Marketing Principles Assignment Essay

IntroductionFor this coursework assignment I ordain demonstrate that I required a good chi scum bageledge and intellect of the patterns and process of market by carrying out the task given. This allow for be tapeed with casings of possibility relevant to a lodge of my choosing.For this task examples will be related to apple Inc. organization.Incorporated in January 1977 as orchard apple tree Computer, Inc. todays orchard apple tree Inc. designs, produces and markets media and mobile colloquy devices, personal computers, portable media players and sells a variety of related softw atomic number 18. orchard apple trees crops and operate include the iPad tablet computer, iPhone hand rigid, mack computer and iPod music mp3 player, the iOS and OS X operating systems.The company as well as sells and delivers music, movies, books and applications using the iTunes Store and Mac App Store. The company headquarters ar located in Cupertino, California, USA. Worldwide at that place ar 390 orchard apple tree retail stores with reported revenue in 2012 of $36.0 billion. merchandise wise the company is been voted many sentences as the winner of CMO slew Award for market Excellence. apples ternary points merchandise philosophy namely Empathy, Focus and Impute come made it practicable for the company to become one of the worlds most(prenominal) valuable brands. line 1 projection 1a. agree to the Ameri goat merchandising Association (October 2007) selling is defined as the activity, determine of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for clients, clients, partners, and society at large.The CMA Canadian marketing Association defines selling as a delimitate of crease concern practices designed to plan for and present an organizations carre fours or go in instructions that build effective client relationships.The leased Institute of merchandising defines market as the forethought process trus dickensrthy for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements ne cardinalrkablyBroadly defined, merchandise is a genial and managerial process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return (Hasell, 2012)These definitions show the importance of management in merchandise and how important is for a business to k right off the consumers take and wants. These definitions also show the importance of communicating a message to create the aw atomic number 18ness that would create monetary value in return.The management process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying the consumers take and wants its c totallyed a marketing process. This process is made of four steps 1. Analyze the company role2. Develop a marketing dodging3. Make decisions in name of marketing commingle4. And how to implement and control the marketing outline.Examples of apple Inc. marketing process-Apple is using SWOT and swearing flummoxs to analyze the company situation. -Apple is laying to a greater extent than the middle upper income professionals. -Apple builds up anticipation before accounting entry a produce.-Apple included a customer service phone number in the iPhone phone book for customer direct contact with Apple in case of technical problems.Task 1b.There are a a few(prenominal) marketing concepts that an organizations arse adapt. Each one of these concepts has expediencys and disadvantages. These marketing concepts are carrefour related is when a company could emphasis on perfecting a harvest-feast and its quality. The disadvantage for being result oriented is that a company can lose site of what consumer may want and need when focusing on creating one perfect annex. Production related a company could focus on the mass intersectionion of a product.The advantage for being production-orientated is that a product ion line in place could bring to a greater extent profit beca character of the low cost on producing the said(prenominal) product. Although low cost are possible because customers have antithetical needs, changing the line for a unlike product its costly. Sales related a company could estimate to focus on selling what it produces. The disadvantage is that the company does not k this instant what the customers needs are.Market related a company could focus on customer needs before developing a product. The disadvantage is that selective teaching could be obtained from customers who do not know what they need. With so much elicit on what the customer needs, the product development can be e rattlingwherelooked. societal related a company could focus on the natural and hearty environment and the customer needs The disadvantage of being societal orientated is that it is rarely possible to satisfy all customers needs and stakeholders.The first three marketing concepts, product, production and gross sales, are focusing on the product. The last twain concepts, market and sales, focus on the consumer. Although they all are focus differentiate, all five concepts have one single goal in rough-cut and that is to strain profit.Market orientation is about collecting and dissemination of averation from customers. Apple Inc. has choose the market concept together with product orientation. Having adopted both orientation with emphasis on quality and future customers needs it delivered the organization to anticipate the need for a modernistic product, come down high values and achieve to a greater extent profit. But being marketing orientated it is costly. A company has to invest in the development of the product, market research, in surveys, databases, analysts and product changes.Although it is costly to be marketing orientated there are benefits for adopting this concept. For example The Apples iPhone is at his fifth generation. Introduced in 2007, it was a product of innovation and market research. The development of the product took three years and with the collaboration between Apple and Cingular Wireless is estimated to have cost $150 millions.According to Forbes magazine (08/2012) aboutthing that didnt exist five years ago, has high sales than everything Microsoft has to offer. More than Windows, Office, Xbox, Bing, Windows Phone, and every different product that Microsoft has created since 1975. In the quarter end March 31, 2012, iPhone had sales of $22.7 billion Microsoft Corporation, $17.4 billion.Task 2Task 2a.A business organization marketing decisions are fermentd by macro and the little environmental factors. business linees can cover the inside factors with a SWOT model analysis and the external factors can be assessed by doing a PEST model analysis. The advantage of doing these analyses is the identification of opportunities and knowing where the organization is at that moment.Apple Inc. 2013 SWOT anal ysis Strengths brand reputation and make retail stores. feature with a strong financial performance and innovative capabilities Apple can be first on the market satisfying new customers needs. Weaknesses. Apple products have higher prices. Conscious people my rein them to expensive and competitors can take advantage of this factor. Recent changes in management could lead to misunderstandings between Apple In. departments and could slow down the process of making marketing mix decisions for the 4 Ps (product, price, place and promotion). Opportunities.High convey for the iPhone 5 and the iPad products and the growth of tablet and smartphone markets. Competition mistakes standardised the Microsoft introduction of shot software. Apple took full advantages of how bad was the Vista program having PC users downgrading rearward to XP and migrating to Apple. This can dress hat be seen in the I am a Mac I am a PC ads (2006-2008). Threats. New competitors like the Huawei in the UK phone market. Strong dollar will affect exports.Apple Inc. macro environment is analyzed using the PEST model (political, economical, social and technological). These are factors that the organization has little or no control over them and can either support or hinder Apples marketing decisions. For example, in the case of the political factors a tax development usually means a price increase.This will reduce the purchasing power of the consumer and subsequently reduce remuneration. Recession is an economical factor. The consumer buying faith is usually low and high priced Apple products are seen more as a commodity than a necessity.Task 2b.Satisfying customers by treating them kindred is rarely possible because they have different needs. Segmentation is about understanding and satisfying these needs by separating consumers in groups with the same needs. One of the advantages of cleavage is that the organization can position the product better within a chosen segment. Poorl y done partition can group customers in the wrong segment.The bases for segmentation are demographic, geographic, psychographic, behavioristic and geo-demographic. Some of the characteristics for demographic segmentation are sex, age, income, and education. Geographic segmentation is based on the location of authority customers. Psychographic is based on customers personality and lifestyles. Behavioral segmentation is based on the consumers actions. Geo-demographic is a combination of the geographical and demographical segments.There are three types of targeting methods and these areUndifferentiated for all publicsConcentrated focus on a unique(predicate) groupDifferentiated for different group typesTo recommend segmentation criteria and targeting methods for two different products I chose Apples iPod and the iPhone. For both products Apple Inc. should enlist the demographic and psychographic segmentation criteria. This will allow the organization to separate and target consu mers based on the count of money they have to spend and on what they would like to spend. For the iPod (mp3 music player) Apple should pursue the concentrated method.This will allow them to focus on those customers who like to listen to music on the go, swot songs and ultimately buy music for the iPod with the help of additional music broadcast like the iTunes. For the iPhone, Apple should pursue the undifferentiated method. With so many different features the iPhone can be utilise by anyone for personal and business use.Task 2c.Buyer behavior affects how organizations market their products. Cultural, Social, Personal and Psychological are the four major factors influencing buyers behavior. To appeal consumers preferences, marketing mix strategies are developed by the organizations for the target market. Positioning is a strategy with what an organization can influence the buyer behavior. The strategy could include product use, product user, price, quality, product feature s, product class, competitors, benefits and cultural symbol.Apple Inc. products are perceived as high priced products with some buyers perception of them as over priced products. To counteract this perception Apple should computer memory the iPod and the iPhone products using a strategy emphasizing products use, quality, performance and features.Task 3Task 3a.To have sustainable competitive advantages Apple Inc. products development baffle with generating ideas. For example, the development of the iPhone product started with the idea of interacting with a computer without a keyboard. ordinarily a company can have many ideas for a product and screening them is necessary. Apple Inc. screens them through evaluations on the bases like the market needs, costs and resources. Apple market research concluded that the iPhone will have no aspiration for its features and the benefit will out way the cost of development.The next step of the product development was the forcible transformat ion of the concept. Testing of the Apple products is done within the company using the employees. Normally companies test their new products with consumers but Apple prefers this type of testing because of the need of keeping the product features a secret from the competitors. After the evaluation of new ideas from the employees theiPhone was produced for the market.Task 3b.To make products available to the consumers Apple Inc. has three choices of dispersions 1) Selling directly to consumers. This melodic line of distribution is advantageous and a preference for Apple In. for the opportunities arising from interacting directly with the customer. Apple has their own retail stores with knowledgeable sales people who can make it very convenient for a customer to buy Apple products. Another way is selling directly through their website. Both options can be comfortably employ for market research for better anticipation of new customer needs. 2) The second channel of distribution is selling the products through retailers.The advantage this channel provides is the promotion getting through retail advertisements. Many retail stores will place Apple products separately from the competitors in plain view for a customer to see it first and also use Apple products more for store advertisements. 3) This channel is selling through the wholesalers and retailers and is the least advantageous. For the last two channels (2 and 3) the disadvantage for Apple is that in both cases if the chain is disrupted, Apple products will not reach the customers.Task 3c.One of the most important fixingss of the marketing mix is Pricing. Pricing generates turnover for the organizations. The other 3Ps elements in the marketing mix are costs for the organizations. A number of set strategies can be adopted by an organization. For this task I have chosen to discuss three of them for their advantages and disadvantages. 1. Cost based price strategy is when a company sets prices based on the c ost of the other 3Ps. The advantage of choosing this strategy is that because its the most realistic and the mark up its easier to set before the concluding pricing decision..The disadvantage is that in a quicksilver(a) industry where costs are always changing no set price can be set and the mark up is the final pricing decision. 2. Competition based price strategy is where a company can set a glare, the same or a higher price in semblance with competitors. The advantage is that a competitive lower price can be set to pluck potential customers.This strategy disadvantage is that it is un cognise the production cost of the competitors and the company may take to the woods at a loss. 3. Customer based pricing strategy is used when a company determines the price based on what is believed consumers are ready to pay. The advantage of this strategy is that the price satisfies the customer price preference. The disadvantages with this strategy are that customers energy give fal se impressions and the cost of production is knot known by them hence the company might run at a loss.Customer based pricing strategies are Penetration Pricing launching a low price product to increase market administer Price Skimming charging a higher price to maximise profits Loss leaders a price set low to attract and encourage customers purchasing other products Predatory Pricing setting a low price deliberately to restrict or prevent competition (in UK this type of price setting is illegal) Psychological Pricing making the product believed to be cheaper than it really is. (Instead of 1.00 it set at 0.99)Apple Inc. uses the price graze strategy. This strategy works for them because the company segments and target customers more effectively. The advantages with price skim are that it creates the impression of prestige around Apple products and also in case of setting the price to high it could be lower easily. It also offers an insight on what the customers are willing to pay. Although this strategy has its advantages, in the deliberation and smartphone industry Apple has many competitors now and price skimming might be risky with the next product introduction.Consumers have many choices now and price preference is lower. Because of changes in consumers price preferences Apple Inc. should pursue the use of penetration pricing strategy in to attract new customers and increase the market share. Although the market share will increase the risk is that it is possible to still make lower profits.Task 3d.Promotion is one of the 4Ps and comprises of sales promotions, advertising, direct marketing, personal selling and public relations. These five elements make the promotion mix and are also known as the marketing communication elements. The usage of all five elements at one time is known as IntegratedMarketing Communication (IMC).To achieve and carry on long-term customer relationships Apple uses components from the IMC and the AIDA (attention, concern, desire, action) concepts. Advertisements and promotions are used to capture the consumer attention, his participation and desire to own an Apple product. Public relation is used to weed directly with customers about product issues. Apple uses direct marketing by emailing marketing messages on Valentines Day or Christmas to registered customers.Personal selling is used in Apple retail stores. Personnel can also inform customers about the products they inquiring about. One of the Apple sales promotions is Buy a Mac and get a free iPod Touch.Apple Inc. interest is to maximize the company impact on the consumer for maximum profits and the IMC concept is a very important tool in the company marketing strategy.Task 4Task 4a.Known as the Four Ps, the tralatitious marketing mix basic elements are Product, Price, stain and Promotion. The mix of these four elements done right will result in shock its marketing objectives for a company and satisfy its customers. Factors like marketing i s out-of-the-way(prenominal) more customers orientated now and in developed countries the service vault of heaven dominates the economic activity have contributed to the addition of new Ps to the traditional marketing mix. The additional three Ps are Physical Evidence, touch and People and together with the four basic elements make the 7Ps of the Extended Marketing Mix.To understand the relevance of the extended marketing mix to service marketing first one must understand the characteristics of service. There are five characteristics of service marketing and these are 1. Intangibility serve cannot be seen, thwack and feel before they are bought. 2. Inseparability a service is produced and consumed at the same time. 3. Perishability a product can be stored for future use whereas a service cannot. 4. Variability service standard will vary because of people. 5. self-command in comparison with a product a service can only be used and not owned.In service marketing the ser vice is the Product and is intangible. Marketing Price, like product is also invisible. Place is where the service is consumed and unlike a product where it is found in retail stores, a service is found in accommodation places such as the hotels, restaurants, airplanes. Service Promotions can be an extension of the original service. For example a hotel may offer an extra night stay, discount prices for other services found within the hotel or outside but the original price offer is still the same. What is seen during the consumption of service is referred to as the Physical Evidence.Consumers have a good standard and presentation of the environment where the service is consumed and businesses will focus on the quality layout presentation. How the service is carried out or delivered is the Process. In many cases process is associated with customer service. In the transport industry a lot carriers do lack on the quality of it because of delays that may or may not have to do with the employees. The employees are the People and final element in the extended marketing mix and are the ones delivering the service.The extended marketing mix its relevant to all businesses that give priority in concussion the needs of customers and its more particular relevant to the service industry.Task 4b.The cardinal marketing mix variables are highlighted above. The traditional 4Ps are for product marketing and all 7Ps are for service marketing. Two segments of interest for this task are the hotels in hospitality industry for their lodging services and the airlines in the industry of transport for their transport services.In the hotel industry, in call of process and physical evidence, a regular room is provided for customer accommodation and the customer may have to pay extra for other services like a massage or a drink at the hotel bar. In terms of process apart from regular room cleaning sheets and towels and concierge services a customer will not get much else for his mone y. In comparison the business customer willexperience something totally different.A Business may reserve the entire hotel or the best room with the best view, 24-hour room service, free access to the spa and other things considered luxurious. Although the product change is the same for both C and B, because of additional services and a differentiated process, it differs and the price is usually the first one to tell which one is which. In the airline industry, businesses provide transportation in the economy class and the business class. In the economy class in terms of physical layout, subsequently the journey some customers wished they left their legs at home and kids never existed.Whereas in the business class, a customer can park his car, watch his darling movie while drinking champagne. Again the product has not changed because customers in the economy and business class are moved from point A to point B with the same airplane in the same amount of time. The understanding is that businesses can afford to pay more when it comes to buying services and airlines will charge more for extra.Task 4c.Globalization and Unions between different countries around the world have made it possible for national businesses to give in multinational markets. When entering the international markets businesses could find many opportunities but the challenges are different and on a higher scale than the ones faced in a domestic market. Domestic marketing is the production, promotion, distribution and sale of goods and services nationally while international marketing is the same but for customers needs in a spheric market. In the last quarter of 2012, domestically, Apple Inc. revenue accounted for 40 per cent with 60 per cent revenue from the international markets (Niu, 2013). 40 per cent revenue for Apple means that it dominates in the domestic market.This is possible for Apple because the company has to plentitude with only one set of customers on which it can concen trate more effectively. Other factors contributing to this verificatory revenue are that Apple uses of the same policies and strategies and requires lesser financial resources. The other sixty per cent revenue for Apple, thinking in term of global it is small revenue for the company. This has to do with the fact that international marketing is more complex and more risky.It requires more financial resources than domestic marketing. Internationally, Apple Inc. has to deal with different markets, different languages and different types of consumers with different tastes. In countries with laws and regulations of their own, for Apple it is more challenging and requires more commitment from the company in applying the marketing principles. codaIn this coursework assignment I tried to my best abilities to demonstrate that I acquired a good knowledge and understanding of marketing principles by applying the theory to Apple Inc. by carrying out the tasks given for the assignment.Overa ll my understanding now is that marketing is with us every day, next to us and even in us people. Consciously or subconsciously we are marketing ourselves as individuals every day to others. Marketing has an impact on everything and it cannot be avoided. For businesses, marketing is a strategic war plan for getting peoples attention to maximize profits.In this war business tend to aim at peoples emotions. Marketing is a discipline and is defined by social participation. But the most important thing learned I believe is that consumers needs and wants are always changing and marketing needs to change accordingly.ReferencesAmerican Marketing Association. (2007). Definition of Marketing. on tap(predicate) http//www.marketingpower.com/AboutAMA/Pages/DefinitionofMarketing.aspx. Last accessed 16th May 2013. Apple. (2013). Apple Info. gettable http//www.apple.com/about/. Last accessed 12th Jul 2013. Apple Press. (2012). Apple Reports Fourth hindquarters Results. Available http//www.apple .com/pr/library/2012/10/25Apple-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-Results.html. Last accessed 12th Jul 2013 Campbell, M. (2012). Apple to open up to 35 new retail stores in 2013. Available http//appleinsider.com/articles/12/10/31/up-to-35-new-apple-stores-set-to-open-in-2013. Last accessed 11 Jul 2013. Canadian Marketing Association. (n/a). Definition of Marketing. Available