According to Steve Jobs’, the founder of Apple Inc., philosophy, consumers do not always know what they want. Therefore, instead of investing heavily in carrying out market research to establish the wants and needs of customers, Apple prefers putting essential features and functionalities in their products and services that will attract customers (Kanagal 42). Quality and uniqueness are the foundations of Apple’s marketing strategy and management that has made it the best IT Company in the world in terms of annual revenues.
Apple focuses on value proposition rather than price wars. According to Greenspan, the company focuses on creating beautiful designs with small packaging, which are emphasized during marketing to avoid price wars with their competitors. Being a software house, media platform, and computer manufacturer, allows the company to conduct marketing effectively to reduce cost (Hutt and Thomas 21). Apple’s products and services are usually more expensive compared to those of their competitors, and to capture a significant market share; it focuses on unique designing to justify the high prices.
The company has a mixed distribution strategy for its products and services. The main distribution channels utilized include company website and online stores, telecommunication companies, authorized sellers, and Apple stores (Johnson et al. 3). Consumers globally buy products and services from the online store and the company’s website (Rahmani, Emamisaleh, and Yadegari 105). Authorized sellers are strategically located in shopping malls worldwide, and they sell through their seller accounts on Amazon or their own stores. The mixing of different distribution channels makes Apple’s marketing management great.
Apple’s promotion strategy mainly involves product placement and buzz emerging from positive reviews. According to Datta, Ailawadi, and van Heerde (16), product placement involves the use of Apple devices and services on TV shows and movies. Product placement exposes their products and services to a broader market globally. Apple gives free trial for their products and services in exchange for reviews on social media or websites. The free trials create a bigger market for those services and products.
Works Cited
Datta, Hannes, Kusum L. Ailawadi, and Harald J. Van Heerde. “How well does consumer-based brand equity align with sales-based brand equity and marketing-mix response?” Journal of Marketing 81.3 (2017): 1-20.
Greenspan, Roberta. “Apple Inc.’s Marketing Mix or 4Ps (An Analysis).” 2019. Panmore Institute. 9 November 2019. <http://panmore.com/apple-inc-marketing-mix-4ps>.
Hutt, Michael, and Thomas, Speh. Business marketing management: B2B. Cengage Learning, 2016.
Johnson, Katherine, et al. “The Innovative Success that is Apple, Inc.” (2016).
Kanagal, Nagasimha Balakrishna. “Innovation and product innovation in marketing strategy.” Journal of Management and marketing research 18.4 (2015).
Rahmani, Kamaleddin, Korosh Emamisaleh, and Reza Yadegari. “Quality function deployment and new product development with a focus on marketing mix 4P model.” Asian Journal of Research in Marketing 4.2 (2015): 98-108.