Marketing Audit Report for Apple IPad Mini - Case Study Example

Marketing Audit Report Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Executive Summary Apple iPad mini is the product of study in the Australia market at the moment. It is one of the technology based items that has startled the Australian market. Apple iPad mini has fluid performance, fast and beautiful screen. The colours are vivid and perfectly sized to provide a great experience in Australia. Apple Ipad mini aims at giving the users all the technology requirements and providing all with web content, computer games, music, electronic books, films, periodicals and presentations (Catanzariti, 2012). The greatest consumers of Ipad mini are those aged between 16 to 29 years. Apple Ipad mini suits all of Australian female and male making up to 50% of both gender in comparison. According to the Australia bureau of statistics, Apple Ipad sales represented 25% of global sales in the year 2010 with the greater market going to the US. Apple iPad mini product I have chose is a development of iPad technology Apple Ipad mini has fluid performance, fast and beautiful screen. The colours are vivid and perfectly sized to provide a great experience in Australia. Since Apple iPad is a kind of laptop, it becomes a convenience product. The price of Apple iPad mini is not quite high and suit middle income earners in Australia (Owen, 2004). The Apple distribution strategy is through providing the product directly to retailers who in turn sell to end users. The Apple iPad retailers are many owning electronic shops and selling variety of other electronics. Apple Company concentrates on promoting iPad to these college goers for more profit. The company uses personal sales and social media advertising to promote their product. Apple has about 20 years history with Apple iPad having 2 years in the Australian market. Apple iPad competitive advantage cannot be ignored as many customers prefer its superior features, achievements and survival in competitive computer market in Australia. Table of Contents The target market 3 The market segment profile 4 Demographic features: 4 Geographic characteristics: 4 Psychographic characteristics: 4 Behavioural characteristics: 5 The marketing mix 5 The Product 5 Promotion 7 Price 8 Distribution 9 Competitive Advantage 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Appendices 12 Introduction Apple iPad mini is the product of study in the Australia market at the moment. It is one of the technology based items that has startled the Australian market. Apple iPad mini has fluid performance, fast and beautiful screen. The colours are vivid and perfectly sized to provide a great experience in Australia. Since the late 1990’s computer technology has in the form of lap tops has continued to generate more innovative features that reduces size and increases on performance and reliability (Kunkel, 2007). The popularity of Ipad has been ever increasing, hence many Australians embrace the special attractions of Apple Ipad Mini. Based on GIZMODO Australia statistics, Apple Ipad mini is quite successful with higher proportion of sales recorded in Apple stores where more than 60% of the population use it just like the mobile phone (Catanzariti, 2012). Moreover, Ipad mini is every advancing in creativity with the current market receiving the fourth-generation gadget. The Ipad is said to get hands on and more essentially, it does support 4G technology (Gene, 2012). The Australian Apple store is up with Apple mini minimum price of $369 which is less by $40 when compared to the US prices. This report provides a detailed description of the Apple Ipad mini target market, evaluating the wants and needs fulfilled by the Apple Ipad. It also provides a basis for competitive advantages, how Ipad product generates enthusiasms among Australian users, and how it is able to beat other rivals competitive computer market (Catanzariti, 2012). Lastly, its marketing mix is evaluated. The target market Apple iPad mini is a development of the previous New Messagepad 100 that first came to the market in 1993 and was announced in 2012 as the 5th product in Ipad hierarchy with on-line pre-orders taking over the Australian market in May 28 2010. Apple Ipad mini aims at giving the users all the technology requirements and providing all with web content, computer games, music, electronic books, films, periodicals and presentations (Catanzariti, 2012). The greatest consumers of Ipad mini are those aged between 16 to 29 years who are teenagers to young adults, though a significant proportion of working class between the ages of 30 and 40 years use it for presentation purposes in academic institutions and business conferences (Gene, 2012). Apple Ipad mini is the love of every one given its superior connectivity options of GPS capability and Wi-Fi + Cellular features, Retina display and 4G (LTE) capabilities. Australian culture is exhibited with large scale bargains and thus able to buy in thousands. The total Apple Ipad market in Australian can be segmented in ways suggested below; The market segment profile Demographic features: Age categories: In four days, I went round window shopping and checking on online retailers in Adelaide to experience the buyers of Apple Ipad 2 and other varieties of Laptops. Their ages were spread from 18 to 40 years. Majority were college students and working class executives for personal use. Many were buying upfront meaning that they had decided and had the capability to purchase. Gender group: Apple Ipad mini suits all of Australian female and male making up to 50% of both gender in comparison. Since Apple Ipad mini is a mass consumption product, most of Australians used it to compliment the uses of mobile phones and desktop computers (Crothers, 2012). Geographic characteristics: Region: Australia is an important market for sale of Apple Ipad mini. According to the Australia bureau of statistics, Apple Ipad sales represented 25% of global sales in the year 2010 with the greater market going to the US. Shoppers from China and New Zealand prefer Australia as the market to source most of their electronic goods. Psychographic characteristics: Lifestyle: Apple Ipad links with Australian youth and working class where more than 85% of the population owning electronic devices such as computers and mobile phones. Majority of Australian youth are flossy and prefer using Apple Ipad during picnics, classroom and while relaxing at home (Kunkel, 2007). This makes the Apple Ipad mini to meet their information needs, games and communication through twitter and Face book at high speeds. Technology is now a lifestyle to many Australians. Behavioural characteristics: Anticipated Benefits: Apple Ipad mini is a beautiful product with attractive features like coloured display, broad web content, GPS maps, and iSight Camera. Others are video gaming, and face detection useful in presentation, academic learning, periodicals and gaming. Moreover, Apple Ipad mini has virtually all the features of all generation of Apple gadgets. Volume usage: Apple Ipad mini comes in different shapes and colours which meets the diverse tastes of the users. For instance, Apple Ipad mini has ‘App store, ‘iTunes’ and íCloud’. The iPad mini has various pre-installed applications like safari, siri, video, Maps, contacts, music and calendar suitable for teenagers and college goers. Working executives can also take advantage of the iPhone 4S with cellular network and Wi-Fi connection. Researchers can use iBooks available from iBookstore which extensively aids research work. The marketing mix The Product Apple iPad mini product I have chose is a development of iPad technology Apple Ipad mini has fluid performance, fast and beautiful screen. The colours are vivid and perfectly sized to provide a great experience in Australia. Computer technology has in the form of laptops has continued to generate more innovative features that reduces size and increases on performance and reliability (Gene, 2012). The popularity of Ipad has been ever increasing; hence many Australians embrace the special attractions of Apple Ipad Mini. Based on GIZMODO Australia statistics, Apple Ipad mini is quite successful with higher proportion of sales recorded in Apple stores where a great proportion of the population use it just like the mobile phone. Apple iPad mini provide college students and working class executives with world class needs. For the youth, it provide for computer gaming, music, picnic video sessions and communication owing to high connectivity to Wi-Fi. Furthermore, this product meets the innate needs of Aussies which amplifies their uptake of technology as a lifestyle. According to the classification of Apple product, Apple iPad mini is classified as a product of convenience. The rationale for the choice of this category is based on the fact that Apple iPad is available in most Australian stores and outlets. For instance, the product can be found in many mobile phone dealers in the main streets of all towns and cities in Australia. It has the screen of 7.9 inches which targets the emerging sector of small tablets. With hardware similar to iPad 2, the current one in the market has 1024*768 pixel resolution. It is also 50% lighter and 7.2mm thickness. The memory capacities are; 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. All are versions compatible to Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + cellular. It is easily portable and convenient for travellers, tourists, business executives and college goers. It is now a preferred gadget in Australia. The lowest prices are $369 which is easily affordable in Adelaide (Lewis, 2010). The core product of Apple is the 4G internet technology that makes browsing faster and convenient. One can watch games and TV at any place in Australia. I endear to evaluate Apple iPad branding, packaging, and its benefits. In packaging, the average Apple iPad has 7.2mm thickness, Retina display, dual core A5X processor, FaceTime video phone application and 3-axis gyroscope. The common ones are sold through online advertising as iTunes Store, iCloud, iBookstore and App Store. Branding of Apple iPad mini is based on portability, high conectivity to Wi-Fi, longer battery life and affordable pricing. Customers can easily identify with the term ‘mini’. In addition, Apple iPad branding is extremely attractive to customers’ eyes as it comes in various colours (Lewis, 2010). When customers see 7.2mm thickness and 312g tablet they see Apple iPad. The labelling is unique with considerable reduction in size as compared to first, second and third generation iPads. The usual joke that ‘iPad isn’t shrunk down’ is true given the bezel surrounding the display. Majority prefer it because it is thin and fit for single-handed use. The product life cycle of Apple iPad is at the growth stage, for Apple has only been popular to Australians since 2010. Apple iPad sales managers distribute the mini into every electronic outlet in Australian where costumers can buy the Apple mini easily (Crothers, 2012). Since Apple mini is in growth and development stage, the company still needs to employ intensive advertising and promotion in Australian market, where they repeatedly remind people purchase Apple iPad mini for their individual needs. Furthermore, Apple mini price is fluid and expected to change though at a slight percentage points in the Australian supermarket. Since the introduction of dual core Apple A5, sales have multiplied two-fold replacing the popularity of new iPad mini. Apple iPad mini is a bit different with other Apple products, because it attracts the Australian desire for portable and highly efficient technology products (Kunkel, 2007). Recently, in a way to capture the nature loving Australians, Apple introduced FaceTime video phone application and three-axis gyroscope. Promotion Apple iPad mini is now an established brand in Australians though prevalent in cities like Brisbane, Canberra, Perth, Sydney and Adelaide. More promotional activities need to be carried out to reach the hinterland (Kunkel, 2007). The outstanding features promote Apple iPad through personal sales. Existing users will excite prospective buyers who easily cope with the demands of the product. Technology is up to date and embraces the Australian love for technology. The youth of between 18 to 29 years is the biggest market for Apple iPad mini. Apple Company concentrates on promoting iPad to these college goers for more profit. The company uses personal sales and social media advertising to promote their product. A variety ways is used to let the youth and working class know Apple (Lewis, 2010). They also advertise Apple iPad on TV, during the prime time news hours at 1pm and 7pm. Over the weekends, Apple put more of the advertisements on Movie and sports channel to let more youth have a taste of the mini product (Mossberg, 2012). Because Apple aims at College students and working class market, most people accept the first advertising on social media like Face book which carry lots of ads. Furthermore, these generation Y customers prefer using internet thus able to watch the adverts on Google, Face book and YouTube. Internet promotion is effective to reaching the Apple target market for greater sales figure for Apple. It can outdo competitors such as Samsung and Microsoft who are also dominant in the market. The Apple Company uses on-line communications to reach many of its consumers. According to Internet world stats (2012), about 88.8% of the Australian population are on-line. More information on the product is also available on-line through Google (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). The pages shows the various types of iPads mini, features, design, App store, Built-in Apps and iCloud. Other modes of communicating Apple iPad adopted the third generation iPad which was marketed as ‘new iPad’ with additional LTE service in March 7 2012. This attracted a lot of people owing to the upgraded Retina display and A5X processor. These were initially implemented on iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 in the Australia market. The other involved promoting App Store downloads at high speeds which allowed for minor positioning changes. The Apple brand is popular for generations of iMac, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini for business conferencing. Apple in the growth and development stage needs to make progressive promotion and adverting to attract more customers (Owen, 2004). Promotion has to be intensive to remind the working class and college goers to buy. Price Since Apple iPad is a kind of laptop, it becomes a convenience product. The price of Apple iPad mini is not quite high and suit middle income earners in Australia (Owen, 2004). The price is relatively higher compared to that of the US and acceptable to most people. I surveyed a major outlet where full pricing of Apple iPad was compared to that in the US: Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, (2012) Popularity of Apple iPad always keeps the prices similar in different outlets in Australia and the Apple iPad discount is uncommon. However, Apple is ideal for working class and college students which are a mass market. The price of Apple iPad is affordable hence suiting the price of any convenience product. The major competitor of Apple iPad is Samsung, Toshiba and Acer. These iPad sales are common in electronic sales outlets throughout Australia (Owen, 2004). From the sizes and shelves of these three competitors, I found the Nexus 7 going for $70 less with inferior features as compared to the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad. The prices of competitors are still high and cannot compare with Apple; Product size Price of Apple iPad mini Price of Nexus 7 16 GB Wi-Fi $369 $299 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, (2012) A good way of attracting customers is through an excellent pricing strategy. The price of ‘new iPad’ has not changed much. Common sense of the price maintains that a firm launching a limited edition makes the prices to increase in which many people will purchase. The price remaining unchanged, the sales manager desires more sales of Apple iPad mini which attracts more customers (Menn & Bradshaw, 2010). Apple iPad price is consistent with the firm’s strategy for Place, Promotion and Product. For product, Apple iPad is in the growth stage in product life cycle. For promotion, the company does intensive advertising of the product, and reminds Aussies to purchase Apple business and entertainment needs (Crothers, 2012). For place, the Apple sales managers distribute them into every major electronic outlet in Australia where costumers buy easily. Apple iPad mini price is stable with a small fluctuation in Australian electronic outlets (Owen, 2004). Distribution The Apple distribution strategy is through providing the product directly to retailers who in turn sell to end users. The Apple iPad retailers are many owning electronic shops and selling variety of other electronics. Searching for Apple iPad at any electronic shop in Adelaide found many shelves displaying the Nexus 7 and Apple iPad mini. In Adelaide, a variety of Apple iPad mini are displayed on glass windows and counters. Since Apple iPad mini is convenience product and its price is matches the price of those of other household necessities. The cost of selling Apple iPad mini would have been higher if its statement of distribution strategy is sales through their stores (Gene, 2012). Moreover, Apple sells various types of products hence choosing a retailer to sell may not be a proper way for a distribution strategy. Apple chooses to sell and advertise their product online and also through electronic shops and supermarkets. Electronic shops are the convenient outlet to distribute the product to customers. This distribution strategy is appropriative especially since it is in the growth stage. Competitive Advantage Apple has about 20 years history with Apple iPad having 2 years in the Australian market. Apple iPad competitive advantage cannot be ignored as many customers prefer its superior features, achievements and survival in competitive computer market in Australia. The most obvious Apple iPad symbol is the 7.2 mm thickness, Retina display and dual core A5X processor. It is beautiful and appears with many colours. The Apple iPad advantage of is the preference of most Australians to lighter, attractive and highly performing electronic gadgets. Apple iPad connects to Aussie technology culture. Apple is now used by many students and working population (Gene, 2012). It is cherished due to retina display, dual core processor, fast speeds and longer battery life. Instead of getting frustrated waiting for updates, customers can experience the state-of-the-art handsets in the form of iPad similar to Surface and Nexus. For the Apple iPad promotion reflects a traditional style to attract buyers. The Apple iPad price suits for a reasonable necessity affordable at any occasion (Kunkel, 2007). Apple iPad offers the consumer a ‘quality for money’ product than any other iPad product. Conclusion The growing trend among Australians to procure efficient products suiting their technology needs and fulfilling the consumption culture, I believe Apple iPad mini is an appropriate case. Apple has within a short stint penetrated the competitive computer and phone market. Apple iPad mini is successful product noticeable among computer technology providers like Toshiba, Samsung and Acer who are the highest Apple competitors (Kunkel, 2007). This is based on the fact that Apple meets all the consumers’ needs. Apple provides technology requirements of gaming, presentations, periodicals and video applications. Apple is superior owing to constant creativity and innovation from first generation to fourth generation users. Apple distributors prefer electronic outlets and shops accessible to Australian consumers. The Apple iPad price is affordable for Australians earning average income. Moreover, Apple iPad promotions always concentrate on connecting the Australian college students and working class through social media and TV (Lewis, 2010). I think Apple has a great achievement within the growth stage. Innovation and creativity will see more people shifting to the use of Apple iPad mini and other Apple products. This means more sales and greater market share for Apple. References Australian Bureau of Statistics, (2012). Business information, ABS Catanzariti, R. (2012). iPad mini Australian buying guide, PC world Australia. Crothers, B. (2012). iPad Mini set to eclipse Retina iPad. CNET. CBS Interactive.  Gene R. B. ( 2012). iPad Mini & iPad 4 Debut in Australia Looks Overwhelming. Ubergizmo.  Kunkel, P. (2007). Apple Design: The Work of the Apple Industrial Design Group. AM Press Lewis, D. ( 2010). iPad Pre-order Update- March 12. Electrobuzz.  Menn, J., & Bradshaw, T. ( 2010). Apple in control of iPad’s Europe launch. Financial Times. New York. Mossberg, W. (2012). New iPad: a Million More Pixels Than HDTV. The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Owen, L. (2004). Apple Confidential 2.0, No Starch Press http://store.apple.com/au/ipad http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/why-ipad-mini/ http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/features/ http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/specs/ Appendices i) iPad face Apple iPad mini in different colours http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/specs/ ii) Market statistics Australia Demographics of on-line population in Australia http://www.newmediatrendwatch.com/markets-by-country/11-long-haul/40-australia?showall=1 iii) Apple iPad mini in action http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/439942/ipad_mini_australian_buying_guide/ Read More