2 page plan incorporating findings
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gb580_team_assignment_5.docxThe Six Paths of Blue Ocean Strategies permits management to concentrate on the search risk that their company might be having difficulties with. The analysis, which is made up of six approaches, allows the organization to discover commercially compelling blue oceans by recreating market boundaries. Each approach test the six fundamental assumptions underlying many organizations strategies that keep companies stuck with going back and forth with red oceans. (Six Paths.)
The first approach of the strategies is “Industry” and defined by Blue Ocean, it is to look at alternate industries. Apple, along with any company, can guess that the products and services that they offer compete in an unchanging market.
Example: Realizing that technological savvy customers have a choice to choose their competitors product of theirs, Apple creates new products with have comparing the differences and sends out software updates to their target customers.
The second approach is “Strategic Management”. Strategic approaches generally feed off of quality, price, and performance. They have done everything from making Apple software compatible to Windows to making each line of product original. The company has also focused on advertising through their own products such as iTunes or the app store. This will create more revenue for the company by doing so. Back when the iPad released in 2010 critics thought that the iPad would flop, but to their disbelief, the sales proved everyone wrong. One year after they were released, sales were reaching 28 million. (Kawamoto) The reason for this is because Apple is focused on offering a transportable, lightweight device that customers can download apps, browse the web, communicate with others, and capture memories by taking photos at a reasonable price.
Path 3: Look Across the Chain of Buyers
Companies tend to focus on one group of buyers for their product or service when there are actually a chain of buyers including the actual purchasers, as well as the users, who are often the influencers of the purchasers, too. (Chan Kim, Mauborgne, 2005). These different members of the buyer chain all value different things in their products, and companies target different parts of the buyer chain. For example, a retail user won’t care about a manufacturer’s just-in-time stock replenishment the way the retailer doing the purchasing will, and a pharmaceutical company will specifically target doctors (who are influenceres) instead of the user patients.
The purchasers of Apple’s iPad are generally the users. iPads typically are bought for personal use for the owner and their families. Apple targets the end user when selling, but if Apple considered selling to schools and libraries in bulk, they would be able to get their products in the hands of children and library goers who cannot afford iPads but could find educational advantages from them and creating a blue ocean of people who did not previously buy iPads or use them.
Path 4: Look Across Complementary Product and Service Offerings
Chan and Mauborgne emphasize considering the total solution that buyers seek when choosing a product (i.e. imagine a movie theater with a built in babysitter service and going to the movies suddenly becomes much easier for a lot of customers) (2005, p. 65).
Considering the before, during, and after of buying an iPad, it is good to consider the user experience of an Apple product. Apple already includes a lot of the most efficient manufactured parts and supplemental software and information required for an iPad including many apps. It is a very comprehensive tool for learning, entertainment, and engaging socially. But Apple tends to think it knows what its customers should be using rather than what an individual customer might want. Some people love the simple design and use of an iPad the way it comes out of the box, but some people who use tablets prefer more customizability (which Apple does not offer willingly). Suggesting a mode (that arrives in the off position but can be turned on) on the tablet that allows more advanced tablet users to customize and add widgets and more apps not present in the Apple store would make an even more comprehensive experience for more advanced users that might normally gravitate to a less restrictive company than Apple. Another idea for making a more complete product, beyond simply giving more battery life, would be a solar power element so additional plugs and accessories were rendered unnecessary most times of day.
Path 5: Look Across Functional Buyers or Emotional Appeal to Buyers Companies compete in their specific industry on two possible bases of appeal. It’s either price/function calculated largely on utility, or their appeal is emotional such as special service/extra accessories. Companies rarely focus solely on functional or emotional buyers, but their priority focus incline on one side more than the other. This is the result on how companies have competed with one another in the past, and becomes more and more either functional or emotional oriented (Chan Kim, Mauborgne, 2005). Apple’s reputation for innovated products and being detailed on every aspect such as design presentation is well known. The IPad is no exception and outstands against its competitors Google Nexus and Samsung Galaxy Tab S in design, performance, and even price (expensive). The IPad is the most expensive tablet compared with its rivals, and their emotional appeal on such as their package design and presentation are some key-factors that set their price. Apple can focus more on functional appeal, reduce the emotional with the design of its packaging. Reducing their designs and changing their packaging material, but with meeting handling/package standards, can help to reduce costs and can lower their prices to gain competitive advantage. When companies that “sacrifice” the functional/emotional features they find themselves with new market possibilities.
Addressing Customers Outside the Target Market
Authors Kim and Mauborgne wrote, “to reach beyond the existing demand, think non-customers before customers, commonalities before differences, and de-segmentation before pursuing finer segmentation” (Kim and Mauborgne, 2006 pg. 103). There are currently three tiers of customers that Apple has. Consumer who are looking for deals and options are considered first tier customers. Second tier customers are those customers who would purchase the Ipad but they consider the price too high. The third tier of customer are those consumers who don’t plan on purchasing tablets due to the fear of the technology or lack of interest in tablets. The third tier also includes customers who are not fond of the Apple brand. This third tier is the target market.
There are alternatives that are similar to substitutes, but are normally overlooked by a company (Kim and Mauborgne, 2006). The Ipads market share has decreased due to the evolution of the Google Nexus and Kindle tablets. In order to recapture Apples lost market they will need to implement a Blue Ocean strategy for the tier three customers.
The third tier customer should be approached by appealing to the desires of non-customers. By making the Ipad more customizable the needs of the non-customer would be addressed. This can be by the use of cases to personalize the appearance of the Ipad or by applications which are consumer specific. Pricing needs to be adjusted to attract new customers. Bundles along with the Iphone , MacBook or Ipod can attract consumers to the Apple product line. Distribution can be improved by allowed the Ipad to be sold in multiple retails outlets such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target and Sears. Ease of use needs to be allowed for Ipad use by children and senior citizens. This would include large readable fonts for the seniors and gaming capability for children. Children would also benefit by having internet, social media applications and streaming capability that will allow them to grow with the Ipad as they mature in life.
