Marketing Assignment: IMC Campaign Plan for iPhone 11

Question

Task:
Prepare a marketing assignment presenting the IMC campaign plan for iPhone 11.

Answer

1. Introduction to Product taken in this marketing assignment
In this modern era, marketing has become an essential way to promote and sale products, however the roles of promotion and advertising in marketing are continuously changing with the changing time (Lee & Lau, 2019). Promoting products through traditional mass media has been practised for many years, though company such as Apple Inc. have turned to integrate the efforts put on advertisement through various communication techniques. Apple Inc. is considered one of the big Tech technology company in the world and the high-quality product being the reason of its success. Apple’s signature product being iPad Mac computer, however, IPhone is its most popular product with a sale of about 46.89 million units in the fourth quarter of the year 2018 (Apple, 2020) In spite of the pandemic Apple was able to hold its position among the highest selling android phone in the world. Apple’s IPhone 11 won the crown of the world’s best-selling phone H1 2020 leaving all other smart phones quite behind. As per a report by Counter point research Apple, iPhone shipped 72.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2019, whereas Samsung sold 70 million units (Counter point research, 2020) However, the high price of iPhone and less storage are its drawbacks. IPhone do not has an SD card slots leaving no options of upgrading the storage. Nevertheless, being the highest seller of iPhone, Apple has not gained much success in communicating and convincing the potential customers. To generate high sales for IPhone in the future and to retain the number one position in the global market of IPhone sales IMC can be the best-justified technique. IMC improves the brand image, minimised confusion and thus maintains the focus or goal of the company (Darley et al., 2016)

2. Agenda
Changes are inevitable. In the changing global market of smart phones and androids and with high competition with different new companies been formed or merging of companies, smart marketing strategies has become the essential criteria for any company (Trivedi, Trivedi, & Goswami, 2018). Marketing comes with several objectives and each of the objectives has a communicating plan, which are ensured by the Integrated Marketing Communication. Demand for profit is what a company depends on and hence it is necessary to identify the benefits that could be provided to the customers through the products and services. Hence, public relation becomes the key factor to enhance sale (Rahi, 2016). The marketing management is made easier through the IMC. With the growth of technology various means of promotion and marketing has been introduced which are brought together with the help of IMC. In promotional plan of Apple various elements such as public relation, advertisement (TV commercials, youtube video ads, billboards), sales promotion, direct marketing, publicity, personal selling (Apple stores, e-mail marketing) and so on has been integrated. To foster a positive product introduction for the IPhones 11 Apple need to successfully leverage various communication channel. Enhance promotions through Apple own website can be helpful in increasing the sale. Working more on security to get out of the allegations of data breach and to gain the trust of all the customers has been also one of the plan of the IMC (Volk & Zerfess, 2018). Through the integrated marketing communication, Apple will be able to convince the potential customers and enhance the base of the loyal customers.

3. Background
A holistic marketing approach is embraced through integrated marketing. Company’s values and objectives are overarched by aligning all the channels by an integrated approach to marketing communication (In many companies it has been observed that absence of integrated marketing communication has resulted in the failure of enhancing the revenue (Krizanova et al., 2016). Repetition of the same messages perceived by consumers across every time are able in better recognition of a particular brand in the market. Though Apple Inc. has been using IMC in the promotion of IPhone 11 but the strategies taken by Apple has always been for very short term. Hence, Apple has not been so successful in communication and convincing the potential customers. Unlike other major companies Apple does not has a customer loyalty program or free gifts offering, however it is not because it can’t afford such strategies but Apple already has a retention strategy, which is not labelled as one. This communication gap need to be fulfilled. IMC is the only way to make people understand and convince the advantages of buying IPhone. Apple has failed to make the potential customers understand the reason behind the high price of IPhone 11. Moreover, Apple has also failed to communicate its customers regarding the reasons of how the products of Apple are better than other phones. It is predicted that in future, less dependency on phones could be the biggest challenge for companies such as Apple and weaken its operating performance. Moreover fast growth of data base marketing, shift in traditional promotions, changes in the ways advertising companies used to compensate are some of the challenges in implementing the integrated marketing communication. However, in spite of the pandemic Apple Inc. was the first American company to cross USD 2 trillion-market capitalisation.

4. Objectives

• The main objective is to focus more to enhance the sale of Apple IPhone 11 by increasing the customer base and earn the loyalty and faith of the customers.
• Reinforce repeat purchase of the IPhone 11.
• Through the IMC, an approach to brand communications of Apple’s IPhone 11 can be achieved by creating a continuous experience for customers and underpins the core message of the brand.
• Using Integrated marketing communication campaigns, customers’ belief towards a product can be changed and thus increase the demand.
• Through different types of outreach, tactics of IMC it can be made possible to effectively reach IPhone 11’s key audience at every phase of the customer journey.
• The cost effectiveness of marketing of IPhone 11 through various platform can be maximised by creating a synergy between the different elements of marketing.

5. Target market
With a better balance between performance and pricing, in the IPhone 11, Apple has been keen to expand the customer base other than the professionals, executive and businessperson. The target customers of IPhone 11 are youths and creative professionals who are conscious regarding brand and style and having strong attraction towards technology and new gadgets. The target market for IPhone 11 are also those IPhone users who want to upgrade the older devices.

6. Message strategy
Straightforwardness has always been the message strategy of Apple. The messages conveyed are loud and clear and speaks the language of the people creating a strong bond and enhancing sales of IPhone 11. Messages regarding IPhone 11 are more consistent and credible, which was made possible because of IMC. Presenting the carefully linked messages, with timely reminders or updated information in planned sequences has been the other message strategy to nurture the customers, brand relationship, and thus enhance the sales of IPhone 11.

7. IMC
To introduce any product in market and to create and retain a strong relationship with the customers IMC needs proper planning and developing proper strategies.

Swot analysis is very essential to understand the weakness and strength of the brand.

 

SWOT Analysis
Keeping the strengths, weakness opportunities and threats of the Apple a diverse set of strategies need to be followed by Apple to ensure the growth in its business and to face challenges of the competitors. However, the swot analysis indicates that the strengths of Apple are effective enough to handle the weakness of the company. The strength can be used in exploiting the opportunities such as the distribution network can be expanded.

IMC campaign can be utilised to enhance the brand awareness of IPhone 11 and reinforcing repeat purchases of the phone thus generating sales along with the continuation in the innovation processes to develop more new product lines. Innovation reduces the chances of counterfeit products. The different integrating tools of IMC can be helpful in tracking customers’ behaviour and the effectiveness of the campaign and develop strategies with the right online and offline combination of channels to establish IPhone 11 as a stronger brand. The IMC strategies can help to build customer circulations to Apple stores, websites and other channels of marketing. The high price strategies can be turned from weakness to strengths of Apple by producing technologically advance phones with the utilisation of artificial intelligence. To reach the target market through various channels of communication more focus are to be given by Apple on Marcom mix strategies.

Stakeholder matrix

Both the internal and external stakeholders are an integral part of any business ( Freudenreich, Lüdeke-Freund, & Schaltegger, 2019). The internal stakeholders of Apple being the employees, investors and board members are believed to maintain Apple’s reputation in being the leader of the world in innovations and technologies. Highly dedicated team of employees are believed to be the attribute to the success of Apple Inc. However, the company has faced several challenges and criticism in handling some of the stakeholders. The needs and demands of the stakeholders have been partly satisfied by Apple as the different stakeholders have different needs and demands. Apple has always prioritised the customers.

IMC Matrix

 

Marcom Mix Model

IMC media and contact point

8. Budget

The budget spend on TV commercials and radio jingle has been lessened by lessening the time estimated to carry on the campaign through this media. Instead of 3months of carrying out the promotions through TV commercials, it can be done for 2months. The frequency of radio jingles broadcasted through radios can be brought down to 4 instead of 5. The budget of billboards been reduced as after ads through multichannel platforms, 15 spots for billboards sounds perfect.

9. Evaluation
If the sales are more than the budget estimated for advertisements and the profit margin is high it is considered to be a good success rate. Low sales compared to the AD campaign; metrics need revision. It can be evaluated that with the help of IMC strategies Apple will be able to make the products more recognized in the market and able to capture the target market and enhance the revenue. IMC helps in personalised communication along with an improved perception of brand and thus the sale of IPhone 11 is expected to be enhanced in spite of the pandemic. The impact of every component of a campaign, can be measured by the marketers, as IMC produces meaningful visions across multiple channels. However, the inability of the integrated communication to adapt to local cultures may not get the same result expected. As a TV ad in Australia may not work in another country. Nevertheless, apple need to use the tools of IMC very cautiously to achieve the goal of the company.

People waiting outside Apple store

IPhone 11

Sale of IPhone 11

10. References
Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results. (2020). Retrieved 9 October 2020, from https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/10/apple-reports-fourth-quarter-results/

Darley, W. K., Dall’Olmo Riley, F., Singh, J., & Blankson, C. (2016). Brand building via integrated marketing communications. The Routledge Companion to Contemporary Brand Management, 201-217.

Freudenreich, B., Lüdeke-Freund, F., & Schaltegger, S. (2019). A stakeholder theory perspective on business models: Value creation for sustainability. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-16.

iPhone 11: Second Best Selling Phone of 2019 Globally After Less Than Four Months. (2020). Retrieved 9 October 2020, from https://www.counterpointresearch.com/iphone-11-second-best-selling-phone-2019-less-four-months/

Krizanova, A., L?z?roiu, G., Gajanova, L., Kliestikova, J., Nadanyiova, M., & Moravcikova, D. (2019). The Effectiveness of Marketing Communication and Importance of Its Evaluation in an Online Environment. Sustainability, 11(24), 7016.

Lee, P. Y., & Lau, K. W. (2019). From an “idea generator” to a “solution facilitator”: A study of the changing roles of advertising professionals in the social media marketing era. marketing assignment Career Development International, 24(1), 2-17.

Rahi, S. (2016). Impact of customer perceived value and customers perception of public relation on customer loyalty with moderating role of brand image. The Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, 21(2).

Trivedi, K., Trivedi, P., & Goswami, V. (2018). Sustainable marketing strategies: Creating business value by meeting consumer expectation. International Journal of Management, Economics and Social Sciences (IJMESS), 7(2), 186-205.

Volk, S. C., & Zerfass, A. (2018). Alignment: Explicating a key concept in strategic communication. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 12(4), 433-451.