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.