NEW BRAND

April 30, 2018

Abstract

The Apple brand has been ranked as the brand with the highest sales in the United States. Apple brand has a wide variety of products. This research aims at analyzing the marketing mix of Apple that is the products, price, distribution, and promotion. Furthermore, the research aims at analyzing the background of the brand. The methods used in data collection are face to face interview and telephone interviews with questionnaires. The Apple brand was identified as the most preferred brand despite the higher prices as compared to its competitors due to the premium quality of its products.

Apple Brand

Introduction

Apple Company is an American based company that was established in the year 1976 by Steve Jobs. The Apple company deals with a wide range of products which include computers, smartphones, and smartwatches. In the year 2014, Apple was ranked as the best brand in the United States. The Apple company sells its products across the globe and has many suppliers located at various geographical locations.

Products

Apple company has a wide range of products that include, computers, smartphones, and smartwatches. Apple strategizes on creating the best products on the market. The two main characteristics observed in apple products are intuitiveness and simplicity. The first product to be launched by the Apple company was the Mac Computer. At that time, Mac Computer was overpriced and perceived to be targeting a specific market. The Apple company outstood other companies in the industry when it produced the iPod. Apple TV, iPad, Apple Watch, and iPhone are other products of the Apple company.

Price

The premium pricing strategy of Apple products gives the company the advantage of avoiding price conflicts with its competitors. It ensures that the company gains higher profits in contrast to its share of the market. This strategy has ensured the production of premium products which are priced accordingly. The recognition of Apple brand accounts for customers’ will to purchase the products despite the high prices as compared to the same products from other companies.

Distribution

The Apple company owns numerous retail outlets and online stores. Moreover, Apple products are also distributed in various stores that deal with mobile products. The strong chain of supply of Apple company is one of the major factors that contribute to the success of the company. The outsourcing in the Apple Company is carried out strategically. There are numerous suppliers of raw materials across the globe therefore in a case where one supplier runs short of the materials, another supplier may provide them in time.

Promotion

Apple Company is involved in various activities which emphasize the premium quality and image of its products thus ensuring that its products reach more buyers. Apple’s promotional mix consists of advertisement, sales promotion, public relations and personal selling. The advertisement is done through the website of the company, Apple stores and news sites dealing with technology. Sales promotions are carried out in Apple stores whereby older products are discounted. Moreover, personal selling is done where employees in Apple stores provide information about various products to the customers. Finally, public relations enable the company to reach many potential buyers through Apple events and exclusive interviews.

Brand elements

The logo of Apple Company is easily identified across the globe. It is represented by apple that is bitten partly on its right. The Apple logo is seen in each Apple product. The logo is minimal, easily readable and simple thus succeeds in capturing the attention of the audience. Almost every individual, despite their geographical locations, desire to use Apple products. The company’s name directly relates to its logo which makes the apple products easily identified.

Secondly, the slogan is a very important element in branding. The first slogan adopted by the Apple company in the year 1976 during its establishment was “Byte into an Apple”. “Think different” is the advertising slogan of Apple Company. It was adopted in the year 2002 majorly for advertisement of the company’s products. “Think different” had a long-lasting impact on the image of the brand thus increased its popularity among the customers and the media. The Apple company has various slogans for the various products which include “Say hello to iPhone” for iPhone smartphone and “iThink, therefore, iMac” for the promotion of iMac among others.

According to the designer of the graphics, the bitten part of the apple was a symbol that affirmed that it was indeed an apple but not a berry. The print out of the bitten apple affirms that there are eight bits missing. The “Byte into an Apple” slogan was a slogan that encouraged people to try Apple products so that they can realize their goodness. The Apple logo is a symbol of knowledge as illustrated in religious books. The knowledge associated with the company’s logo puts across a message that knowledgeable people choose Apple products over other companies’ products. The colors of the rainbow in the original design was a way of humanizing the products majorly for sales revolving around education and for capabilities of the screen color.

Apart from covering and wrapping things, packaging gives the product an aesthetic value when they are appealing and attractive. The packaging of a product determines whether the customers are going to purchase a given product or not. Apple’s packaging strengthens the brand by giving its clients an experience that it sensational. The packaging of Apple products is directly related to their quality. Apple is known for its mastery in the creation of packages that communicate the brand without the logo or words. Moreover, Apple’s packaging is not only about the aesthetic value but also the convenience in unwrapping and easy identification of their components.

Finally, a trademark is a very important aspect of the branding of products. Except for the Apple logo which appears on the right foot, other symbols of Apple products appear on the right shoulder of the trademark. The Apple’s trademarks are unique and easily identified in its products and even in the design of its offices. For instance, the Apple Park has a figurative trademark which is a succession of rings.

Competitive Brands

Microsoft is Apple’s major competitor. Though at some point the two companies were clients of one another, they have gone into a direct competition. Apple company use Microsoft operating systems on their computers. They both offered computers which made Microsoft have better sales due to their cheapness as compared to Apple computers. The computers of Microsoft were, however, less made as compared to those of Apple but people still preferred them over those of Apple. The Apple company outsold Microsoft when it moved to the market of smartphones. Their smartphones are of a premium quality which makes the customers prefer them to those of Microsoft.

Samsung brand is another major direct competitor of the Apple brand mainly in the smartphone industry. Samsung Company is a trusted tech corporation. Its ideas are very similar to those of Apple in various aspects but are cheaper as compared to those of Apple. The main concern of Apple company on Samsung brand is the hardware. Samsung’s televisions and tablets are of a lower price as compared to the Apple televisions and iPads. The Samsung electronics can host Android OS licensed by Google. Samsung and Google alongside other Apple’s competitors work in unison with an aim of weakening the market share of Apple products.

Primary Research

A questionnaire on the three brands, that is Apple, Microsoft and Samsung are first prepared before conducting a face to face interview. During the interview, the questions are posed to the respondents who in turn give their views on the issue at hand. The Questionnaires include all aspects required by the researcher from the respondents. Before conducting the interview on the various brands, the researcher gives a summative explanation his or her aims of the research at hand. The next step is to request the respondents for their cooperation in the research and an assurance is given to them that their response is only for research purposes and will be treated as confidential.

The researcher should show good character during the interview to ensure that the interview is carried out in an atmosphere that is friendly and without hiccups. The interviewer reads out the questions to the respondents and then records the exact response given by the respondents. Face to face interviews can be conducted in various places which include offices, homes, shopping malls or sports theatres.

In this data collection process, the researcher collects data through a telephone conversation. To ensure that this method works in the research involving the three brands, the researcher first obtains a complete directory of the telephone numbers of the various targeted users of these brands. The researcher makes a phone call to the respondents, explains the objectives of the research and assures them that their information will be treated as confidential. If the respondent consents to the interview, the researcher will then go ahead to pose the question as he or she records the responses. Notably, the respondents are often more willing to give highly detailed and very reliable information on telephone interview as compared to personal interviews. Moreover, telephone interviews can be conducted through computerized questionnaires that are administered to the respondents through the phone. The researcher then inputs the responses directly into the computer’s memory. During the interview, the computer can analyze the responses to establish their consistency and appropriateness.

Questionnaire

1. How old are you?

2. What is your profession?

3. Do you own a smartphone and if yes, what smartphone brand do you use currently?

4. Which smartphone brand among Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft do most of your family members use?

5. When purchasing a smartphone, what do you look for?

6. What made you chose the brand you are currently using?

7. Do you think the brand matters when it comes to purchasing a smartphone?

8. If asked to rate the brand you are currently using, how will you rate it on a scale of 1 to 5?

9. What activities do you mostly carry out on your smartphone?

10. Do you consider your device as worth the price you purchased it at?

11. If asked to recommend a brand to a friend or family, which brand among Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft would you recommend? Why?

Primary research results.

Analysis.

The smartphone brand owned by the respondents varied from individual to individual. Samsung brand was the dominating brand whereby the highest percent of the respondents owned it followed by Microsoft and finally the Apple brand. From the statistics, most people prefer the Samsung brand mainly due to its lower standard price as compared to the Apple brand. Most of the respondents prefer Apple brand as compared to Samsung and Microsoft smartphones. Most of the respondents said that when purchasing a smartphone, they do consider their brand. When asked to rate the brands they were using on the scale of 1 to 5, Apple users rated the brand at 5, Samsung and Microsoft at 4. It is therefore clear that most users would prefer Apple products to other brands due to their premium quality as compared to other brands specifically Microsoft and Samsung. Most of the respondents affirmed that they felt that their smartphones were worth the price they purchased them at. This response, therefore, accounts for the direct relation of quality and price. Finally, among the three brands, most respondents responded that they would recommend Apple brands as compared to the other brands. An indication that most people trust Apple brands as compared to Samsung and Microsoft.

Conclusion

The Apple brand is the leading brands in sales globally. The several brand elements contributing to the success of the company include the company’s slogan, logo, trademarks, characters, symbols, and packaging. The Apple company has a very effective marketing mix, that is its products, prices, promotion, and distribution. The two major competitors of Apple brand are Samsung and Microsoft brands. Though the prices of Apple products are quite high as compared to other brands, people still prefer them due to their premium quality.

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