Effective and Ineffective Marketing for iPad - Research Paper Example

The market in which Apple operates is very competitive. There are high entry barriers and a few established competitors offering similar services. Switching costs have been increasing because many companies are using long-term contracts with harsh penalties against customers who try to switch products. However, this is still an industry in which competition fuels innovation and progress, and many consumers are looking for the “next big thing”.

The iPad is a larger version of the iPhone with a more powerful processor but without phone capabilities. The proposed report will go into more detail concerning the product review’s specificities, its features, and its pros and cons when there is more textual space allotted to do so.

As noted, the market in which Apple operates is very competitive. Currently, it faces stiff competition from Microsoft, Samsung, and other companies. The proposed report will look closely at 3 of Apple’s major competitors, focusing on specific products that are in the same category as the iPad.

SWOT analysis:
- Strengths—market position, premium pricing, internal subscription network.
- Weaknesses—high price, the possibility of glitches, fragility.
- Opportunities—changes in IT trends.
- Threats—competition, external market variations.

One objective is to link the iPad and information retrieval, in marketing terms. “To the extent that the information is made public and transparent, it will make people better informed and able to make better choices. New economy organizations tend to be flat, decentralized, and open to employee initiative” (Kotler, et. al, 2002, p. 4).  The establishment of new marketing principles that are not based on rigid rule structures, but are instead more able to dynamically respond to an ever-evolving present. The issue of market responsiveness is one which the proposed report will focus on predominantly.

Marketing—4Ps:
- Price—as noted, premium pricing and network subscription increase this angle.
- Product—product features have been mentioned.
- Promotion—Apple is using traditional and non-traditional market channels.
- Place—the proposed report will focus on Apple’s flagship store in NYC.

Even with increases in communication and technology, Apple shows traditional views about marketing. As Ailloni (1998) states, “Despite all the intellectual legerdemain involved in repackaging old terms in new age catchphrases, the marketing of consumer packaged goods was, is, and will remain concerned with only one basic objective: the profitable movement of as many cases as possible”.

There remain a lot of internal differences in how companies institute and perpetuate financial control systems. Just as every individual is not the same, every company has different parameters and guidelines it follows in the procedure of financial control. Some companies have strict and transparent controls, while others may not. The new economy is based in part on improved access to consumer information. These traditions are also financial, which can potentially mean less dynamism when a structure is dividing marketing into advertising and promotions with different short- and long-term agendas for each function, in terms of profit. Since Apple is a strong-performing market leader, it has a large budget and can afford the start-up costs that disallow small start-ups in this industry. However, with a large budget, consumer expectations also increase. The proposed report will look closely into the budgeting control process at Apple, both generally, and in specific reference to the example of the iPad.