Developing and managing products

Apple is always coming up with new innovative products  or updating old ones. An example of how Apple updates its products is the ipods. There is basiclly 4 different types of ipods which are the ipod classic, ipod nano, ipod touch, and ipod shuffle. These ipods get redesigned almost every year and new features are added to them for example the ipod nano didnt have a camera and now apple has introduced the nano with a camera. Also the ipod shuffle didnt have a screen and now it has a mini touch screen. The ipod when it first came was an innovative product aswell since it was one of the first piece of technology that containes a flash drive like memory to add songs and files to it.

Intergrated Marketing Communications

Integrated Marketing Communications is a concept that has been around for quite a long time. It is bringing together advertising and the marketing communications that are used. This concept has become a very important way for marketing departments to transmit a message to their target audience. The important factor is getting to know the customers, therefore the more knowledge of customer data shapes the marketing communications and advertising message that is created. Intergrated Marketing Communications processes bring together the organization's marketing communications to make the impact upon the consumer all the more powerful. A marketing strategy for a for-profit business has traditionally been price, product, place (distribution) and product. Intergrated Marketing Communications , on the other hand, takes the promotion piece and makes it a major portion to the Intergrated Marketing Communications process.   Ultimately, again, for-profit companies are in the business to make sales, thereby creating a need and desire within the target audience. Apple does its Intergrated Marketing Communications by targeting young people mostly 16-30 by using very catchy ads in places the targeted audience will most likely be.

Apples costumer relationships management

Customer relationship management is one of the new strategies in marketing in which companis try to focus more on individuals instead of a group while marketing. This strategy is designed to increse costumer satisfaction. Apple is really up to date with this startegy with something they call the genius bar. The genius bar consist of a bar looking spot of the retail apple stores in which you get technical support by an apple employee. This is basiclly a one on one session in which you will discuss your problems and difficulties with the product and the apple technician will help you solve your problems with there extensive knowledge on apple products. To be able to go to the genius bar you need to make an appointment online in order to assure you a space. You should make sure you bring every part of the product hat you want to fix. Another characteristic of this strategy that apple uses is that it has a line of different ipods which could be used depending on your needs and what your likes are instead of just having one ipod for everybody

Apple's sales promotion

Sales promotion is any initiative undertaken by an organisation to promote an increase in sales, usage or trial of a product or service Sales promotions are varied. Often they are original and creative. Sales promotion refers to those marketing activities other than personal selling, advertisement and publicity, which stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness, such as displays, shows and expositions, demonstrations and various non-recurrent selling efforts not in the ordinary routine. Its purpose is to increase the desire of salesman, distributors and dealers to sell a certain brand and to make consumers more eager to buy that brand. This includes sales activities which supplement both personal selling and advertising.
Sales promotion is only a part of promotion. Promotion includes sales promotion, advertising, personal selling etc. Promotion helps to make all other marketing activities more effective and efficient, but sales promotion helps only to sales activity. Apple's sales promotion is poor. since apple lives solely on their brand, they rarely have any sales in their retail and web stores. They do promote themselves as a company of the people but not a company of the poor.
Every company need to have promotion and price strategy. Apple has mastered the art of value pricing. Prices are so often over-looked by companies when establishing pricing strategy but they truly are the measuring stick by which consumers will judge value. Setting an appropriate price in the market will indeed, influence a customer's willingness to pay. However, the multi-price points are about a segmented strategy to defend high value / high price products from low value / low price alternatives. In a market with low price competitors trying to take the price sensitive end of the market...you need a defense. You don't want to discount or slash the price on your high value offering to meet those competitors because it impacts profitability, product image, and also...your reference price in the market. However, you don't want to completely concede that market to your competitor. The strategy is to take away value (features) in exchange for a lower price so you can capture at least a portion of that market.

Product concepts: apple products and branding

Apple's brand is by far one of the most recognizable brands in that country. this is mainly because apple has an extremely loyal consumer fan base. The company projects a humanistic corporate culture and a strong corporate ethic, characterized by volunteerism, support of good causes or involvement in the community. Apple comes across as profoundly humanist. Its founding ethos was power to the people through technology, and it remains committed to computers in education. ." The company has a unique visual and verbal vocabulary, expressed in product design and advertising: This is true of Apple. Its products and advertising are clearly recognizable. The company has established a "heartfelt connection" with its customers. This can take several forms, from building trust to establishing a community around a product. In Apple's case, its products are designed around people. its emotional attachment to its consumers helps apple increase its sales and brand notoriety.

Advertising and public relations

Apple wasted 691 million in 2010 only on advertising. Apple advertises its different products in different ways. For example in its new campaign which is called "Get a Mac"  since in the 30 seconds it has to use in its ads its impossible to point out all the great features of a mac so in one of the clips it shows how some one trips over a non apple computer cord while that wouldnt happen with an apple magnetic cord. In the get a mac campiagn apple conveys a straight forward message to get a mac. With apples ipod and itunes what apple basiclly does to advertise them is that they just try to refresh peoples memory about it or talk about how them should buy a new one because mostly everybody knows what they are and there functions. The ads for the iphone of the iphone are the total opposite of the ones from the mac becuase in the iphone ads apple actually trys to show the applications and capabilitites it contains, so basiclly apple takes different approaches in advertising depending on what the product is and the demand for it

Apple retailing

Apple has over 300 retail stores worldwide. Only in the U.S it has about 236. Apple stores are a great place to visit if you want to purchase and try new apple gadgets. In its retail stores apple creates a no pressure environment in which you are able to try any apple gadget for as long as you want. In apple retail stores you actually get to feel and test the product. Apple also has great costumer service in these retail stores. I have been fortunate enough to visit the one in 59th street and 5th avenue in new york and once i walked in i was greeted by several employee's and asked if i needed help. Apple stores also have this thing called the genius bars which is basiclly a spot in the store were you make an appointment online and you go there if you are having any dificualties with any product that you have previouslly purchased. There you will meet with an apple technician and he'll gladlly help you fix anything that is wrong with your product. Furthermore time isnt a problem if you just dont have time to go to the apple store because the one in 59th is 24/7. So basiclly apple retail have great costumer service, they allow you to try the products for as long as you desire and plus its just cool to go to the stores because they are cool to just look at. For example the store in 59th is shaped like a cube and basiclly everything is made out of glass