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Ch. 12 - Services and Nonprofit Organization Marketing

services

service quality can make or break a company's reputation regardless of their orientation with the ease of access to internet, consumers have the ability to get valuable information about services provided by certain companies. therefore, companies have to provide a reliable service for the customers. in fact it is the most utmost important aspect of service quality. for instance if you were to call apple customer service number they would tell u to make an appointment online and file a claim for the Apple care warranty for a damaged iphone (assuming that the damage has been covered by the Applecare warranty) you would not expect to have an argument with a representative to prove your eligibility. in other words, it should be accurate to written warranty, and the process should be effortless to the consumer    

nonprofit organization marketing 

The NPO (non profit organization) for Apple is an organization where they use funding to pursue a specific purpose, such as thing like charity cause, unlike rather than pursuing profits for its own well being as a for - profit business dose. some people might not believe that investing in marketing strategies is required for non-profits, but it is quite beneficial for an npo to successfully market itself. non profits use marketing tactics to assist with growth, funding and prosperity. without any of these things, the overall mission of the npo will dwindle  

   

Ch. 11 - Developing and Managing Products

With Apple being a very popular brand, they still manage to put a whole lot of effort in creating different innovative ways to promote their products. They offer so many products that Apple may find it hard to think of new innovative ideas in order to branch out. Although this may be true, Apple never displays disappointments because they go through a rigorous product developmental process. This new product strategy helps them put everything together; from marketing to their finances. This is a continuous cycle and it is easy to pinpoint their ideas on whether it can contribute to a company's growth or hurt them.

The main idea for Apple to develop and manage (with innovative properties) new products is so they try to create something that is appealing and meets the needs of the consumers.

Apple is one of the very few firms that achieved newly established product(s). This has shown innovations in features and design, which became very popular and profitable. For instance, both the iPhone 7 and MacBook are trademarks of Apple successfully developing products that receive recognition. This may come from: many consumer reports, bloggers, business professionals and youtubers. Apple is innovative for their sleek designs and builds quality - lag free interface.

MacBook Pro 2016 with touch bar and the iPhone 7 plus.

Apple's product creation and development teams are involved in the first stages of creating new products. This includes commercialization, target marketing and advertising them to consumers.

The Apple product evolution.

Ch. 8 - Segmenting and Targeting Markets

Apple's segmentation concept is pivotal to their marketing strategy. Apple has targeted and marketed their products to consumers with certain characteristics. Apple does not use the target market the same way as many of their competitors do because the target market focuses on the users, more so than the target markets alone. This will also decide how and where they will use Apple products.

This does not mean Apple is excused or ignorant for the laws of marketing, but instead they use a very unique form of strategy called "psychographic segmentation". This strategy is appealing to all consumers, despite their: gender, ethnicity, religion, race, socio economic status and income level.

Although Apple tries to be appealing to all their consumers as much as possible, they still tend to gravitate towards the middle class to upscale high class consumers. For this reason these middle and high class consumers do not mind spending a little bit of money for the best quality products purchased. Some of these middle to high class professions include: media and news editors, magazine editors, graphic and video design editors, publicists and journalists.

Apple's use of the demographic segmentation illustrates the concentration of Apple retail stores around the United States of America.

New York City and California are main areas where Apple place their retail stores. Apple targets those two states because they appeal to the lifestyles of those living in those locations.

Apple has positioned themselves to being a "lifestyle brand", which appeals to the generation of the "tweens" and to those born after the baby boomers. This includes low income consumers to high income consumers.

Apple has over 120 web online stores catering to 120 countries and regions currently now http://www.apple.com/choose-your-country/ 

Ch. 15 - Marketing Communications

The entire concept for Marketing Communications (MarCom) for Apple is basically targeted interaction between current consumers and potential consumers. Apple will use different media outlets to help with their marketing, such as: direct mail, newspapers, magazine, email subscriptions, television, radio, billboards and the internet.

Apple uses the AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action) concept for their strategy. This concept outlines the procedure in order to execute promotional goals. This comes in terms of stages of consumer involvement with the message.

With the integrated marketing communication (IMC), it will help to maximize the influence a company has on their consumers.

Apple has done a phenomenal job using components from IMC and the A.I.D.A concept to achieve and maintain a long term consumer relationship, while pushing the Apple brand and its value.

Apple uses promotional advertising and different advertising tools to capture the consumers' attention, interest, and desire of the consumer. Apple continues to grab our attention and interest through innovating and sleek imagery of products, as well as keynotes and other publications. For example, just prior to the heavily anticipated iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus being released, the phone received a great amount of publicity that captured so many potential customers' attention.

A = Attention 

Apple gets the customers' attention with eye catching and HD photos of their products, which are displayed on their website. They also do this kind of publicity through blogs and online articles. By people reviewing their products before launch, the consumers will be able to have a look at their products and play around with them before it hits retail stores. 

I = Interest 

With interest, the products that Apple comes out with really makes customers think if we really need another upgrade to our current iPhone. On the other hand, are willing to buy it just because we can and it's a "trend"?

D = Desire  

The desire part plays for consumers who love the company so much that they will camp outside the stores and wait to purchase the product. This also includes for websites because people will buy stuff online happily and wait hour prior to launching hour.

Action = Action 

With action, Apple has been very successful with sales margins. They now cater to so many wireless carriers all over the globe. As a result, this allows for more attraction from consumers and potential buyers from all around the world.

Ch. 10 - Product Concepts

I would like to add a few facts with this blog before I elaborate my thoughts on Apple's product concepts.

Apple is in a category of their own especially when it comes down to product concepts, retailing, strategy. and advertising. They know exactly what they are capable of doing and they go at their own pace rather than following competition. They also have consumers push them to the edge by asking Apple what they want through social media demands and blogs. Consumers may also give Apple product concept ideas, but Apple will not be taking any chances on that and just simply do things their own way.

Apple may be slightly behind when it comes down to few features on their iPhones or other products. However, this isn't hurting their sales because they are still on top of their competitors with high positive reviews and consumers satisfaction ratings. This is definitely a smart play by Apple because they go through every procedure and obstacle in order to have creative marketing, designs and engineering teams. Competitors like Samsung are already at the peak of their innovation, but as we saw recently there was a horrible outcome with their new product. The Galaxy Note 7 is like a ticking time bomb, which can explode at any given moment due to poor quality assurance inspection. As a result, many customers will leave!

Apple's products are considered a shopping product because of the pricing. When compared to convenience products, the image portrayed by Apple is of its innovating and sleek designs. The popularity of their products gives Apple the luxury to be called a specialty product. The perception of Apple products that consumers have alone allow us to see the product concept, which is absolute pure genius. Every consumer that has an Apple product can tell you how much it means to them in terms of how their product delivers in quality, usability, sleek design finish and easy interface. These opinions by consumers can be backed by Apple's product concept, the performance Apple display to their consumers and by consumers reports.

Product Concepts: For Apple or any other company there is a universal business hypothesis. This hypothesis assumes that consumers desire products in areas such as: better updated features, performance, and quality.

Shopping Product: Apple is a shopping product because it is considered a luxury product, which is occasionally bought by consumers who do more research before buying the product. Consumers will spend a lot of time on research and looking into the item to make sure the product is worth it.

Product Warranties: This is an insurance protection, which is applied to a product that a consumer purchases within any big box retailers or super stores. It is described as an additional protection plan to the consumer when you buy a product. This gives the seller or manufacturer a responsibility to repair or replace the product if it is (or becomes) damaged.     

Ch. 17 - Personal Selling and Sales Management

One of the most effective ways to attract consumers is by having sales promotions. This tactic tells the consumers to come into that specific location offering sales promotions. Once the customer has entered the store, it is know the employees turn to give their expert advice and knowledge in order to help the consumer out. The employee can  use anything to execute the sales, such as in depth tutorials on how a product works and giving. The employee should familiarize themselves to the customer so they can feel important, which is the next important factor. After the sales associate has gained the sale, the interaction between the customer and sales associate is what creates repeat visits from the customer. If the employee is very good at their job then this can lead to referrals from the customers. As a result, the sales promotions and retail store become positively popular.

Personal Selling

Apple uses different promotional techniques by using special short term methods to encourage people to respond or undertake their products. For example, they use money guarantees, purchase price and rebates.

Apple stores are very unique on each store layout design and structure, which is what sets them apart from all electronics stores. Apple displays all of their products so the consumers have a hands on experience, along with a clear intake on the environment of the store. Consumers are allowed to surf the web on any of the products, such as: the iMac, Macbook, iPad and iPhone. This allows them to experience different features and allows the consumers to get comfortable with Apple products. Ultimately, this is a major sales and promoting strategy, which shows Apple has good personal selling strategies.

Sales Promotion

     

In addition to the previous chapter about sales promotions, Apple uses advertising, public 

relations and personal selling. This way the marketing managers can execute the idea of using the method of sales promotions to increase the effectiveness of their promotional efforts.

Another aspect to take notice of is that Apple rarely gives out promotions and discounts on items. However, Apple does have special deals on specific months, such as back to school for college students. During the summer Apple has this program where they give you up to $200 off on a purchase either online or in store. They will also give you a $100 iTunes gift card. 

Rebates

Apple does not hand out many rebates on merchandise. They only do a follow up on certain occasions with special educational pricing (as said above).

If you choose to purchase a Macbook Pro for college, then Apple will give you a $100 iTunes gift card. They will do a quick in store audit to see whether you are a student or not by looking up your student ID card. This is an example of a rebate.

Sales Management 

Going back to "Chapter 14 - Supply Chain Management and Marketing Channeling Retailing" and my personal experience of going to the Apple store. When the associate encouraged me to purchase an attachment of insurance along with my iPhone, which was called "Applecare", she then quickly handed the brochure to her sales manager because she did not know much about the Applecare system. From there it didn't take long for the sales manager to execute the sell furthermore. He was proposing ways on how to maintain my product from any potential damages and providing me really good advice in general. This way he won't lose the sale.  He also kept on asking me if I found everything alright and advised me to buy a protective case so my phone is safe at all times. 

As you can see it is the sales manager's duty and obligation to fulfill my needs. He also helped his employees out who didn't know much about the Applecare system.