PART A
Apples’s strategic mission, vision and the competitive strategies
The vision of the company is to be the world’s leading manufacturer of great products while focusing on innovation. Through its vision, Apple has been able to convince customers of the comfort and ease of use whenever they choose the firm’s products which in turn ensures that customers remain loyal to the firm’s products. The mission of the company focuses primarily on its products in an effort to offer customers unique superiority in the range of products offered at Apple. With its vision, Apple is focused on owning and controlling the primary technologies behind all products the company makes and establishing a presence in the markets that offer the greatest contribution to the success of the business. The mission takes into account the designs of the best personalized computers in the world, developing products such as Macs, iLife as well as software solutions that offer the greatest utility to customers. This implies that Apple is fully committed towards bringing individual computing capability to educationalists, learners, creative experts and buyers everywhere who have a propensity for better and superior products. The strategy employed by Apple puts an emphasis on profits as the overriding reason for business, which in turn is achieved through excellent customer-oriented services and products. This implies that Apple focuses on the segments that offer the highest profits instead of the ones where the market share is large. This is because the company charges premium prices for its products and hence the best ways to fulfill their profitability expectations is by focusing on the high end markets.
Current competitive priorities
Apple has made significant steps in providing high end products to its customers over the years it has operated. The major focus for the company is to provide products and services that convince customers of superiority while at the same time scaring away competitors in the segments that Apple operates in. The competitive superiorities relied upon by Apple continuous innovation supported by workforce that is committed to supporting and contributing to innovation.
How Apple Attracts customers
Apple attracts its customers by offering products that are if the highest quality in the industry and improving the ease with which customers could use its products. To outdo competition from firms such as IBM, Apple is focused on ensuring customer loyalty by ensuring that it takes time before launching a product while at the same time ensuring the products launched convince customers of the aesthetic value in products. Aesthetic value in this case includes offering products that are beautiful in appearance and ones that give customers a unique experience when using products. The unique products offering are therefore key to improving customers package such that Apple is able to achieve its profitability objectives easily.
Improving firms customer benefit package
With the significant efforts made by Apple in providing superior products, there is still need to improve the customer benefit package by looking into ways through which customers with middle income could afford the unique products even if it implies production of unique products with less features. This is because everyone wants to have a taste of Apple’s products and hence locking out majority of the consumers also limits future prospects of the firm considering the current cost leadership strategies used by many firms around the world.
PART B
Current technological differentiation at Apple
The current products offered at Apple provide unique tastes to customers such that they are always keen to try out new products offered. The technologies include the superior personal computer, that is, the Mac Book that provides user with a superior way they could rely on their computer to achieve desired results. The company also offers a variety of musical gadgets including iTunes and iPod that allow users to download music instead of purchasing the songs from online stores. While using the differentiation strategy, Apple is keen on going ahead of its competitors and technology in providing care to its customers while relying on innovative advertising to influence customers of the superiority in the products offered. The products are all produced with aim of creating a perception among consumers that the firm is thinking differently in terms of developing products with superior ease of use, while at the same time providing a way in which the users could interact with their devices. Apple has made significant market entry with its android gadgets that offer the best experience for those with the financial capacity to afford. Android gadgets such as iPhone have a global recognition for their unique design that prove that Apple is on the move to becoming a technology leader and revolutionizing the way technology is used to make life easier for customers across the globe.
Opportunities Apple could use to improve customer benefit package
There are new technologies that could improve the company’s position in its global market and continue making Apple the leading manufacturer of communication gadgets and software. A major opportunity that Apple could capitalize on is the need to develop a television that delivers incredible and unique apps experience and games. The television has to be one with a bigger screen to ensure users are able to use them in gaming and interacting with applications installed in the television. The demand for gaming technologies and the need for users to have a unique ways of deriving utility form their televisions sets make the opportunity worth exploiting. The 3D touch feature is also key for the company to capitalize on since it offers a great interaction with users by providing a unique way through which users engage their mobile application devices.
Designing a post-sales support service for the company
Post-sales support services are important in ensuring that the firm follows up on the use of the product be consumers and help in providing necessary information in case of issues. The key purpose is to enhance long term relationship with customers and ensure that they are happy with the functioning of the products. The post-sales support services to be included in marketing strategy include the need for an automated support that provides necessary information such as configuration changes in case of difficulties. This implies that customers could fix their issues at their preferred time and location instead of presenting themselves to the retail stores for the problem to be fixed. The designing of the post sales services include accumulating ideas from marketing managers and personnel as well as involving customers in identifying what they perceive as the best post sale service to be provide by the company.
The testing stage will involve analyzing the trends in customers’ feedback on the services offered and looking for changes that can be made to enhance the effectiveness of the service. Implementing then involves launching of the products to the public. Apple has made significant steps in creating hype whenever launching new products and services and hence certainty that the post-sales support service will capture the attention of the public immediately. However, there is need to ensure support of the service through updating the automated services and ensuring that necessary measures are put in place to ensure customers receive solutions to their problems in real time.
Figure 1: The flow chart in developing the post-sales support service
References
Johnson, K., Yang, L., & Singer, J. (2012). The Innovative Success that is Apple, Inc. Virginia: Marshall University.
Khan, U., & Alam, M. (2015). A Critical Analysis of the Internal and External Environment of Apple. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, 955-967.
Appendices
Figure 1: Apple Inc. BCG Matrix
