Good Bye Bloggers

  Well everything has to come to an end and unfortunately this is it for this blog. It was a pleasure to share my ideas and concepts about Apple with you, hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments, they are more than welcome I will read them and take them into consideration for my future blogs. Well have a Safe ,Happy, and successful New Year.






 Your friend Jairo signing off.

Segmenting and Targeting Markets

You're The Target!!!!!!

     Apple is more than just a brand, its a lifestyle, part of growing culture of consumers who are artist, musicians, writers, photographers, and most of all innovators. The firm has positioned itself as a high end brand that offers beautiful hardware designs and also an amazing users experience. Apple targets a market that consist of people from their teens to their 40's that are interested in doing more with their technology than just the usual boring old stuff that other companies offer. Their product lines offer similar products that offer different benefits in order to prevent cannibalization. For example you can buy an 2GB iPod shuffle for $50 or an 160GB iPod Classic for $250; both mp3 players but they are design to satisfy different target markets. Apple has a multi-segment targeting strategy, meaning that they satisfy 2 or more different types of markets for example the young teen who likes to take pictures for fun to the professional photographer who takes pictures for a living. Both examples have one thing in common, the passion for creativity and art that makes the perfect mix with software like the Aperture 3 which offers the ultimate photographic experience.
     I think that Apple is be bringing back the mass marketing approach, they don't really concentrate their advertisements on certain groups of people, they try to include everybody. You can see all the iPod ads posted on the page that are meant to resemble you, see if you can find a silhouette that fits you. Apple is becoming a cult brand that has gained to respect of world wide users who share one thing in common, their love for Apple's innovation. And I say that Apple is going back to mass marketing because when you go in to an Apple retailer you can see people of all ages, cultures, social classes, and colors; like a small scale ethnic melting pot. The iPod has become a symbol of our modern digital music culture, and the iTunes store is now the 2nd largest music retailer in the U.S. Steve Jobs says that "if you make something great than anybody will want to use it", and that model has worked for them because they've never really invented anything but they made what some considered the best technology available; thus eliminating the need for an specific target market, because their products appeal to everyone.

    Apple offers amazing products that include hardware and software that just draw all different kinds of people into the market.( Their major hardware products are displayed in the page.) Software like the iLife '11 which allows you to manage your music, movies, and pictures, the Final Cut in case you want to make a whole length film, or the iWork, make you look at Apple products as essential to your life. Benefit segmentation works in 2 ways, first, it helps you segment your market and second, it advertises your product which makes people want to buy it; and s that's the point right? Apple in one of the most successful firms in the technology industry so however it is that they are segmenting the market , they are doing it right. (Look at the advertisement below)

Developing and Managing Products

 

  The secret behind Apple's success is their ability to keep on innovating the market with their new products. Apple is a company that never stops coming out with new ideas of how to make their products better and more efficient in order to satisfy the market's needs. Since the iPod's first introduction to the market in 2001, Apple has developed 22 different types of iPods; every one of them being superior to the model before. For Apple, innovation is a priority; the latest iPod Touch features 2 cameras and HD capability. Their products evolve with the market, and their worldwide recognized brand name gives them a competitive advantage that is hard to beat by their competitors.
   CEO and founder Steve Jobs is a visionary, he saw that before the iPod the mp3 market  only had devices that he descrives as" big and clunky or small and useless". He immediately ordered his hardware engineering chief Jon Robinstein to assemble a team to design the iPod's product line. The product development process took less than a year, always with the supervision of Mr. Jobs.The new product was introduced to the market on October 23rd, 2001; with the advertising campaign that fallowed the slogan "1,000 songs in your pocket". At first adoption of the iPod was slowed down because it was only compatible to Mac OS operating system;  this limited a large amount of early adopters from getting the revolutionary device. Apple saw the problem and developed iTunes to solve the it, allowing Microsoft users  to  finally be able to use  the iPod with their PCs.
   The iPod's life cycle  is now at its maturity stage but due to Apple's ability to perceive changes in the market it is still far aways from it's decline stage. The latest version of the iPod product line was released last September; by coming up with new and improved  products every year Apple creates a planned obsolescence that makes you look at your old iPod as useless (even if it's still in good conditions) and makes you want to get the new version as soon as its released. Without a doubt Apple has done its market research and strategic planning right in order to stay the competitive advantage that they hold in the mp3 market. It is Apple's ability of making new innovative products that surpass their competition, its incredible advertising campaign (which features silhouette of people like you and me listening to their iconic white ear buds) that has kept the iPod product line alive for almost a decade.

Customer Relationship Management

We Are The Source Of Apple's Success

  Customer relationship management (CRM) a new marketing trend in which organizations try to get to us as individuals in order to satisfy our wants and needs more accurately. Apple uses information we provide them to enhance their products and services and to enhance their marketing. A customer exchanges information with the company in many different ways including points of sale, the web, promotions and any form you fill up with your information. In their privacy policy Apple explain how they threat our information, how they collect it, disclose it to, and what they do with it. CRM is a form of relationship marketing that is powered by us, because we are the source of Apple's success.

  Apple collects our information in many different ways, for example when you create an Apple I.d, register your products, online surveys, register for workshops at any of their retail stores and when you apply for commercial credit. They collect information that ranges from your name, address, phone number, and contact references, to your social security number. They store this information in data  bases that they use to research the market, analyse market segments, and target their advertising campaigns to the right target market.  Apple also uses this information to inform us about new products, events, software updates, paperless receipts and also to deliver their products when we order them online. The main idea behind Apple getting our information is to develop new products that meet our needs on a deeper level.

   Did you know that Apple uses “cookies” and other technologies such as pixel tags and web beacons to control the number and times we see an ad in our mobile devices. Well they use these technologies that track down what part of their internet page you saw so that they can improve their content or make it more efficient for you. They also track down your preferences and show you ads that go according to them. This CRM process helps them to figure us out as individuals and provide advertising that suits our needs and wants which is the base for good marketing. When you enter a sweepstakes, or any other contest Apple also collects that information to better administer the programs again. 

   Apple has been awarded the TRUSTe seal because they show "transparency, accountability and choice regarding the collection and use of your personal information." Apple treats information as personal and non-personal, they only disclose non-personal information to third parties for marketing purposes. Non personal information is information that doesn't have your name or any other way to associate you with it for example "occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, location, and the time zone where an Apple product is used." This disclose this type of information to any of their associates at any time for the purpose of improving their products and marketing. Personal information is guaranteed to be stored and protected in data warehouses where it can only be accessed by authorized personnel. Apple's brand reputation backs their name and gives you a peace of mind when you share your personal information with them. 

    Apple's main goal is to keep you updated and informed with the company, they tell you how they use your information on their privacy policy so it'll be wise for you to read it. CRM is good for us as customers because we get products that fit our needs a little better just by giving them a little bit of information. Apple has been successful at using our information, that's why they are one of the leading companies in the world. If you want to update any of your personal information you have with Apple just go to www.apple.com/contact/myinfo. There you can access your Apple I.d and update your personal information just or just make sure is accurate to let them know you are an Apple consumer and that you are the reason for their success.