NAME: Deepro Chakrabarty

ROLL NO: 15
REGISTRATION NO.: OF
SEMESTER: VI
COURSE: BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SPECIALISATION: MARKETING
MENTOR: DR. SEEMA LALL
DATE OF SUBMISSION: 25 June, 2021
TOPIC: iPhone-Marketing Strategy

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements

of the Graduate Degree in

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

J. D. BIRLA INSTITUTE
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
Affiliated to
JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY
KOLKATA
3rd June, 2020
To,
The Controller of Examinations,
Jadavpur University,
Kolkata.

Respected Sir,
I, Deepro Chakrabarty take full ownership of this work titled, “ :
iPhone-Marketing Strategy”. All the references used are well
acknowledged in the bibliography.
This project is in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the
Graduation Degree in Bachelor in Business Administration from
J. D. Birla Institute affiliated to Jadavpur University

Yours Sincerely,
D.Chakrabarty

Deepro Chakrabarty
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare the following:

The word count of the dissertation is 3426 words approximately.

The material contained in this dissertation is the end result of my own work. Due
acknowledgement has been given in the bibliography and references to all sources used be they
electronic, personal and printed. I am aware that my dissertation may be submitted to a
plagiarism detection service where it will be stored in a database and compared against work
submitted from this institute or from any other institute.

In the event that there is a high degree of similarity in content detected, further investigations
may lead to disciplinary actions including the cancellation of my degree according to Jadavpur
University rules and regulations.

I declare that the ethical issues have been considered, evaluated and appropriately addressed in
this research.

I agree to maintain an electronic copy or section of the dissertation to be placed on the e-

learning portal, if deemed appropriate, to allow future students the opportunity to see examples
of the past dissertations and to be able to print and download copies of they so desire.

Signature: Deepro Chakrabarty

Date: 25 June,2021

Name: Deepro Chakrabarty

Roll No.: 15

Batch: 2018-2021

Supervisor: Dr. Seema Lall

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my mentor

(Dr. Seema Lall) as well as our principal (Dr. Deepali Singhil)who gave
me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic
(iphone marketing strategy), which also helped me in doing a lot of
Research and I came to know about so many new things I am really
thankful to them.
I would like to thank my parents who helped me a lot in gathering
different information, collecting data and guiding me from time to time
in making this project, despite of their busy schedules, they gave me
different ideas in making this project unique.

Deepro Chakrabarty
25 June, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter TITLE PAGE NO.

No.
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Research Methodology
4. Discussion and Analysis
 5. Conclusion
Limitations
Recommendation for future study
6. Bibliography
7. Annexure

Abstract
In our project, we try to understand the Marketing strategy that represents the key
component of success for organizations. Thus executing a good marketing strategy is
just as vital as conceptualizing it. The Apple Inc. has been undefeated in recent years
for their originative thanks to do their business. They’re best-known for their distinctive
style and design, nice strategy, innovative marketing and for excellence in
communication. Apple has achieved overwhelming success in recent years with their
merchandise similar to iPad, iPhone, iPod and Macintosh etc.
In this project we also do a research and analysis on people using iPhone and
understand the customer point of view regarding the product. We collected primary and
secondary datas along with questionnaires to know the responses. The findings and
suggestions are given below and the questionnaire answers are also discussed in
detail.

Key Words: Marketing strategy, apple products, brand loyalty, consumers, company
 Introduction

In the last three decades, Apple Inc. has possibly appeared as one of the most
technologically innovative company (Mallin & Finkle 2011. P. 63). In general public
mainly because of three things, it’s fascinating CEO late Steve Jobs, remarkable IOS
and especially the iPhones and iPods (Lazonick et al. 2013, p. 249). Apple Inc. design,
manufacture, and market mobile communication devices, portable digital music players
and personal computers, as well as it sell related software, operating systems, services
and networking solutions (Ashcroft 2012). Apple has established a thoughtful way of
recycling 1.2 million phones a year through a line of robots (Apple 2016). To reduce the
carbon footprint on environment Apple Inc. is investing in new solar projects (Apple
2016). Over 99 percent of paper used in packaging of Apple Inc. products is recycled
(Apple 2016). In February 2016, Apple Inc. has the honor of being the first U.S. tech
company to issue a USD 1.5 billion green bonds (Apple 2016). The marketing strategy
involves deciding on the details of how intended decisions of the marketing strategy on
goal selection, choice of market and customer. Strong marketing strategies are clearly
important to the effectiveness of an organization and so the effectiveness of the
marketing strategy creating processes is a crucial thought for each academics and
practitioners. This project will help us understand the marketing strategies as well as
customer’s perception about iPhones. Apple’s ability to think into the void is what
created them flourishing despite their least quantity of ancient advertising. It’s what
created the renowned for shaking up the mobile industry in 2005, ever-changing history
forever by putting the phone makers and their related to software system answerable
rather than the suppliers (Workzone.com, 2017 ). Apple is one among the various
brands who have established themselves well and are in the top position the market.
Usually the marketing strategy focuses on the customer’s needs and wants in the
market. And Apple is one of the brands who focus and give their full effort in the
marketing strategy for the better sales of their products. Marketing strategy is a very
important and crucial constituent for the world market. Marketing strategies will vary
from country to country, brand to brand and organization to organization. So as to
realize a satisfactory and brand marketing strategy that features a positive outcome on
international and overall firm success, the marketing department among a corporation
ought to bear in mind all the various marketing combine methods which will influence
the excellent result and therefore the additive firm success.
Social media is also defined as the best method for marketing the products in the
present global market. Apple insists on using each and every social media in an
effective way to sell or promote their products (Zarrella 2009). The main aim of this
research paper is to analyse the product development of Apple products and to know
about the customers perception about the Apple products.
 Objective of The Study
The objective of this project is to analyse and identify the marketing strategies used by
iPhone in its smart phone industry. This project will help us find how Apple targets
segments and position their products and know the value factors of B2B and B2C
environment. The other objective is to find the academic theories and frameworks
involved to analyse the marketing strategy of Apple Inc. It will help us identify the
research gap. Thus this study is conducted to study the gap.

Literature review

.According to (Khan, Alam & Alam, 2015), Apple Inc. is an international technology
company found in the United States with its head office at Cupertino. is a designer,
developer, and distributor of electronics, online services as well as consumer
electronics. Apple Inc. has different hardware products, which are inclusive of iPad
tablet computer; Apple watches smart watch, iPhone smartphone, Apple TV digital and
the Mac personal computer. The company also produces software’s which includes
iTunes, macOS as well as iOS operating systems, iLife and work suites and other apps
like the Logic pro. According to (Bullinger, Fähnrich & Meiren 2003), Designers take
responsibility for the usability of a product, and its utility and user experience is
dependent on different factors that lead to success or failure of the new product. One of
the critical features associated with the development of a new product is support from
the top management. Top managers decide on the product to support and the one not
to Support from senior organizational management is essential to the success of a new
product. According to (Kleinschmidt, 1995), Promotion is another critical feature
associated with the development of a new product, Companies should look for ways to
promote their customers. This will enable a company to use the marketing strategy of
getting the prevailing customers to purchase more while bringing in more customers.
And (Bullinger. 2003), Distribution is another feature associated with the development
of new products. Companies should ensure that they make a new product available to
the potential customers. This makes the customer make use of increased market share
marketing strategy, as it will be in a position to reach many customers through vigorous
distribution. Increased distribution will also enable the company to expand its sales due
to the availability of the product to many buyers. According to (Griffin, 1997), Apple Inc.
needs to promote its new product to ensure that it creates customer awareness about
the product. It must ensure that all the distinguishing features of iPhone X are made
known to the customers, and this will encourage them to look for it. It can also give
promotion to those who buy in bulk or even provide a discount to maybe five buyers per
day, and this will attract more clients.
Trends
One of the trends related to the development of product features is continuous
innovation. And (Oliva & Kallenberg, 2003) said, Apple Inc. needs to set the
parameters as well as the marketing campaign objectives. The achievements from the
marketing of the iPhone should be clear and very specific. This will ensure that the
marketing campaign does not lose its effectiveness with time and hence ensuring that it
achieves the set goals. ( Wind & Mahajan,1997) said, Introduction of the new product
iPhone X by Apple Company will be successful if the company takes into consideration
the critical factors that influence the development of new products. Customers’
demands are continuously evolving, and the company needs to take into account the
trends in the critical factors such as distribution, promotion, and development of new
product featuresCompanies need to consider behavioral economics as it plays a critical
role in marketing campaigns. Apple Inc. needs to ensure that it enforces the best
approaches for it to realize success in marketing campaigns.

Research Methodology

The present project research we did a random sampling

technique with an approximate sampling of 30 is done through the
Google form questionnaire using random sampling method due to
time constraint. The questionnaire is distributed to the people who
are using Apple products divided by age groups, income, sex
male/female/transgender and rating on a scale of 0-10.followed
by other questions. The sampling respondents gave their own
views and opinions on the marketing strategy of Apple and also
expressed their views on how more effectively they can improvise
in the marketing strategy. There are two kinds of data source,
both primary and secondary data sources are used in this project.
We assumed, there is no significant difference in the marketing
strategies followed by Apple and other companies and there is
significant difference in the marketing strategies followed by Apple
and other companies.
 Analysis

We’ve divided the sample size of 35 responders who are regular iPhone users, age
wise ranging from 10-20, 21-31, 32-60 and 60 above.

It was found that based on the pie chart above; 22.9% of Apple users belong to the age
group of 10-20. Followed by 11.4 % of users belong to the age group of 60 above.
17.1% of users are in the age group 32-60 and rest 48.6% of users were young adults
aged grouped between 21-31.
Next we asked the responders whether they have access to IPhone store nearby.
This would help us geographic segmentation of Apple Inc. The responders responded
with 80% of the user saying they have access to nearby Apple store.
And rest 20% of iphone users do not have an apple store nearby.

Next we asked the responders about their gender. 14.3% Responders were
Transgender whereas 34% were Females and 51% of the responders were males.
To analyze will help us understanding the demographic segmentation by knowing the
responder’s disposable income. We asked the individuals to pick their net income on a
scale of 0-10 in terms of LPA (Lakhs per Annum).
It was found that 17.1%of the users are unemployed as they fall in the age group of 10-
20. Rest 2.9% of an individual had their income of 1 Lpa. Also another user of 2.9% had
an annual income of 6 Lpa. 17.1% of people had 7 Lpa as their income. 20% of the
users had 8 Lpa income, And finally 37.1% of people had their annual income 10 Lpa or
above.

To understand the psychographic segmentation of iPhone which is used by them to

target potential customers, we asked the individual about one aspect that is according
to the Usp of the product in terms of Status, Symbol, Social Personality, Trend.

It was found that 40% users find enhancement of social personality. Rest 31% users
use it for the unique Apple symbol of elegance. Finally 31% users use it for the status it
belongs to.

And finally to understand the Behavioral Segmentation we asked the customers,

Whether they wish to stick to iPhone or they plan to shift to one of its rivals Android.
It was found that 62.9% i.e., 63% of iPhone users wish to stick to iPhone which portrays
Brand loyalty towards the Apple Inc. Rest 28’.6% said Maybe. And only 8.6% of Users
wish to shift to Android.

Findings & Discussions

After the Questionnaire responses were received it was quite evident that Apple was
able to successfully able to pitch its product in the minds of its users enhancing a good
brand image. Due to the durability and advanced technology processors iphone
provides clearly edges out the other competitors like OnePlus, Oppo, Redmi, Samsung
etc. The segmentation analysed from the questionnaire the Segmentation approaches
were:
Geographic segmentation, Demographic segmentation, Psychographic segmentation
and Behavioral segmentation

Geographic segmentation: Apple’s Geographic segmentation divides the market into

units such as nations, regions, states, counties, cities and neighborhood Currently
Apple has 512 stores globally and spread across 25 more countries. Due to which
availability of Iphone has increased. 80% of our responders had access to apple store
which indicates a good geographic segmentation.

Demographic segmentation: According to Kotler et al. (2005) demographic

segmentation are sorted into groups of age, gender, family size, income, education,
religion race and generation. In our Questionnaire we divided the questions n terms of
age, sex and income among our responders. To understand the demographic
segmentation we got to know 51.4% of users were male and 34.3% were female and
rest 14% were transgender. We also found most of the iPhone users were between age
groups of 21-31 and 10-20. Thus iPhone targets the individual’s adults and young adults
of the society. It was also found that 37.1% of the IPhone users had a disposable
income of 10 Lpa or more. Indicating iphone attracts the wealthier section of the society.

. Psychographic segmentation: Psychographic segmentation is categorized the

consumers according to their social class, lifestyle, and personality. We asked the
individuals about the brand loyalty and usp that attracts them to stick to using an
iphone. It was found that 31.4% of users use it as it belongs to a higher status and 40%
of people use it as it enhances their social personality in terms of luxury and elegance.
And 28% use it as it depicts a symbol of premium smartphones. Apple iPhones are
expensive so the rich tends to buy iPhone as a status symbol, while Android
smartphone have in a wide range of prices so both the middle class and upper class
can afford them.

Behavioral segmentation: Behavioral segmentation divides the consumer market into

groups based on their loyalty, attitude, knowledge, uses and response to a product. To
understand these aspects and their brand loyalty we asked the individuals whether they
wish to stick to using iPhone or they would rather go for Android smartphones. We had
a response of 62.9 % people wishing to stick to Apple as it was able to satisfy the
customer’s utmost expectation. Only 8.6% users were not willing to use the product
anymore. This proves iPhone has successfully met its customer retention objective and
inflicted brand loyalty towards their product upon the potent customers.

According to the Secondary data available, iPhone, It was found that the smartphone
industry is utterly dynamic. But due to its unique marketing techniques and
advertisement which iPhone initiated has given them a competitive advantage over
other companies. Apple makes a total 274 Billion USD a year. The future of iPhone
industry looks bright as their growth is linked to multiple factors like technological
innovation, improved usability and increased accessibility customers buy new iPhones.

The following is the marketing mix of iPhone marketing based on secondary data:

(Product Mix)

This marketing mix element determines the outputs of the business organization. In this
case, Apple’s product mix includes goods and services that are classified as, or involves
information technology. However, the company continues to expand its product mix,
creating the possibility of adding products in this 4P element. Apple Inc.’s main product
lines are as follows:

iphoneXR, Iphone X, iphone 6, iphone7 Jett Black, iphone 5setc. his element of the
marketing mix shows that the company operates in the consumer electronics products.
In the company’s current strategic management approaches, The products based on
cloud technology, upgraded processors used for gaming editing and premium camera
quality and advanced artificial intelligence Siri pre-installed. The cloud allows
customers to store and access their data, and use software as a service such as iWork
for iCloud.

(Place or Distribution Mix)

This element of the marketing mix involves the selection of appropriate places or
venues through which the company distributes its products. Apple Inc.’s business case
involves company-owned locations, as well as other parties that the company
authorizes to distribute its products. The following places are included in Apple’s
distribution strategy:

1. Apple Store locations

2. Company-owned website and online stores for desktop and mobile

 3. Authorized sellers

4. Telecommunications companies

(Promotional Mix)

Also called the marketing communications mix, this element of the marketing mix
determines the communications tactics that the company uses to reach its target
customers. Apple Inc. promotes its products in various ways, involving different
communications channels and parties. In addressing this 4P element, the company
emphasizes the premium brand image and premium quality of its products. The
following communications tactics are in Apple’s promotional mix: Advertising, Personal
Selling Sales, Promotion, Public Relations. The company has agreements with various
prominent websites to advertise and promote Apple products. In addition, the company
uses personal selling in the form of Apple Store employees who provide product-
specific information in the aim of convincing store visitors to make a purchase. They
involve in public relations as well as provide promotions discounts and exchanges of
older iPhone.

(Pricing Mix)

IPhone uses a term in their pricing known as Premium pricing. Which means a
premium price amount applied in addition to the typical or common price. In this regard,
Apple’s use of the premium pricing strategy sets high prices for its products. For
example, in general, iPhones are more expensive than Samsung smartphones. This
premium pricing is set to segregate itself from average smartphones. The price barrier
is set to tap the wealthy sections of the society who are willing to pay the price based on
the luxury and elegance provided in the iphones.
 Conclusion

In a nutshell, through new breakthroughs in technologies, there will be a constant

development of the new products. Due to a lot of competition in the market only the one
with high quality, high performance, high features with reasonable prices can survive.
There are still consumers in the global market which are untouched because
smartphone are out of their reach. Apple Inc. smartphone are no doubted user-friendly
but they are expensive. Currently, iPhones are more of a status symbol than a personal
commodity. Moreover they are considered as luxury over necessity for some income
groups. IPhone are considered to be a luxury branded smartphone as it cannot ta the
middleclass segment of our society. IPhone targets only the rich individuals. Hence their
unique way of marketing has impacted in international Marketing also which is helping
them grow geographically. Within the surroundings, however, there are totally different
views regarding understanding the initiatives taken by the corporate world.

Limitations

Since Apple provide premium product using a premium price strategy a whole lot of the
section of the society is discriminated from this study. As the individuals questioned,
they belonged to a wealthier section of the society. There lie a research gap as a lot of
people belonging to middle and lower class are out casted from this study. Apple store
being an MNC it hasn’t been able to open in all the places as there are people who o
not have easy access to these iphone stores. Since it’s a dynamic environment
sometimes apple iphones fail to meet the expectations of the customers as the price is
too high compared to the innovation of the products.
 Recommendations

The recommendations would be Provide value for the products offered If a perception is
created that Apple is offering its customers with fine products with premium quality in
the industry, which is not being offered by others; than Apple should be able to
differentiate themselves from their competitors in order to still keep premium pricing for
their products. IPhone should increase their promotions and start advertisements and
digital marketing in such a way that educate the customers about the latest
technological product, making it seem more appealing. IPhone should focus on
advertising all products not only new products in order to meet the sales target for all
products. Hence it becomes important to try and bring innovation in the product in terms
of design, features and specifications. In order to differentiate your product from
competitive brands. The company needs to revise its pricing policies and should not
always charge the premium pricing instead should tap the other sections of the society
to attain maximum customer retention and brand loyalty. Thus, this may help Apple to
attract new target group customers increasing its fan base, along with sky rocketing its
brand loyalty and sales. Also more retail shops and service centers are required to be
opened.

Bibliography

Apple Inc. 2016, Apple retail, http://www.apple.com/about/job-creation

Apple dominates list of the world’s most valuable brands,

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/11/06/apple-dominates-list-of-the-
worlds-most-valuable-brands/#536c1f63132c

G & Leek, S 2012, ‘A framework of brand value in B2B markets: The contributing role of
functional and emotional components’, Industrial Marketing Management,

Google.co.in.
Wikipedia.

Meet today’s smartphone consumers, http://www.experian.com/blogs/marketing-

forward/2014/04/03/meet-todays-new-smartphone-consumers/

What kind of person prefers an iPhone?,

http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddhixon/2014/04/10/what-kind-of-person-prefers-an-
iphone/#73a163b3e5a6.

Annexure

Age:

a) 10-20
b) 21-31
c) 32-60
d) 32-60

Is there an Apple Store near you?

a) Yes
b) No

Gender?

a) Male
b) Female
c) Transgender

Annual Income in LPA

 a) On a scale of 0-10

What attribute about your iphone attracts you most?

a) Status
b) Symbol
c) Social Personality
d) Trend

Will you continue using Iphone in future or you have plans on shifting to Android?

a) Yes
b) No
c) Maybe