Product Concept

          Apple's Product Concept is one that's unique and innovating. There is a general saying that consumer will favor those product that offer quality, performance, or innovative feature. If you consider the comparison between a "computer" versus a "Mac" from Apple, there is practically no competition. With that said, one can tell that Apple puts forth enormous effort in their strategey, advertisement, and product to attain the "category of its own" title. Eventhough Apple's products are consider a "shopping product" because of the pricing compared to "convenience products," the image portraited by Apple, innovating and sleek design, and the popularity of the products give Apple's products the luxury to be called specialty product. Just the perception of Apple products that consumer have alone help us see the Product Concept form by Apple to be pure genius. Every consumer that has a products from Apple can tell you how much it means to them and how "cool" they think their product is. This thought or opinion can be form by Apple's Product concept as well as the performance Apple display to their consumers.

Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

          Sale promotion are typically used by marketing managers as a tactical tool in order to increase sales and give consumers an incentive to buy the company's products. Unfortunately, consumers of Apple's products are not offered many promotions. Being the huge sucessful corporation Apple is, they do not need to offer many sales promotion because of their exception record-breaking sales achieved every year.

         With that said, there are some sales promotion offered by Apple. During this time, Apple offers an one hundred dollars mail and rebate on a printer when you purchase a Mac computer, as well as thirty dollars off MobileMe and iWork softwares. Another more famous sale promotion by Apple is the "Buy a Mac and get a free iPod Touch" offer. The offer name speaks for itself and you can find this sale promotion during the spring to fall period. One sale promotion that is offered all year round is the educational discount. This is a "one hundred dollars off" Mac computer discount that is available for only students and faculty and can be consider a tactic by Apple to establish a long term relationship with consumers.

          When speaking of personal selling in Apple, it is crucial to mention the impact of Apple's sale personnel (employees). They are there to help finalize the sales as well as to inform consumers about the Apple product they are inquiring about in a attempt to create a long-termm relationship with consumers so they can become loyal Apple customers.

Advertisement and Public Relations

          Apple has been well knowned for its advertisement for the past twenty years. With every good product comes a great marketing plan, which includes advertisements and public relations. In the past ten years, the most significant advertisement ads include the "Switch" campagne and "Get a Mac" campagne.

          The "Switch" campagne was a very unique and interesting one. I was around to see the commercial for this campagne unlike the 1984 Superbowl commercial. The "Switch" campagne shows what the Apple company view as real people switching from a Microsoft Windows computer to a Mac. I was ateenage at that time with a Microsoft computer and the commercial on the campagne was very funny to me and had me curious on why is the Mac so different and "better" than Microsoft Windows. The "Switch" campagne was the advertisement that put Mac on the map to me because it was the first time I heard about the company eventhough it was around years before, the popularity gain from the campagne prove crucial to Apple's sucess.

          As of today, Apple can be consider as a "marketing genius" company. Not only has their ads been very sucess, but also the advertisement of Apple products in many recent movies (Abduction, film 2011) and commercials shows Apple's public relations and popularity among people and consumers.

           

Retailing at Apple

          There are over three hundred Apple retail stores worldwide and four in the New York City area. I decide to explore the Apple store located on fifth avenue rather than the one in Soho because I never been to that particular Apple location before and for the popularity of the location with residents of New York and tourists, and I never shopped at that Apple location before. The Apple store is located next to the CBS station building and is on the same avenue as high scale clothing stores such as Gucci and Saks fifth.

          I walked into the store and the first thing I notice was the sleek and unique design of the store. The store looked very clean and provided an attractive appearance to people walking in. It is interesting to see that the design of the store looks similar to the sleek designing of all Apple’s products. The store provides EVERYTHING that is Apple. From all IPod models to all Macs, whether it is the Macbook, Macbook Pro, IMac or Macbook Air, it is all there. Not to the mention the new IPhone 4S which recently been release last week. All products in the store were typically Apple but is not limited to. There are other products such as headsets, stereo systems, and backpacks in the Apple store. All Apple electronic products are all at the consumer fingertips, which give the consumer the right to be informed and to pick and choose. The employees, which approximately consist of fifty members, were very helpful and informative on Apple products sharing their knowledge and experiences with the brand. There was also a section where employees teach you how to use your Apple product if you are a first time buyer. I look at this as a tactic to establish a long-term customer relationship with the consumer. There was another section where if you were having troubleshooting problems, the “genius” at that Apple store could assist you.

          Overall, the visit to the Apple store on fifth avenue was a unique one. I witnessed consumers going through the decision-making process, the marketing environment and strategies, and good ethical behavior from the employees which are all element of business that we are learning in class. This shopping experience was very informative to me on how businesses work and market their products to consumers in retail stores.

Consumer Decision Making

          Consumers do not just wake up and decide he/she will buy a product today. There are steps, a process that consumers go through before purchasing any product. It is important that businesses know how consumers behave and make decisions in order to serve them better and be on top in the market.

          The first step is called need recognition. In regarding electronic, it used to be that people considered it to be a want more than a need. Now-a-days, electronic has become more of a necessity especially when talking about a computer or laptop. This serve as a benefit to Apple because its popularity, innovation, and sleek design draw many people in and make them feel that they are obligated to buy Apple'sproducts if they are looking for the best possible electronic product.

          After a consumer recognizes he/she want or need, the next step will be the search for information. This information can be internal and/or external. When most people contemplate on purchasing an Apple's product, most consumers rely on internal information. That means most people rely on their experiences with Apple's products in order to know if they will purchase from Apple again. Most consumers are loyal to Apple when their experiences with Apple are positive. The other type of information is external and usually come from advertisements and recommendations. Since Apple's consumer base are loyal, they typically believe whatever Apple advertise. With added recommendations from friends and peers, you will find all the information needed to discover that Apple is the company to go for computers and electronic.

          After all the information have gathered, the next step is to evaluate alternative. With Apple being very popular and in a position of being on top in the markets of electronic, their product are viewed as one of a kind knocking off the alternatives when it comes to purchasing a computer or laptop.

          The next step is purchasing. This is the process that Apple Inc knows all about. With millions of purchases every years with revenues reaching over billions of dollars, Apple does ALOT of selling.

          The last step is Postpurchase behavior. This step determine whether the consumer was satisfied or dissatisfied. When we purchase a product, we have high expectation that must be upheld. When that expectation is not upheld, it means that we was not completely satisfied with the product and you as the company may have potentially loss a loyal customer. On the other hand, If the expectations of the consumer was upheld or exceeded then he/she will remain loyal and you can count on another purchase from that consumer again.