Ch. 11 - Developing and Managing Products

            Apple is always coming up with new innovative products or updating old ones to satisfy its consumers as it mission statement says, “Apple is committed to bring the best technology experience to consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings. "  As the textbook says, Apple was selected to be the one of the most innovative companies in 2011. There is no doubt that Apple is one of the very few firms that achieved a newly established product that have shown innovation in features and design that became very popular and profitable.

           Categories of New Products:

       New to the world products: these products create entirely new market such as Iphone, and Ipad. Maybe someone will question that Apple wasn’t the first company to introduce these two products. That’s true, the iPhone wasn’t the first smart phone, and the iPad wasn’t the first tablet to the market, but when we compare these two products to the first smart phone and tablet, they have really incomparable advantages and features. 

       New product lines: these products, which the firm has not previously offered, allow it to enter an established market, for example, Ipod series. Mp3 market existed before Apple had its mp3 player.

Additions to existing product lines: this category includes new products that supplement a firm’s established line. For example, Ipad mini is expansion of Ipad product line. Ipad mini has exactly same features and functions as regular Ipad but the size. The purpose of Ipad mini is to satisfy a special group of consumers’ expectation of its products.

       Improvements or revisions of existing products:  the “new and improved” product may be significantly or only slightly changed. Apple is always coming up with its revisions products every year replace obsolete items.

       Repositioned products: these are existing products targeted at new markets or market segments, which may be done to boost declining sales.

       Lower-price products: this category refers to products that provide performance similar to competing brands at a lower price. The purpose of Iphone 5c is to gain market shares in developing countries through its lower-price strategy. However, Apple hasn’t reached its goal yet because it still doesn’t have competitive price in those countries.

            Apple is so admired today for it’s innovation, not just because of their products, but the innovative ways they are used and interacted with and all the other innovations they have sparked.

This is the framework on which every Apple product development is hung:

Design: Every product at Apple starts with design. Designers are treated like royalty at Apple, where the entire product conforms to their vision.

A start-up team: Once a new product has been decided on, a team is organized and segregated from the rest of the company by secrecy agreements and sometimes-physical barriers.

Apple New Product Process (ANPP). Once the design of the product has begun, the ANPP is put into action.

Products are reviewed every Monday. The ET (Executive Team) meets every Monday to go over every product that the company has in process.

The EPM mafia. Once a product begins production, two responsible people are enlisted to bring it to fruition. The engineering program manager (EPM) and the global supply manager (GSM).

Once a product is done, it is designed, built and tested again. At times there are leaks that display versions of a product like the iPhone that we never see released.

The packaging room.  A room in the Marketing building is completely dedicated to device packaging.

The launch is controlled by the Rules of the Road. An action plan for the product launch is generated, called the Rules of the Road.

Work cited  http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/01/24/this-is-how-apples-top-secret-product-development-process-works/

Ch. 18 -Social Media and Marketing

        The definition of social media is to interaction among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Social media provides a way for businesses to increase their "word of mouth" advertising. Word of mouth has always been a powerful method of promoting products and services. For example, when I need a phone, I would like to do a research online about how consumers think about the phone not how the company advertizes its phone.

 The objectives of social media

1     .      Listen and learn: listen what is being said about the company and learn from competitors.

2     .     Build relationships and awareness: Increased visibility in search engines will boost the number of visitors who find the website when searching keywords related to the company.

3     .     Promote products and services: give customers a platform to talking about the company’s products and services, which ultimately translates into sales.

4     .     Manage your reputation:  When you are actively involved in social media, you have the opportunity to manage your reputation. You can respond to complaints in a timely manner, encourage people to talk about their good experiences with your company, and keep an eye on what is being said about you in general by your client base.

5     .     Improve customer service: participate in social media discussions and groups helps you see what is going on with your products and find out what people want to see in the products and services you offered.

            Apple has very different marketing strategy in social media. There is not link from its website, and not any discussion group or command board as other companies do. Maybe Apple doesn’t need a social media presence. Its fans are going to drive conversations on their own without using other social media such as tweeter or facebook. The only thing I find that Apple really needs social media is its Apps. Almost every Apps we can find in app store is able to connect to social media where people can share their experiences and suggestions. 

Ch. 10 - Product Concepts

            In order for a marketer to create a marketing mix the first thing they need is a product. According to the book, consumer product can be divided into four types: convenience product, shopping product, specialty product, and unsought product. An Apple product can be classified as shopping product because is usually more expensive than a convenience product and is found in fewer stores. The basic product concepts for the company are “think different”, it means the company innovates new way to do old things or do new things that have never been done before, for example, the product Iphone fully interprets that idea. Before Iphone was introduced, nobody had any idea about what is smart phone and nobody thought about to put opera system into a phone until Apple did it. And “make complexity simple.” As Steve Jobs said "the best technology is invisible - things work like magic".

            Apple has different product mixes such as Iphone, Ipad, Mac, Ipod, and Itunes, and there are several product items under each product line, for example, right now the company is offering four types of Ipad. The most recent one is Ipad Air, and Ipad Mini with retina display and then regular Ipad mini and Ipad 2. Every product targets to different group of consumers to attract them with different preferences, to increase sales and profits. The company’s product quality, functional, and style modification are changing frequently in order to respond to changes in the environment and increase the advantages in market competition. Beside the company’s major products, Apple also sells convenience products such as their white headphones, Ipad and Iphone cases, Mac laptop keyboard casing to place over your keypads, case to store your phone,ipod and Ipad touch as you exercise.

            Planned obsolescence is always a change in Apple product as their come out with new forms of technology. The Iphone 5 would find obsolete while some people have either 5c or 5s even though I’m still using the 4s.

            Just a month ago Apple passed Coca-Cola as most valuable brand in the world. There is a funny thing that back to a decade ago the fruit apple would appear to people’s mind when someone says “apple”. However, nowadays, it’s changed. The Apple logo will appear to people’s mind instead the fruit. This is the power of brand.

Ch. 17 - Personal Selling and Sales Management

“Advertising offers the consumer a reason to buy; sales promotion offers an incentive to buy”.

            According to the book, personal selling has several advantages over other forms of promotion:

1.     Personal selling provides a detailed explanation or demonstration of the product.

2.     The sales message can be varied according to the motivations and interests of each prospective customer.

3.     Personal selling can be directed only to qualified prospects.

4.     Personal selling costs can be controlled by adjusting the size of the sales force in one-person increments.

5.     Personal selling is considerably more effective than other forms of promotion in obtaining a sale and gaining a satisfied customer.

         

           As we learned from the previous chapter, sales promotions are part of important strategies to increase sales. Unfortunately for the consumers, Apple doesn’t offer many promotions even though recently the company unlocked certain Apps for free. However, may be Apple is right to choose no focus on promotions because they can sale its products pretty well without using aggressive promotional campaigns. This is the difference between Apple’s market and others.

            Although Apple does not emphasis on promotions, the company very cares about personal selling. One of the reasons why Apple has a lot of loyal consumers is the company understanding the importance of relationship with its consumers and everything happens in its retail stores. The company's Apple Stores are home to many young and knowledgeable sales representatives who are trained thoroughly in both product information and customer service. They are salespersons, but they are unlike traditional salespersons. They don’t attempt to persuade the consumers to buy its products. The primary job for these sales representatives is to answer and explant the questions consumers asked. Walking into any Apple Store will reveal that employees are often young and most likely fall within the Generation Y or X age range and once the company releases of new products and upgrades the company produces every few months or so, these young sales representatives are able to assist its consumers to make purchasing decisions. Today, technology explosion has caused people to either accept the new changes or quickly fall behind. For those who fall behind, these sale representatives are able to help them catch up technology.