Marketing Channels and Retailing

Based on a the chart on the left, most consumers/customers have come across an Apple product through these retailers,which are also referred to as Apple's marketing channels, which links producers to buyers, perform sales, advertising and promotion, and influences a firms pricing strategy. Apple also distributes there products through online websites such as Apple.com, and other websites that are not owned by Apple, such as Amazon and eBay. Another thing is, most of there marketing channels have there own website, therefore there products will also be displayed on there website as well. So not only, does Apple distribute there products through Apple stores and other retailers, but it also distributes through online retailers globally, which because of this Apple is ranked as the 1# best global brand in the world which leads me to my next topic, Retailing.

  For many firms, there goal is to make money, but for Apple, making money is the result of the firm's actions not the goal. There goal, which is uncommon for a firm who create superior products and sell them in there specialty stores, is to delight customers. Because they strongly believe in there goal, Apple teaches its employees not to sell but rather to help customer's solves problems. In there training manual, it even says "Your job is to understand all of your customers' needs, some of which they may not even realize". By doing exactly that, every employee needs start off with the steps of service which are found in the acronym APPLE

Approach customers with a personalized warm welcome
Probe politely to understand all the customer’s need
Present a solution for the customer to take home today
Listen for and resolve any issues or concerns
End with a fond farewell and an invitation to return

By following these steps, Apple creates a nice conformable atmosphere for all customers and conforms to there goal of delighting customers. But delighting consumers not only require a positive customer experience, it also requires continuous innovation, in which Apple is mostly known for that. The results of this and there goal of delighting customers/consumers has contributed to Apple's success in retailing and has isolated them from most retailers today.        

Consumer Decision Making

         For all types of consumers, purchasing an apple product, such as the Mac, may be a difficult task especially when when there are other options, such as the PC. Even though Apple is known for there superior products, most consumers take other non-apple products into consideration. But once consumers go through the Consumer decision-making process it makes there decision much easier and simpler.
         The first step in the consumer decision-making process is need recognition. As mentioned in the book, Need recognition is triggered by an Internal or an External stimuli. In this case, an example of an Internal stimuli can be a bad experience with a PC virus, which may lean a consumer towards buying a Mac over a PC and an example of an external stimuli can be from an Apple commercial comparing a Mac to a PC.
         The second step is Information search, the Apple website, which is an example of an external information search, is the perfect source for searching information on the different types of mac, apple has to offer. Another way consumers search for information is through internal information search, which may be from a past experience the consumer had with a apple product. The most loyal apple consumers are the ones who buy the latest and newest apple products based only on internal information.
         The third step is Evaluation of alternatives, which help the consumer make a decision. This is usually done by evaluating and comparing alternatives based on the consumer's internal and external information either from stored memory or from outside sources.

         Once all three steps are carefully thought out, it is time for the consumer to Purchase. Before the purchase the consumer must decide whether to buy, when to buy, what to buy, where to buy, and how to pay. But because Apple products have always been good at exceeding expectations, it shouldn't be difficult for the consumer to decide.

          Finally, when buying a products, consumers expect certain outcomes from the purchase. How well these expectations are met determines whether the consumer is satisfied or dissatisfied with the purchase. These determination is called Post purchase behavior.

Developing a Global Vision

  Last year, Coca-cola was the #1 Best Global Brand in the world. Today, Coca-cola places in third with Google in second and Apple at first. The way they determined this was by financial performance of there products and services, the role the brand plays in influencing consumer choice, and the strength the brand has to command a premium price in which Apple fulfills all three. But Apple wasn't always globally known in markets. Apple first hit the charts in 2000, with the release of the iPod which really put Apple in Worldwide markets for personal electronics devices. The iPod, which replaced CD players or any type of audio playing device at the time, is a personal music player that is capable of storing hundreds of CD's. Unlike it's release of its first personal computer, the Macintosh, Apple decided to take this product and make it known, rather than keeping it to itself and it did. Apple later launched the iTunes Music store in 2003 in the U.S, and 2004 in Europe and with those two product and service Apple started expanding. Also, another way they started becoming global is when they started manufacturing its products in Chine due to lower costs and because most of the products needed for manufacturing were made in china. Because of this, Apple gained access to China's Markets, in which China has the biggest population in the world and a very strong and stable economy then from there they started spreading there products.

     

The Marketing Environment

Apple's Marketing Environment

Apple is one of the few companies in the industry of computers that design and manufacture the entire product. The hardware, applications, and operating system that are used in there products are all created by them.

One of the factors that help build and maintain successful relationships with customers is the connection between all of there products. For example the Ipod, Iphone, and Ipad are all linked products that make the Mac the ultimate personal computer to share media and information between there products. Because of this connection, the Mac has always stood out from the typical PC and to consumers. Even though Apple has always set there prices high, consumers of all kinds including the average consumer always manage to buy there products regardless of price. The phrase "you pay for what you get" is a phrase that all Apple consumers clearly understand when buying an Apple product. Also Apple's target market for the Mac is anyone from the younger to older generations who like a simple high performance computer. To be more specific in who the target market is for the Mac, I would have to say the Mac is exclusively for creative professionals such as artists, editors, writers, musicians, photographers, etc.

Ethical and Social Responsiblity

Apple's Ethnics Responsibility:

Apple believes its workers including non-apple workers everywhere should have the right to safe and stable working conditions. They also believe workers should have access to educational opportunities to improve their lives. To make sure there workers live up to these ideals, they have continual cycle of inspections, improvement plans, and verification.


Apple's Social Responsibility:

Apple products are simple, intuitive, and easy to use. They help consumers do more through award-winning assistive technologies that is including in all of apple products so every device not only has accessible features but accessible features as well. For example, every Mac includes features that are designed for people with disabilities. The OS X technologies like VoiceOver, bulit-in braille support, and Sticky keys help users navigate and use the Mac easily.

Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

Apple Inc. has effectively managed to be a successful company in a very competitive consumer electronics industry. It has innovated and differentiated the company’s products with similar products in the markets by offering high quality products and good customer service. The company has set high standards that even the company itself has to be on its level best to maintain the standards that it has set.

Apple is a multinational corporation with products that belong in different industries, because of this, apple has several marketing strategies to fill out its duty for each set of products, one of these strategies is called strategic alliance. The strategic alliance strategy helps Apple learn from competitors, manage risk, and share costs. One of apple's most notable alliances is apple's alliance with AT&T in production and launching of the iPhone. Another notable alliance is Apple's alliance with Microsoft. Under this alliance, Microsoft agreed to develop Microsoft Office software for the Mac and in return, Apple agreed to bundle Internet Explorer in all of Apple Computers.

Another strategy that plays an important role in Apple's success is called the differentiation strategy. This strategy has helped apple stand out from the competition by focusing on design quality. Apple offers sufficient hardware and software features that allow its consumers a high quality user experience. It is on the high-end market because of their hardware, which are made to provide high value for the money. Apple's computers are made from the same company unlike windows computers which are made from dozens of different manufacturers. All this has helped Apple stand from competition and till this day continue to do so.

History and Mission Statement

Mission

Apple's mission to people such as students, educators, creative educators, creative professionals, and consumers, is to bring them the best personal computing experience through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.

History (Macintosh)

Apple Inc., formerly called Apple Computer, Inc., is a multinational corporation that creates consumer electronics, personal computers, computer software, and commercial servers, and is a digital distributor of media content. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who are the founders of the company, created Apple Computer on April 1, 1976, with the release of the Apple 1, and incorporated the company on January 3, 1977, in Cupertino, California. For more than two decades, Apple computer was a manufacturer of personal computers, including the Apple II, Macintosh, and Power Mac lines.

The Macintosh also known as the Mac, is a line of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It all began in 1976, with Jef Raskins, an apple employee who envisioned a computer for the average consumer. He named the computer after his favorite type of apple, the Mcintosh. In 1985, the Macintosh Computer line received a big sales boost with the introduction of the LaserWriter printer and PageMaker. After the introduction of the Macintosh, 50,000 units had been sold.