Marketing Research Report

Introduction

Gaining competitive advantage within the market is something that companies continuously strive towards. Standing out and differentiating the business from what the rest of the market is offering to the consumers is what ultimately allows companies to succeed. Leading companies and business adopt various marketing strategies and methodologies to stand out amongst the competition and gain consumer interest. Carefully selected marketing professionals are assembled in to teams who are responsible for developing an effective marketing plan that takes in to account various factors specifically those associated with product price and product promotion, to allow the company to secure larger profits within the market. (Cusumano, 2010)

Apple, Inc. which is one of the leading consumer electronics companies in the world is at the top of the market at the moment despite all the competition that it faces specifically from its major rival company Samsung. Apple has a strong history of revenue growth, high returns on investment and also boasts as having one of the most brand-loyal consumers in the world. The following paper will explore the environmental forces that provided Apple with the opportunities that it currently enjoys as well as the key trends that it is currently experiencing. Furthermore, Apple’s diverse target market will be focused on and the ways in which Apple, Inc. could strive for further differentiation within the market will be discussed.

Key Environment Forces

Various key environmental forces provided Apple, Inc. with the right opportunities that the company readily exploited under the leadership of Steve Jobs, one of the three co-founders of the company. Since its formation back in 1976, the company has been focused on implementing one strategy that although sounds very simple; is actually very difficult to achieve. The visionary behind Apple, Steve Jobs focused on defining the entire company based on a few simple aspects: staying unique, innovative and designing products through exploiting the concept of simplicity since simplicity is the ultimate complex. These key factors played a significant role in allowing the company to come up with products that consumers actually wanted to pay for.

The key environmental factors that ensured Apple’s continuous success and still continue to do so include the following:

1. The creation of the demand for state-of-the-art smartphones.

2. International consumer interest.

3. A large consumer market that was unaware of the concept of user-friendliness and unique yet highly simply designs of products.

The introduction of smartphones, and not just any smartphones but carefully designed and easy-to-use smart phones, within the market significantly changed the ways in which consumers made their product choices when it came to purchasing mobile phones. Apple completely revolutionized the smart phone industry that was near to non-existent prior to their entrance within the market. Although, Apple, Inc. had originally started out entirely focused on the PC market, it eventually gravitated towards popularizing the idea of having a mini computer-like device in your pocket that was designed to be user-friendly and cool to use. The marketing strategy that Apple adopted to promote this concept eventually caught on as consumers started preferring smart phones over regular phones.

Another great opportunity that Apple had during its early years was that there was a global demand for mini-computer devices that were being popularized. Apple, Inc. to this day exploits the opportunity of great interest for Apple products within the Asian market. This interest in the products ultimately provided the ground for Apple to continue on. Apple adopted a very different strategy from its competitors. The visionary behind Apple, Steve Jobs used effective marketing strategies for the products that the company created. He believed that allowing the consumers to understand why they want to buy or purchase a certain product would ultimately ensure long-term returns well as continued consumer loyalty. The products that Apple ultimately ended up designing focused on the aspects of innovation, simplicity, user-friendliness and ease of use that instantly attracted a large consumer market. The strategy did pay off in the long run. (Gustin, 2012)

Changes in Target Market

Over the years, Apple’s target market has grown tremendously and attracted international consumers, groups and demographics. With effective marketing strategies, the interest of the consumers in Apple’s uniquely designed products has continued to increase. Apple designed effective marketing strategies for each of its individual products that it offers, e.g. iPhone, iPad, Macbook and iPod. The trends in the purchasing behavior of the organizations target market have changed positively over the years. The marketing strategies have attracted a very diverse range of consumers from all across the globe who are willing to pay for these state-of-the-art products. The sales of iPhones and iPad tablets have increased over time as more and more consumers are shifting to Apple products primarily due to their simplicity and uniqueness. The changes within the target market have therefore been positive over the years resulting in great revenue growths.

Five Environmental Forces

1. Social:

The diverse range of consumer market that Apple targets ultimately forces the company to take in to account various factors specifically those associated with the differing aspects of individual life-styles that consumers follow. The need and demands of the consumers are continuously changing and so are the motives that ultimately force the consumers in to purchasing Apple products. Consumers value luxury and products that offer entertainment and are feasible as well as reliable at the same time. This increased purchasing power of the consumers has ultimately allowed them to choose their product preferences specifically those related to technology. Apple has been successful in meeting consumer demands over the years and even introducing new ones that consumers did not even know they could benefit from, thereby defining individual lifestyles through introducing new unique products.

2. Economic:

Consumer and supplier’s bargaining positions are becoming stronger thereby impacting Apple directly. Other economic factors such as inflation in the world’s economy have caused serious decline in sales for Apple in the past. Perhaps the major opportunities for Apple lie in expansion within the developing countries which are still less exposed to these high-tech products. For example, expansion within the Asian market would prove to be very effective for Apple. However, the main aspect that tends to influence Apple product sales is that of consumer purchasing power. Any fluctuations in this aspect would directly impact Apple’s business.

3. Technological:

Since Apple itself is a company that is directly associated with technology, it influences Apple’s businesses directly. Availability of better, faster and more functional hardware ultimately pushes Apple to make changes in its core design elements to offer customers the best quality products. The competition ultimately increases. However, Apple has been focused on remaining unique and innovative from the start and has easily been able to dominate its competitors in this field as well. (Gustin, 2012)

4. Competitive:

Apple has to face a huge amount of competition within the consumer electronics industry primarily because the market is expanding and improving at a very fast pace. In order to stay ahead and relevant, Apple has to continuously out-smart its competitors. The biggest competitors include Samsung, Google, HP, Microsoft, HTC and Nokia. Although Apple still remains at the top within the consumer electronic industry, it lacks behind in terms of the sales of certain products. While iPhone continue to remain on high-demand, Apple’s laptops face a lot of competition especially from competitors such as Microsoft and HP which offer high quality laptop products for cheaper rates that are easily affordable by the average consumer. Gaining competitive advantage would require Apple to come up with a killer marketing strategy that would ultimately allow the company to win over the consumers that settle for cheaper products.

5. Regulatory:

Various legal and regulatory issues can also affect Apple’s business greatly. Apple’s privacy issues and the ways in which they use information through their devices is an issue that Apple might have to deal with. This is one of the main aspects that Apple may have to re-think in the future.

Differentiation Strategy

Apple has been using a very effective differentiation strategy in the past that has served it well. Apple tends to predict consumer demands and behaviors prior to designing/ introducing its products. The consumers are provided with the product in a manner that makes them think that they need the product as a part of their life primarily because it suddenly becomes the latest trend. Apple designs premium products at a premium price that consumers pay to purchase an entire package that is uniquely designed, easy to use and highly effective in terms of meeting consumer demands. Marketing strategies employed by Apple further create interest amongst the public regarding their products which is why the company has such brand-loyal customers in the first place.

The key aspects that Apple can use to gain competitive advantage include those of designing products that offer features that are not offered already by consumers. Introducing new features directly sparks curiosity of the consumers that make them make different product choices. Apple should focus on improving its pricing strategy so as to allow more consumers to be able to purchase their products. Furthermore, focusing on maintain brand loyalty and introducing retail outlets in developing countries are some of the future strategies that Apple can use.

Geek Case Study

Perhaps the greatest lesson that Geek Case study presented was that of staying relevant and continuing to find ways to target the consumer market with the changing environment. As the social set-up and environment changed, Geek Squad identified their potential customers that they could target: women. And they realized this opportunity instantly thereby allowing them to change their strategies. Furthermore, the aspect of introducing the demand that does not previously exist in the minds of the consumer is a concept that really stood out about the case study. Even though the demand is already there, it is dormant and often hidden from plain sight. Even the consumer himself is not aware of it at times. Sometimes, businesses have to figure out ways to identify these demands and present them to the consumers in order to thrive. Geek Squad’s repairmen and consulting services were a hit despite being unpopular previously when the demand was not officially identified. Perhaps, the same applies to Apple’s case as well. Additionally, Geek Squad continued to look for partnerships and ways to expand their networks in order to gain consumer interest. This suggests that continuously exploring new options for expanding the business and targeting a diverse range of customers should be the key in any successful business looking for positive outcomes. (Jinjin, 2013)

References

Gustin, S. (2012). Why Apple is Winning: Innovation, Opportunity and Execution | TIME.com. TIME.com. Retrieved 28 March 2016, from http://business.time.com/2012/04/25/why apple-wins-innovation-opportunity-and-execution/

Cusumano, M. A. (2010). Staying power: Six enduring principles for managing strategy and innovation in an uncertain world (lessons from Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Google, Toyota and more). OUP Oxford.

Jinjin, T. A. N. (2013). Strategic Analysis of Apple Computer Inc. & Recommendations for the Future Direction. Management Science and Engineering, 7(2), 94.

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