Marketing and the Apple global organization - Research Paper Example

? Marketing and the Apple global organization Table of Contents Introduction 3 Article Review 4 Works Cited 7 Introduction The history of Apple Inc. dates back to the early 1970’s when Steve Jobs along with Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak established the technology firm. Apple is presently headquartered in California, USA. The company together with its subsidiaries develops and markets laptops, portable music players, desktop computers, mobile communication devices and several other gadgets. Apple has a global presence and functions with around 370 Apple exclusive stores. As of 2011 the company employed 60,400 people throughout the world (“Apple Inc.”). Some of the evident products that have made Apple one of the biggest technical giants of the world are I-Phone, I-Pad, I-Pod and various software products. The Mac OS X in the software category has been able to revolutionize the computing experience of the users. If reports are to be believed, within few years from now the company will be launching I-car, a four wheeler car with unique style and design resembling the official logo of Apple. From the days of its inception Apple is highly sensitive towards its marketing strategies. The company tactically develops its business strategies for the purpose of retaining and gaining customers. This is the reason why we find Apple launching new products in every 2-3 years. Apple mainly distributes its product through whole sellers, retailers and Apple owned exclusive stores. The company has large number of competitors in direct and indirect form. Hewlett Packard, Dell, Google and Research in Motion Limited are the direct competitors of the company (“AAPL Competitors”). While, companies such as Lenovo, Compaq, Toshiba and Hitachi are also considered as the circumlocutory competitors of the company. In the context of the study i.e. to analyze a peer reviewed article about Apple’s marketing activities, a piece of writing by the CRM editors titled 11 Effective Strategies Apple Uses to Create Loyal Customers has been chosen. The article was published in Marketing Power.com on April 30, 2009. Article Review The article is mainly about the different forms of marketing that Apple uses for maintaining a strong base of loyal customers. In this context the author highlighted 11 different strategies that Apple uses for the purpose of creating a base of loyal customers. In this article the author discussed about the unique marketing initiatives of Apple Inc. Furthermore the article highlighted some interesting facts about the company. In the introduction part of the article the author demonstrated about the hype that Apple creates before launching a product in the market place. To cite an instance it showcased how the brand loyal customers of Apple spend a night outside an Apple store, just for the purpose of buying the new product from the company. The article offered a number of unique marketing strategies of the company. Some of the evident among them are as follows: - Apple has been long facing issues with the product knowledge of its sales staffs. This problem made it more complex for the company to notify the potential customers about the unique features that it offers. Hence the company decided to open ‘a store just for Apple’ or an Apple exclusive store. In this article it has been also highlighted that the products of Apple comes in the form of a complete package, so that users do not have to search for any add-ons. In accordance to this statement the author mentioned the example of I-Pod and free music via Apple I-tunes. The product strategy of the company has been also emphasized in this article. Apple uses a varied product strategy, in which they offer various portable gadgets at a low cost to the consumer, with a feeling that these customers may consider buying an Apple computer in the near future. The author also clearly explains about the extensive research and development that the company carries out for the purpose of offering quality products. Furthermore in the article few promotional strategies have also been discussed. The ‘are you Mac campaign’ by Apple is an approach to enhance the brand loyalty among the customers. In this ad campaign, the company tried to present the fact that a guy who uses Mac is more confident and leads smooth life. Educational sale is another strategy of the company. With this approach Apple sells its products to schools and colleges. The author believes that by giving such early exposures, the company has been able to generate several new customers (“11 Effective Strategies Apple Uses to Create Loyal Customers”). Apple also creates huge hype for a product before its launch. It uses various public relations (PR) techniques such as leaked rumor, secrecy & denial for months about the product, blogging, gift wraps etc. The author portrayed that with these activities the company tries to keep its customers energized and exited of buying a product of Apple. The query about after sales service has been clearly discussed in the article. In order to avoid any issues with customer service the company has outsourced its after sales service department to AT & T. Also in order to familiarize the new customers with the products of Apple, the company appointed AT & T to address any technical issues. In the final part of the article the author demonstrated the qualities of an Apple product. It highlighted three main qualities for which Apple is considered to be one of the giants of technology sector. The qualities are as follows:- Consistency: - Apple offers the most consistent products. The basic architecture of the products is same. Hence customers who own a product of Apple have fair idea about the upcoming products and its usability. The satisfied customers can even be the word of mouth promoter for the company. Thus the author believes that with such offerings the probability of repeat purchase gets increased. New Innovations: - Though the basic architecture is similar, the portfolio is completely unique for each product. The products depict innovation. The article also refers to the variety in the products category. According to the author bringing variety and innovation to a product enhances the chances of customer loyalty. Attractiveness: - The final point highlighted is the product attractiveness. Beginning from the packaging to artistic design of the products, Apple makes it attractive. Therefore the author accentuate that every time a customer thinks of buying an Apple product, the first thing comes into his/her mind is the attractiveness. Works Cited “AAPL Competitors.” NASDAQ. n.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2012. “Apple Inc.” United States Securities and Exchange Commission. n.p., 2011. Web. 12 Sept. 2012. “11 Effective Strategies Apple Uses to Create Loyal Customers.”Marketingpower. American Marketing Association, 2009. Web. 13 Sept. 2012. Read More