Apple’s Marketing Mix
Marketing is still an art, and the marketing manager, as head chef, must creatively marshal all his marketing activities to advance the short and long term interests of his firm (Borden N 1984).
Apple keeps all their marketing P’s relatable and straightforward to consumer’s everyday life, targeting their thoughts, emotions and daily behaviours. They strive to ensure their customers feel connected to their product. This, in turn, makes Apple’s products a necessity rather than just a want or another gimmick; our iPhones are extensions of ourselves (Kaszowski, 2018).
Apple products are an effective part of their marketing mix. They have created a wide range of products which spark natural behaviours; they create simple, visually appealing products with applications that help us connect to the world in many different ways (Kaszowski, 2018). Apple’s product mix is always evolving, starting with the Mac computer, evolving into laptops, iPhone, iPods, iPads, earpods and further into other services such as iTunes, Apple pay and Apple credit card. Apple’s most successful and recognised product is their range of iPhones. In the fourth quarter of 2018 alone, Apple sold 46.89 million iPhones worldwide. In the third quarter of fiscal year 2019, Apple generated 48.29 per cent of its revenue from iPhone sales (Statista, 2019).
Apple have maintained market dominance by focusing on the overall design of its products from attractive packaging and product body to an easy-to-use interface and operating system. Apple updates several of their products each year based on new design and technology trends, for example, touch screen smartphones, voice search (Siri), better graphics/camera, facial recognition technology and faster processors.
Apple products have fundamentally changed the way we communicate and live our daily lives. But, Apple’s hardware has come a long way to the sleek minimalism it’s known for today. Apple products used to be bulky, boxy devices that took up your entire desk, today, Apple products are designed and developed to be an extension of the consumer.
Throughout the years Apple has unveiled a product to us which offers something new and unique, but behind the scenes, Apple is already creating something newer and better. Competitors feed off the current Apple trend trying to customise it to their own but in reality, they will never be able to be ahead and present something original. Apple strives on innovation and invention which is something that lacks in many technology brands (Kaszowski, 2018).
Apple is one of those companies that have managed to dominate the market place time and time again. Their marketing mix is hugely effective across all areas. Where competitors often over-complicate, confuse and at times overwhelm customers, Apple continue a theme of simplicity; Apple products are always sleek and minimal, with simple colour schemes and clean, uncluttered design (Patel, 2019).
When it comes to product design and development, Apple’s Chief Design Officer Jony Ive summed up the companies attitude to their product design and development saying “Our goals are straightforward — to design and make better products. If we can’t make something that is better, we won’t do it.” (Lee, 2012).
Bibliography —
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Statista. (2019). Apple iPhone sales 2018 | Statista. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/263401/global-apple-iphone-sales-since-3rd-quarter-2007/ [Accessed 16 Aug. 2019].
Patel, N. (2019). 7 Key Strategies That You Must Learn from Apple’s Marketing. [online] Neil Patel. Available at: https://neilpatel.com/blog/7-key-strategies-that-you-must-learn-from-apples-marketing/ [Accessed 30 Oct. 2019].
Lee, C. (2012). Jony Ive explains some of the secrets to Apple’s sauce. [online] iDownloadBlog.com. Available at: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/03/12/jony-ive-explains-products/ [Accessed 30 Oct. 2019].
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