What is the Story about?
The new marketing story is about that marketing strategy employed by a single firm, Apple Inc. The new in the article does not center on the wider implications of the telecommunications market even though there are mentions of other market players within the industry. The company is launching a new product into the market; the iPhone 6 ready to be sold to any willing buyers in the market. As part of the marketing campaign adopted by the company, the company is lowering prices for the consumers who buy the old iPhone 5S device online to help finish current stock that the company has. The customers will enjoy a discounted price with up to 3 to 4 percent reduction in price margins for the online buyers of the old device. The strategy leaves the consumers with a price margin of up to 8000, which is the largest margin between online prices and the prices in normal brick stores. It is currently the largest price differentiation between online purchases and normal store prices in the market. The strategy is the adoption of the marketing department if a single firm and it has nothing to do with the whole market because the other companies in the market do not adopt the same marketing strategy.
Marketing Mix: An Evaluation of Price, Place, and Promotion
The article provides an insight into the marketing mix adopted by a participant in the telecommunication market. The marketing mix refers to the decisions adopted by an organization in the management of the marketing activities of its products in the market (THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARKET ORIENTATION FIRM, INNOVATIVENESS AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF COMPANIES IN NIGERIA 2013). The marketing mix has four broad classifications namely product, price, promotion, and place. The firm has put much effort in the marketing of its new products because it is striving to achieve a positive response from the consumers within the market regarding the reduction of old stock (Lambert & Cooper 2000). In addition, it is also using the four elements to increase the size of its target market by attracting new customers who are willing to try the quality of the old product manufactured by Apple before the iPhone 6 replaces it. Price is the first important element under consideration in the marketing mix adopted by the firm (Tadajewski & Hewer 2012). Specifically, the firm is emphatic on the discrimination of prices between the physical market and the virtual, market made possible by the operations of the internet. The element of price discrimination adopted by the company enables the company to subsidize the prices for a certain group of targeted consumers with an intention to facilitate more purchases for the consumers using an internet platform (Winer 2004). In fact, the move may be a response to an analysis by the marketing department of the organization, which shows that the majority of the consumers would prefer to make their purchases through the internet.
E-commerce is one of a convenient way for individuals and organizations to sell their products. The nature of today’s business activities allows companies to sell their products online. For example, BMW is among the world’s leading manufacturer of cars and automobile products, and it sells nearly 60 percent of its production through the internet (Tadajewski & Jones 2011). It is because the company’s customers are active users of an online platform, an element that makes using the internet a cheaper marketing zone. However, the use of e-commerce comes with both advantages and disadvantages (Sheehan 2011). Besides the element of cost effectiveness and reduced movement of personnel within the company, e-commerce is fast in terms of ordering and payments for both the company and the consumers using the internet (Rademaker 2011). At the same time, there is a host of disadvantages too. First, the internet is subject to swindle and fraud due to the presence of hackers who can use their technical skills to defraud unsuspecting customers in the market (Johansson 2013). Such individuals may pose as the employees of the company and defraud money from consumers who are not keen to follow up their credentials.
Another important element of the marketing mix adopted by the firm is the place. In business, the place is important because it determines the location of the business in terms of the base of operations. Business must have a physical or virtual location for the purpose of legalities, production, distribution, and the actual provision of services to the customers (Dickson 1994). The place focuses on the availability of a distribution channel usable to get the manufactured product to the customers. In this light, companies can have different places for operation because of the size of the market segment that they serve (Marketing management 1992). It explains why some companies open several subsidiaries and branches within a market. It is because one point of service is inadequate to meet the needs of the customers (Kotler 2000). In this context, it is important to note that the firm in the article has several places of business. The places are divisible into two major categories, the online market, and the physical market.
Promotion is also important when it comes to the marketing mix. In spite of the reputation that a business may have, selling a new product to the consumers is a difficult task (Sheehan 2011). The customers must take time to accustom to the product manufactured by the firm before they start buying. As such, the initial sales may be slow and less responsive despite the efforts of the company in the production of a quality product. It is the nature of business. In order to mitigate the effects of this challenge, most business embark on active promotion by giving incentives to the customers. For instance, Apple promoted the sale of its old phone by offering a price discount of up to 4 percent for online purchases. Promotion aims at hastening the rate at which consumers purchase a particular product. It also attracts them.
Conclusion
Marketing is one of the most important organizational practices and it is important for the management to allocate adequate resources to the department. Marketing applies to both continuing and new products that the organization wants to launch into the market. For instance, Apple must promote the sale of its old product by reduction of prices for online buyers before the launch of the iPhone 6. It will enable the company to maximize its revenues as it seeks to finish the existing stock. The company employs the use of price, place, and promotion in the marketing mix to accomplish its objectives. Further research into the marketing mix should exploit any further variables that the marketing mix should include apart from price, promotion, and place (Kotler 2000).
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