1. Introduction
Marketing strategic planning is beneficial in such an era of globalisation where all the competitive firms aim at promoting their products and improving the visibility of the brand in the market so that it is possible to target the potential buyers and strengthen the consumer’s base (Godey et al., 2016). The aim of the study is to demonstrate competitive analysis and consumer’s buying behaviour for the Apple iPhone in the UK market. Marketing mix strategic planning as well as STP (Segmentation, targeting and positioning) strategy are also essential in this study to analyse the marketing planning of the brand Apple that they have developed for successful promotion of the iPhone. There are proper suggestions for the company Apple to improve the segmentation and targeting as well as develop effective tactics for promoting the product in the UK market.
2. Competitor and consumer behavioural analysis
Apple Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics, online service and computer software company which are successful in designing innovative products and creating strong brand value in the UK market. The product, introduced by Apple, is iPhone 7 whose sales volume is high as compared to other Smart phones available in the industry.
Figure 1: Apple iPhone
(Source: Bonk, 2015)
The phone has 4.70 inch screen, processor quad core and 2 gb ram and the features and characterises of the phone is different and innovative for which it is successful to maximise the sales volume of the product. The main competitors of the Apple iPhone are Samsung s5 and s6, Samsung Note, Sony Xperia, Nexus 6 and HTC One, M8 and M9.
Figure 2: key competitors of Apple iPhone
(Source: Mickalowski, Mickelson, and Keltgen, n.d.)
There are many other competitive firms in the market which are also able to attract more customers through delivering high quality products and services to them as per their needs and preferences. As per the above graph, it can be seen that the other competitors of Apple iPhone in the recent years are Vivo, Oppo, Huawei, Samsung and others. Apple has approximately 12.5% market share in the international Smartphone industry and Samsung has 21% as Samsung is able to deliver the innovative products at affordable price, whereas the price of Apple iPhone is much higher as compared to the other competitive firms such as Vivo, Oppo etc.
Figure 3: Top five Smartphone company in 2017
(Source: Ahmed, Gull and Rafiq, 2015)
As per the above figure, Samsung is ranked first as the growth rate of 8.2% and total shipments of the Smartphone of Samsung was approximately 82.8 million in the previous year. As compared to Samsung, Apple is ranked as second as the unit shipments are 46.7 million and the rate of growth of the company is 2.6%. On the other hand, the growth rate of Huawei is 17%, Oppo also has 7.4% growth rate and Xiaomi has highest growth rate in the last year which was 86.9%. Hereby, the market share of Apple iPhone may be hampered due to high price where the customers sometime cannot afford the product (Ahmed, Gull and Rafiq, 2015).
The consumer buying behaviour is different from one to one as per their needs and preferences and in this regard the purchase behaviour of the customers depends on the social, cultural, psychological and personal factors on the basis of which they decide to purchase one particular product (Solomon et al., 2014).
Figure 4: Consumer behaviour
(Source: Lantos, 2015)
As per the cultural factors, the customers who like the brand value, perception of the brand and who have high income prefer to the iPhone of Apple where they can afford the product successfully. On the other hand, as per the social factors, the consumers are affected by the close groups and family members where they prefer Apple due to its brand value and creative products. There are some personal factors which also influence the purchase behaviour of the customers. In this regard, the occupation and income or economic situation is the important factor for influencing the customers in purchasing the product of Apple. On the other hand, life style and living standard are also essential factors influencing the buying behaviour of the customers and in this regard the high status social class and recreating and fast life style customers prefer the iPhone of Apple. There are also psychological factors which include perception, beliefs, attitude and motivation and in this regard the customers perception regarding brand value and innovative products as well as trust in the brand leads the consumers to purchase Apple iPhone.
3. Marketing mix analysis
The marketing mix strategic planning is effective for the company to promote the product iPhone and attract more customers across the international places. In order to gain high competitive advantage as well as improve market share, it is necessary for the company to implement effective marketing mix strategy so that the sales volume and profitability of the company can be maximised. As per the 7p marketing mix strategy, there are 7 factors which are product, price, place, promotion, people, physical evidence and prices and through these factors, the organisation can promote the product ineffective Smartphone industry across the international markets (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2016).
Figure 5: 7p marketing mix strategic planning
(Source: Baker, 2014)
Product:
Product varieties and packaging style are the main factors under the product category where the organisation is able to satisfy the customers by delivering innovative design and creative style as well as latest technology of the product. In addition to these, the processing speed of iPhone is much higher as compared to other competitive companies in the market and in this regard this is also another advantage of the company Apple to attract more potential buyers in the market. Latest operating system, screen, features in the Smartphone are attractive and creative which further attracts more customers in the market. Hereby, the product differentiation is the tactics of the firm to deliver high quality products and satisfy the customers by meeting their needs and preferences (Armstrong et al., 2015).
Price:
Price is another factor through which the company can attract the customers successfully in the market. In this regard, Apple focuses on skimming pricing strategy where the organisation set relatively high price due to its innovations and creativity as well as string brand value. There are many customers who prefer brand value and for them pricing does not matter. In this regard, the skimming pricing technique is useful for the company to attract the customers who trust the organisation. The price represents brand uniqueness, technological advancement, creativity of the technicians, research and development and investment in raw materials.
Place:
The distribution channel of the organisation is widely diverse and there are many retail stores of Apple through which the company aims at distributing and placing their products at effective market. The product iPhone can be found both offline and online and there are many people who prefer to offline purchase and they go to Apple store to purchase the product. On the other hand, the company also delivers the products through online and in this regard the online distri8butij channel is also string through which the company can deliver the product successfully. The products are also available in some e-retailer, Amazon, and Ebay through which the customers can purchase their products. Hereby, both the offline and online activities provide an opportunity to the company to sell their iPhone successfully and deliver to the customers according to their preferences (Bonk, 2015). The major distribution channels are Apple website, corporate reseller, local retail stores, online retailers and Apple stores.
Promotion:
Apple is always considered as premium brand and it delivers premium value to the customers where the products of the company are designed well and technological upgraded for which it is easy to retain more customers for the iPhone. Apple promotes the products of the company through its own website where it is efficient to target the customers and retain them for long run. The social media advertising strategy is another tactic to strengthen their customer’s base. Through expanding the Apple stores, it is also possible to sell their products in emerging markets. The company in this regard tries to increase the number of Apple store for improving brand visibility as well as promote the product through e-retailers.
People:
People are another factor without whom it is not possible for the brand to develop innovative product for the customers and in this regard the company tries to satisfy all the stakeholders of the organisation who contribute with their full potential in order to maximise the objective of the organisation. Managing the people with maintaining transparency and accountability as well as providing them incentives and performance related pay are beneficial for the company to satisfy the employees. Moreover, it is also successful in managing the suppliers, distributors and shareholders by giving them higher return on investment.
Process:
Process is also another crucial factor where the organisation develops efficient internal procedure to satisfy the clients. 24*7 services for the customers as well as efficient service provider are beneficial for the company to deliver high quality service to the customers and retain them for long run. The efficiency of the process and innovation further provides an opportunity to improve trust and loyalty among the customers (Ahmed, Gull and Rafiq, 2015).
Physical evidence:
Organisational infrastructure and innovative process are beneficial for the firm to improve physical evidence and develops effective products and services for the customers. All the service delivery mechanism further helps the service providers to satisfy the customers by maximising their values.
All the above factors are contributing in maximising the objective of Apple and increase the growth rate and sales volume of the iPhone in the recent years.
4. Segmentation, targeting and positioning
Apple segmentation, targeting and positioning represents the core of marketing tactics through which the organisation can target the potential buyers and maximise the sales volume and profitability of the firm. The product is effective to target the audiences in the market for the iPhone. The segmentation and target customers can be demonstrated below,
Table 1: Segmentation and targeting for iPhone
Type of segmentation Segmentation criteria Target customers
Geographic Region UK and international markets
Density Urban people
Demographic Age 20-45
Gender Males and females
Life style stage Bachelor life and newly married
Income High income earners
Occupation Professional managers and executives
Behavioural Degree of loyalty Hard core loyal and the customers who want to switch
Benefits sought Sense of achievements
personality Determined and ambitious
Users Non user potential users
psychographic Social class Middle and upper class
Life style Succeeder and explorer
(Source: Created by author)
The company mainly targets the upper and middle class family as well as the users who are succeeder and explorers. Moreover, the organisation targets the middle aged people whose age is between 20 years and 45 years where they are able to purchase the iPhone. In addition to these, it targets high income earners and urban population where the buying intention of the consumers is high. Urban people as well as the executive level officers and managers have high potential to my iPhone where the company tries to distribute the products across the globe and target the people all over the world for increasing the opportunity to maximise the sales volume and profitability of the brand (Mickalowski, Mickelson, and Keltgen, n.d). It is necessary for the company to acknowledge the needs and preferences of the customers in order to attract the potential buyers for the iPhone. The organisation Apple targets the customers where they can pay extra for new innovations and creativity as well as technological advancement. Hereby, the segmentation and targeting are effective to identify the potential buyers in the market and retain them for long run.
After successful segmentation and targeting, the organisation also focuses on positioning of the product and in this regard, the company utilises the ultra friendly and intuitive user interface to target the customers. Moreover, the organisation also aims at maintaining the quality of the product as well as styling of the Smartphone so that it is easy to attract more potential buyers in the market. Apart from that, the organisation also focuses on Apple application where the customers can get other benefits in daily life and this is also another positioning strategy of Apple through which it can become successful in maixmisi9ng the sales volume and profitability by ensuring high customer retention. The application and Smartphone can easily be customised with the user specification and in this regard the company can distribute the products successfully for targeting the potential buyers and positioning the product successfully (Johnson, Li, Phan, and Trinh, 2012). In addition to these, the organisation focuses on product differentiation strategy which is the main strengthen of the organisation through which they try to attract the customers and it further helps for successful positioning of the new innovative product. Proper wrapping and packaging style of the company also provides a scope to deliver the product with safety. The organisation also focuses on strengthening the distribution network as well as managing green supply chain in order to place the product at effective market. Through the above mentioned strategic planning, it is possible for the company to place the brand at effective market and target more potential buyers in the market for the quality products and efficient service of the company.
5. Conclusion and recommendations
Apple iPhone is the best innovation and creativity of the brand Apple through which it is successful in maximising the organisational profitability and strengthening the customer’s base for long run. The company is reputed for its innovation and creativity and iPhone is one of the latest innovations of the organisation through which it targets the potential buyers in the international market where there is high chance to purchase their creative products. The marketing mix strategic planning as well as market segmentation and targeting are effective for the brand to gain high competitive advantage in the market but in the recent years due to other existing brand sin Smartphone industry such as Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, and others, Apple cannot maximise their market share.
In this regard, the company needs to improve market segmentation and target the middle income class for maximising the number of customers. The organisation also concentrates on middle income class and influences the buyers to purchase the creative products. The service providers need to acknowledge the needs and preferences of the customers by understanding their demographic and cultural background so that it is easy to offer the suitable product that will maximise the customer’s value. Moreover, it is necessary to invest more in promotional activities and arrange social campaign where it is easy to motivate the customers for making effective purchase decision. Additionally, the company Apple needs to send personalise email in order to retain the corporate clients and create strong customer loyalty. Through this email, the information related to price and product specifications need to be provided to the customer so that the customers can make effective buying decision for the Apple iPhone. Through these tactics, the organizations can also get customers feedback, interact with the clients and identify their needs as well as target more customers in the market. Hereby, the strategic suggestions can provide a scope to develop effective marketing strategies through which Apple can maximise the sales volume of the iPhone.
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