severe competition from Samsung’s galaxy which is a bit cheaper than Ipad. Samsung are targeting low income category but Ipad still remains the market leader due to its high quality and high speed. Ipad needs to target companies in order for them to remain the market leader. Apple is focusing on increasing its Ipad sales and in the recent past it has opened outlets in other countries like China and Japan (Fill, 2002). Category After a survey, where five people were asked to compare Apple and other tablet manufacturers, apple was rated as the best in tablet manufacturing. The respondents said that apples products including the ipad were the best since they are able to meet almost all of their demands. Ipad has the highest processor speed of all the tablets in the market, the reason why it is the market leader. This is according to the respondents of the interview as seen in the appendix (Halborg, 2001). Benefit Most of the tablet customers are looking for speed, long battery life and an elegant and smart tablet for their day to day activities. Ipad is a unique product in the market it gives its users all these. Ipad accessories are compatible with other hardware from other manufacturers therefore are easy to maintain and use as compared to other tablets in the market like the Samsung galaxy. Ipad take less time to boot compared to other products like windows tablets. Ipads are less prone to computer virus compared to others like the Samsung galaxy (Nash, 2000). IDU analysis Importance Importance refers to the significance of the benefits to the fundamental motivation. It is good to know that a benefit assumes importance if it motivates the consumer to purchase it. It is therefore the role of Apple to aggressively market its ipad product so as to remain a market leader and also help the consumer perceive the ipad as important in their life. The consumer should be convinced that the ipad will solve some if not all of his digital problems. Compared to other brands in the market, ipad is perceived as an important product in the market. Ipad is seen as the most unique amongst the other tablets due to its unique features. From the survey, respondents said that ipad is important to them as it has a longer battery life compared with the Samsung galaxy (Schultz, 2000). Delivery This is the perception that the product, ipad, has the ability to provide the benefits to the consumer. Apple should convince its customers that ipad has the ability to fulfill the expected benefits. Ipad has successfully earned this perception as most of the respondents used in the survey said they preferred ipad to other brands in the market. Most of the respondents said ipad has a high ability to delivery as compared to Samsung galaxy and android (Shimp, 1993). Uniqueness This is the perception of a brand/product to deliver on the benefit relatively better than its substitutes. Ipad is definitely a unique brand in the market according to the respondents in the survey. Ipad has a longer life battery compared to android and Samsung galaxy. Ipad takes less time to boot as compared to the android and Microsoft tablet. Ipad is also less prone to virus compared to others tablets in the market. This uniqueness is a strong selling point for the ipad, and Apple should always endeavor to ensure that the ipad is always unique in the market (Tannenbaum, 1994). Positioning statement Product positioning involves creation and maintenance of a unique perception of a product in the customers mind; this will help in increasing the chances of the customer choosing the product over the others in the market. A good T-C-B and I-D-U analysis are the first steps in brand positioning. Where decisions are made regarding who the target customers are as this will aid in identifying the current and potential customers. Ipad is a unique brand in the market as in my survey most of the respondents were not aware of other tablets in the market. Ipad has unique features which set it apart from the rest of the products in the market; it has a long life battery, less prone to viruses and high speed processor compared to Samsung galaxy and android (Shimp1993). Target audience Apple targeted the middle and upper income earners for its ipad who were willing to pay more for efficiency. It should be noted that it is not an easy task to find new customers and ensuring customer loyalty is always a perfect aspect to the company. Consumer loyalty is enhanced through delivering as per the customer's expectations. Ipad is currently focused on the Asian market; in fact it is expected to double its sales in China this year. The middle and upper class earners in the US have a high loyalty to the ipad as compared to low class earners. This should therefore guide Apple in its marketing strategy as it should aim at maintaining the customer loyalty in the middle and upper class earners. Ipad has widened its market scope to corporate in order to increase its sales. Ipad is set to remain a market leader as other competitors like the android and Samsung galaxy only focus on individual customers (Adcock 2001). ‘Quick Touch2Go’ Integrated Marketing Communication The entry of Samsung Galaxy tabs among other competitors threatens Apple’s position as a market leader. Apparently, Samsung has resorted to focus its integrated marketing strategy with the intention to the market leader in the global market. It must be noted that Apple’s market dominance has only been in the American market. In order to effectively spread its wings globally, Apple needs a creative integrated marketing technique. Quick Touch2Go’ is comprised of advertising, public relations, sales promotion and point of purchase technique. The pull strategy involves using the multiple touch points and faster speed is directed to the target audience, which is aimed to sell in large scale to the end user. The push strategy within this marketing communication is aimed at sustaining long-term associations with business to business customers, particularly the network providers and leading telecommunication companies among other distribution channels across the globe. Moreover, all the attributes given to Apple products are hinged on the ‘product centric’ of the customers’ perception. ‘Quick Touch2Go’ is aimed to be communication oriented, business oriented, and entertainment oriented. In most cases, those business persons who spend most of their times outside office can use their Apple mobiles to complete remaining office tasks. While people are on the move, they would want to continue enjoy entertainment offered by TVs, Play Stations, and listen to music. Lastly, the primary purpose of a mobile is communication; however, in order to stay in touch with peers over twitter, Facebook, MySpace among other social media, one needs a multipurpose Smartphone. The aggressive use of internet marketing techniques to reach wider geographical market is necessary to build Apple brand globally. For example, social media should be used to improve public relations and spread messages of promotions. IMC message typology: The theoretical explanation In real life, the complexity of the communication is not entirely based on ‘a sender sending message, while the receiver receiving the message’, where messages are sometimes ignored, misinterpreted, or do not reach the intended recipient. There is need to understand the needs of the audience, their emotions, interests and activities. Such will ensure the messages are accurate, relevant and effective. Message typologies is important in ensuring different types of messages, but with same theme, are communicated to different audiences depending on their studied psychological reception. Appendix Appendix A: Questions asked to the respondents Do you use a tablet? When you hear the word ‘tablet, what is the first thing that comes to mind? What brand of tablet do you usually use? Is the tablet you are using able to satisfy all your needs? Why do you prefer ipad over the other tablets? How old are you? What are the features that influence you to use ipad? Compare ipad and other tablets, how would rate the ipad in a range of 1-5? Appendix B: The consumer needs and wants vs. what the Apple product will offer. Necessity Communicate Mobile User Do Business Leisure Entertain Work Cited Adcock, D., Halborh,. A. & Ross,. C, 2001, Marketing: principles and practice, McGraw Hill, Butterfield, J., 1997. ‘Strategy Development’ in Butterfield, L. (ed.) (1997) Excellence in Advertising, Oxford Institute of Practitioners in Advertising/Butterworth Heinemann pp. 65–90. Fill, C., 2002. Marketing Communications: Contexts, Strategies and Applications. 3rd edition, Harlow, Financial Times Prentice Hall. Halborg, A., & Ross, C., 2001, Marketing principles and practice, McGraw Hill, Irwin Nash, E., L., 2000. Direct marketing: strategy, planning, execution (4th Ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. Schultz, D., & Kitchen, P., 2000. Communicating Globally: An Integrated Marketing Approach London, Macmillan Business. Shimp, T., A., 1993. Marketing communications and Promotion management (3rd Ed). Forth value: Dryden Press. Tannenbaum, S., I & Lauterborn, R., E., 1994 Marketing Communications Integration, Chicago, NTC Business Books. Read More