Ch. 7- Business Marketing

Apple and business normally aren't intertwined. Apple is considered more "hip" and "creative"product than a business product. But that is steadily changing. With Apple's increasing popularity and products that can be used for pretty much any type of environment such as school, work, and businesses such as the iPad. Allows Apple to be more involved with businesses. Not to mention most people these companies want to hire own a Mac and hate to put up with PC's. Also with the App's Apple is allowing companies to create apps for them to be used on the iPhone and iPad. Which gets companies involved and allows them to transition to Apple products.

Ch. 8- Segmenting and Targeting Markets

When targeting markets you need strategy to do it effectively. Apple uses simple and currently working strategies. Might not be what most companies would do but it's worked for them and continues to work.
They use the demographic segmentation as a segmenting strategy in relation to location of their stores. Where they have 14 in New York making it highly concentrated and allows them to bring in a lot of different customers. With their small product lines and limited product mix they have become very successful and loved by everyone. Apple has had no problem applying the psychographic segmentation  considering they relate themselves to every lifestyle of all ages.

Ch. 11- Developing and Managing Products

Apple prides itself on being innovative. Every one of their products has been called "innovative" in its own right. When ever there's a new product there are review's or articles on it calling the product "innovative".
Apple tends to develop and design their products similarly to one another with just better and improved qualities.

The key to keep making successful products is to have them be innovative. Apple is top of the list when it comes to making innovative products. The thing that makes their products so innovative isn't necessarily anything futuristic or advanced technology its how usable and easy the product is to get used to.

The iPhone and iPad are essentially used the same way. Touch screen, apps from the app market, music. All very popular in apple products are there and its all very easy to get used to. Where most companies try to distinguish the differences between all of their products and have them used differently Apple just has their products be equally usable and therefore more popular and "innovative".

Ch. 16- Integrated Marketing Communications

The purpose of promotion and communicating with consumers is to get them to purchase a product or service. The AIDA concept shows you step by step of reaching your company goals with communicating to your consumers.

A-Attention
  Apple has no issue getting the consumer's attention with their advertisement on t.v and the images of products on their websites. Every year their products image is everywhere because there is a highly anticipated product being released. Such as the "new iPad". 

I-Interest
The new retina display is drawing a lot of interest for the "new iPad"

D-Desire
The iSight camera makes the iPad more desirable because of the whole "memories" advertisement they attached with it.

A-Action
Consumers have taken good action with the iPad. The friday of it's release crowds in over 10 countries made lines outside of Apple stores for it. According to a article on usatoday.com  "The iPhone 4S was the fastest-selling phone ever, and we expect the same for the iPad," So clearly good action is taken on Apple products.

Ch. 10- Product Concepts

 Apple Inc. products are the perfect example of "shopping product" while also being a "specialty product". Even though Apple products tend to be more expensive than "convenience product" people seem to can't live with substitutes for it.

With the label of "specialty product" it benefits Apple with their marketing for their products. Apple already has a feel and some what reputation of having better products than the competitors. Or at least more wanted products with in all categories. Which are phones, computers, laptops, mp3 players, and tablets now. What also helps is that even though their products are generally more expensive than the other brands it is still attainable by anyone. Which makes their products even more wanted.

Ch. 18- Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

When it comes to sales and promotion Apple Inc. doesn't need to go that route even though through sales and promotion other companies allow themselves the chance to bring in new consumers. But with Apple's current and growing popularity with the iPhone and the recent release of the iPad 3 they bring in new consumers constantly. Apple did have a rebate which ended on January 16, 2012 which was buy a mac and a printer and get a rebate of up to 100 dollars. Apple Rebates

When it comes to personal selling the employees at Apple aren't there to advertise the products but to answer any question you have. It's not necessarily about just the sale to them but the experience. Apple likes for their stores to give you an experience that no other can. Along with trained staff they also have the Genius Bar for problems with your current products. 

Ch. 17- Advertising and Public Relations

Apple Inc. has a good history of advertising. Its no coincidence that their products are currently the most popular electronics. Apple though pays a hefty price to have such popularity for their products. In 2009 Apple Inc. budget for advertising was 501 million dollars. Which that year was 1.37% of their revenue. Not only do they have such a budget for their products they like to incorporate some type of contemporary visual art to their advertisements. Which started with the famous original Macintosh Super Bowl commercial in 1984 mimicking George Orwell's book 1984. Now Apple likes to give the appearance that their product is "cooler" than other products. The Mac and PC ads for example. They also make their iPods look fun with the commercial of the shadow dancing while listening to an iPod.

Ch. 15- Retailing

Apple stores where all apple products are sold are a group of chain stores which is owned and worked by Apple Inc. All of their stores are state of the art and have innovative appearances which make people naturally attract to the store and not get bored once you are inside. Since Apple has such a good reputation with products and the stores are so attractive, the stores have in fact turned into tourism sites. Apple Stores have so many people visit the store they have several features to help customers out.

They have ALL the Apple products on display and the costumers can actually use them with all their capabilities. They have a great amount of employees to help. Not to mention they give group tutorials to costumers on how to use Apple products for free. They also choose good locations for their store with 300 globally and 6 here in New York City. All of which are open till late and one is open for 24 hours. They also appeal to the environmentally responsible costumers by offering to email them their receipts for their products instead of printing one out for them. With all these steps Apple has taken for their stores they have the perfect "retailing mix" of the "six P's". One of the best things about the Apple store in my mind is their warranty system at the store. No matter which  Apple product you have gets damaged as long as the warranty is still good you can go to the store any time and immediately receive a new product. If that's not great costumer service I don't know what is.

Ch. 6 Consumer Decision Making

For a company such as Apple Inc. the main goal is to have consumers want and buy their products. In order for a company to achieve that goal greatly and consistently they have to know how consumers go about making decisions of choosing which products to buy. When a consumer goes about deciding what to buy they normally use the "consumer decision making process". It's a 5 step process that consumers generally go through when choosing a product to buy.

The first stage is "need recognition". When it comes to electronics such as the products Apple has the consumer has to establish the need for it. Most consumers find that need through "external stimuli" based on word of mouth about the popularity of the product. With the popularity of Apple products at an all time high its easy to hear from friends or associates how great, easy to use, and better the product is all around any other type of product. That generally creates the need for the product.

The second stage is "search for information" where consumers will generally search for information on the product. Consumers can search internally by past experiences and externally by listening to what the company says about their products which is "market controlled", or what friends say about their past experiences with the product. Generally consumers are internally happy with Apple products with past experiences. When Apple releases an updated version of a previous product current customers generally buy the new upgraded version. Apple has probably the best advertisement for their products because they advertise how much "cooler" their products are then the competition.

The third stage is "evaluate alternatives" where consumers look for other options for that product. But Apple is viewed to have superior products or products that are wanted more then the competition. So when it comes to phones, mp3 players, and laptops they set the standard for consumers.

The fourth stage is "purchase" where consumers feel like they've done enough to choose the product to buy. Which has been no problem for Apple lately because like I mentioned earlier the products are very popular. Here is Apple's Fourth Quarter Results

The fifth and final stage is "post purchase behavior" which is what a consumer expects from the product they just purchased. Depending on if the product delivers what they believe it would deliver then the consumer would be satisfied or dissatisfied. But judging by the amount of returning and new customers
Apple gets with its products consumers are generally satisfied.

Ch. 5 Developing A Global Vision

Apple is fast becoming a player in global markets due to the fast release of the iPhone. When the iPhone 4 was first released they announced that 88 countries outside the U.S will have the iPhone 4. Due to the faster release analyst believe that iPhone sales have peaked in the U.S. So this clearly shows the need for global revenue to Apple. It turned out to be the right move because Apple received 58% of its revenue from outside the U.S.

Apple meanwhile released the iPhone 4 at the same time in Germany, France, Japan, and the U.K. as the U.S. Where in France the iPhone market share shot up to 40.5% in the first  quarter from 11.5% in 2008. Apple depends on the foreign market to keep sales up. An estimated 55% of all iPhone sales are now made out of the U.S. which is 30% higher than the 25% it was two years ago.

Ch. 4 The Marketing Environment for Apple Inc.

Apple targets a general group of people. Everyone and anyone Apple feels there is a product for you. Like it says on their website "which Mac is for you?". Apple attracts all types of generations thanks to their iPods for musical entertainment. Their iPhone and iPad and Mac's attract the typical teenager, student, adult, worker group. The only thing is the cost of the products. Apple Inc. knows they have a product that's better and high in demand so they charge it. Which limits the group of people financially who could afford Apple products. Due to the pricing you would think that it would be among the middle class and above group of people who normally could afford such products. Back when the iPad came out there were people willing to pay a premium for it. But for PC users (picture above) where the technology generally cost less than Apple products weren't willing to do the same. But even with that Apple is made for everyone and to be used for every type of way. It even makes a concentrated effort to work with students. "A Mac lets students create amazing things"

Ch.3 Ethics and Social Responsibility for Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. reveals their carbon footprint and shows how they make changes with their packaging and recycling and processes to help the environment as part of their social responsibility. For the year 2011 Apple Inc. was responsible for 23.1 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. But 98% of that was from the product life cycle's such as manufacturing and transportation. 2% came from the actual facilities.

One of Apple Inc. main efforts for the environment is to provide products without toxic materials. The fact that Apple Inc. has accomplished this has put them years ahead of the competition.
Apple also wants to reduce the burden of transportation by using smaller packaging. By making the iPhone package 40% smaller then the original packaging in 2007 it allows more packages to ship and use less ships,planes to ship them.
Apple Inc. also works on energy efficiency with their products. Every single product from apple emits 1/4th of CO2 emissions that a regular light bulb emits. Also Apple is the only company that has every single product meets the Energy Star Qualification. There is a link on the Apple Inc. website that shows more about energy efficiency. http://www.apple.com/environment/energy-efficiency/

Apple has an environmental FAQS page. http://www.apple.com/environment/faq.html
Apple has an recycling program. http://www.apple.com/recycling/
Apple has an Supplier Responsibility page. http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/

Apple also supplies the public with a report about their products and their products.
http://www.apple.com/environment/reports/

Ch. 2 Apple Inc. Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

Apple Incs plan for competitive advantage is to show how much better and compatible their products are. Not only compatible as in product to product such as your iPad can have everything from your Macbook on it. But how its compatible to the user. On the Apple Inc. website they have a "Why you'll love a Mac" section where it say's "which mac is right for you?" http://www.apple.com/why-mac/

They also have advertisements which show how Apple products are more fun for users than the typical products.

Apple Inc. Mission Statement

From the Apple Inc. Website:

 "Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad."
 

Ch. 1 Brief History Of Apple Inc.

Apple started on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. The hand built "Apple 1" computer went on sale July 1976 for $666.66. Apple became Apple Inc. on January 3, 1977. By the end of the 1970's Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line of computers. Later on in the years by the time Apple went public, it generated more capital than any IPO since the Ford Motor Company in 1956. Which led to 300 millionaires being created more than any company in history. In 1984 Apple released the first "Macintosh" computer which sold well at the beginning but not so well during the follow up sales. During 1985 a rift began between Steve Jobs and CEO John Sculley. Jobs wanted to remove Sculley from the CEO and when Sculley found out he held a board of directors meeting and had removed Jobs from his duties. Which led to Jobs resigning from Apple. Starting in 1989 Apple started releases several versions of a Macintosh portable. After improving their model's after each time the magazine "MacAddict" referred to the period from 1989 to 1991 as "the first golden age" of Macintosh. After a few struggling years Apple replaced then CEO Micheal Spindler with Gil Amelio in 1996. Who bought the Next company owned by Steve Jobs and brought him back to Apple as an advisor. In 1997 Steven Jobs announced that Apple would work with Microsoft to release new versions of Microsoft Office for the Macintosh. Then on November 10th, 1997 Apple introduced the Online Apple store. On August 15, 1998 Apple introduced the iMac. Which sold almost 800,000 units in the first few months. On May 19, 2001 the first Apple retail stores opened in Virginia and California. While on October 23rd 2001 they announced the iPod and released it on November 10th which became a huge success. Selling over 100 million units in 6 years. Apple's iTunes store was introduced in 2003 offering song downloads for 0.99 cents and became another success with 5 billion downloads by 2008. On January 9th 2007 Jobs announced the name of Apple Computers Inc to Apple Inc. He also announced the iPhone. Apple share's reached an all time high the following day. July 2008 Apple released the App store for the iPhone and iPod touch. After a month the App store brought in 1 million dollars daily and the store had sold 60 million applications. On January 27, 2010 Apple announced the iPad. Which was released on April 3, 2010 and sold over 500,000 units on the first week. On October 2010 Apple shares reached an all time high over 300 dollars a share.