iEnergy

By: Tori Macchi & Amanda Eppolito

MKT 1003
Spring 2019 Semester Project

1
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Executive Summary……………………………………………………….

2. Company Overview………………………………………………………

3. Situation Analysis…………………………………………………………

4. Market (Size & Growth).................................................................................

❏ Industry Overview/ Industry Trends

❏ Market Overview/ Market Trends

❏ SWOT Analysis

❏ Competitor Analysis

5. Target Market Profile………………...........................................................

6. Marketing Objectives………………....................................................

7. Marketing Strategy…………………....................................................

❏ Product

❏ Price

❏ Promotion

❏ Distribution

8. Action Plan…………………………………………………………………

9. Evaluation/Measurements…………………………………………………

10. Bibliography…………………………………………………………….

2
Executive Summary
“​Established in 1977 in California, Apple Inc. is a global designer, manufacturer and
marketer of mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital
music players. Apple is the largest IT company in the world by revenue and total assets and the
second-largest mobile phone manufacturer.” ​(Dudovskiy, 2018)​ ​According to All America-
Economic Survey, a poll conducted by CNBC in 2017, 64% of Americans own at least one
Apple Product. American households own multiple Apple products, such as desktops,
televisions, laptops, watches, tablets, mp3 players and of course cellphones. Along with these
products, accessories to assist these products are available for purchase as well, such as an Apple
pencil and Airpod headphones. With all these devices, most of them being wireless or On-the-Go
products, it could be difficult keeping them all organized, and more importantly fully charged.
Our new product will benefit the efficiency of our existing products, displaying them in their best
way in Apple users home by keeping them organized and safe.

Company Overview
“Apple Inc., incorporated on January 3, 1977, designs, manufactures and markets mobile
communication and media devices, personal computers and portable digital music players. The
Company sells a range of related software, services, accessories, networking solutions and
third-party digital content and applications. The Company's segments include the Americas,
Europe, Greater China, Japan and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes both
North and South America. The Europe segment includes European countries, India, the Middle
East and Africa. The Greater China segment includes China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Rest
of Asia Pacific segment includes Australia and the Asian countries not included in the
Company's other operating segments. The Company's products and services include iPhone,
iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple Watch, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software
applications, iPhone OS (iOS), OS X and watchOS operating systems, iCloud, Apple Pay and a
range of accessory, service and support offerings.
The Company sells and delivers digital content and applications through the iTunes
Store, App Store, Mac App Store, television APP Store, iBooks Store and Apple Music
(collectively Internet Services). The Company sells its products through its retail stores, online
stores and direct sales force through third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers
and value-added resellers. The Company sells a range of third-party Apple compatible products,
including application software and accessories through its retail and online stores. The Company
sells to consumers, small and mid-sized businesses and education, enterprise and government
customers.
iPhone is the Company's line of smartphones based on its iOS operating system. iPhone
includes Siri, a voice activated intelligent assistant, and Apple Pay and touch ID on qualifying
devices. The Company offers iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, featuring new camera systems, stereo
speakers and water and dust resistance. The Company also sells iPhone SE, which has a
four-inch Retina display...iPad is the Company's line of multi-purpose tablets based on its iOS
operating system. iPad includes iPad Pro, iPad Air and iPad mini. Mac is the Company's line of
desktop and portable personal computers based on its MacOS operating system... and is built on

3
an open-source uniplexed information and computing system (UNIX) based foundation and
provides an intuitive and integrated computer experience.
The Company's applications software includes iLife, iWork and other software, including
Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro X and FileMaker Pro. iLife is the Company's consumer-oriented digital
lifestyle software applications suite included with all Mac computers and features iMovie, a
digital video editing applications, and GarageBand, a music creation application that allows users
to play, record and create music. iWork is the Company's integrated productivity suite included
with all Mac computers and is designed to help users create, present and publish documents
through Pages, presentations through Keynote and spreadsheets through Numbers. The Company
also has multi-touch versions of iLife and iWork applications designed specifically for use on
iOS devices, which are available as free downloads for all new iOS devices.” (“Apple Inc., 2019)
As you can see, Apple is an innovative company that is always looking to improve and
create new products to help our society since it’s very dependant on technology. Although the
Apple Company is available and used all around the world, they make most of their revenue
from American citizens.

Situation Analysis

❏ Market (Size & Growth)

The technology market is booming now more than ever. It’s leading players are soaring
in net-worth and expanding the industry every single hour. Research is never-ending, new
inventions are being generated constantly and the demand is growing without a sight in slowing
Our society today as evolved into a world relying on technology to assist throughout daily
activities and tasks. Children are growing up with technology at their fingertips, and older
generations are keeping up with the times adapting to this new way of life. That being said,
technology is becoming a tremendous part of our lives, and is continuing to grow with our
demands.

According to the figure above from NetMarketShare.com, Apple’s market share has been
steadily increasing since 2016. This chart is a live report of the company’s market share from
November of 2016 to May of 2018. “​The market structure for Apple Inc.’s products like iPhone,
iPad or iPod or even Mac computers can be termed as monopolistically competitive as a large

4
number of players compete with each other in these product group and try to differentiate their
offerings from each other. The market for such consumer electronics and computing products is
extremely competitive as existing and new players come up with revolutionary products on a
regular basis and thus, companies like Apple have to be on the forefront of innovation to retain
their sales growth and market share.” (UKEssays, 2016)

❏ Industry Overview/Trends
Technology leadership is Apple’s priority. Obviously, their electronics are competing
with world class products, if they are not the world-class products themselves. In order to keep
up with the competition, Apple has mastered the frequent release of new products in every
product line. For example, each year around September, a new smartphone is released in their
“iPhone” product line. Annually, in August, Apple promotes a newer, thinner, faster laptop in
their “mac” product line with a college student discount. They partner with the headphone based
company, “Beatz” to give away a pair for free with the purchase of the new laptop. In regards to
the fast-paced technology industry, the race for the fastest, most convenient and aesthetically
pleasing products is the fastest growing field today.
“ In the era of ​platform players​ racing to control the digital lives of both consumers and
enterprises, it’s perhaps not surprising that the biggest companies are worth so very much; if the
tech industry changes, becoming more fractured, that could shift.” (“TechCrunch”, 2019) In
order to keep up with competitors, Apple considers elastic pricing.
“​As mentioned above, consumer electronics, especially in developing nations across the
world, is a fairly price sensitive market and thus, Apple has to be sensitive about pricing for its
products. Even though there are Apple loyalists across the world that can be termed as less price
sensitive and thus depict low price elasticity for Apple’s products, consumers in price sensitive
emerging markets like India can still display a relatively higher price elasticity of demand for
Apple’s products. As a new product is introduced, the price elasticity is relatively low as people
are crazy about trying Apple’s new technology. However, as time progresses and close
substitutes are launched in the marketplace, price elasticity becomes higher.” (UKEssays, 2016)

❏ Market Overview/Trends
The technology market is continuing to grow by the second. The demand continues to
skyrocket which increases employment, research, invention, prices, possibilities and everything
in between. Our society has become so dependant on technology. Our culture sees technology
use as a way to make daily life obstacles easier to overcome. This is causing the creation of new
inventions in order to fulfill the wants and needs of society. According to Google Finance data,
the market cap hit $3 trillion recently. “It’s a feat that marks a new threshold for tech amidst the
current boom. To reach today’s threshold, the Big 5 had to go on a lengthy tear. Here are their
gains, as measured from their respective 52-week lows:
Apple: 56.63%
Amazon: 44.61%
Facebook: 44.55%
Microsoft: 39.54%
Alphabet: 33.45% (“TechCrunch”, 2019)

5
 Specifically, Apple’s increasing sales volume confirms continuous progress, growth,
innovation and productivity within the company. Apple has always been extremely efficient
compared to the other competition. It has not only kept up, but definitely led its competitors.

❏ SWOT Analysis
Society has evolved into one, gigantic dependency on technology. Individuals, of
generally any age, have no problem confessing that they cannot go a day without their electronic
devices, especially their smartphones. The race for the best and newest technology is full speed
ahead without any intention of decreasing anytime soon. Apple is probably the most
recognizable technology brand in the world, therefore completely ruling the industry. According
to an article written in 2016, it reported that 41.3 million iPhones were sold for $29.906 billion,
3.7 million iMacs within three months, and Apple Music and AppleCare services brought in
$9.548 billion over a quarter. Besides the headlining products, Apple TVs, smart watches, smart
speakers and other subscription services contribute to their immense sales each year…. (Davies,
2016) “Apple has only dominated the world over the last decade, but the culture of creating loyal
customers goes back to 1976 when Apple was founded.” (Davies, 2016) Apple’s success does
stem from recent human reliance on technology which earns market growth and consequently
earned a profound amount of market share.

❏ Strengths:
● Technological Innovation
Apple continues to focus on innovation to strengthen its R&D capabilities, which enables
it to remain at the forefront of its respective businesses and differentiate its offerings in a highly
competitive market. It strives to develop new technologies to enhance existing products and to
expand the range of its product offerings through R&D, licensing of intellectual property and
acquisition of third-party businesses and technology. Its R&D emphasizes on designing new
chips for the new version of Mac Pro notebook. Apple’s ResearchKit, HealthKit are open source
framework which allows researchers and developers to create powerful apps for medical
research. Through this app, researchers can easily create visual consent flows, manage real-time
dynamic active tasks and conduct patient surveys by using a number of customized modules. The
company works towards transforming features of its smartphone portfolio by integrating AI and
AR innovations. Its R&D targets to enhance iCloud software platform for the delivery of digital
content and applications and allow customers to discover, download or stream digital content,
iOS, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV applications. In FY2018, it spent US$14,236 million on
R&D, which as a percentage of revenue, stood at 5.4%.
● Distribution Channels
Apple uses both direct and indirect distribution channels to effectively reach its
customers in the consumer, small and mid-sized business, and education, enterprise, and
government markets. The company sells its products and resells third-party products in most of
its major markets directly to consumers and small-and mid-sized businesses through its retail and
online stores and direct sales force. The company’s retail stores are typically located at
high-traffic locations in quality shopping malls and urban shopping districts. By operating its
own stores and locating them in desirable high-traffic locations, the company is better positioned
to ensure improved customer buying experience and attract new customers. The stores are

6
designed to simplify and enhance the presentation and marketing of the company’s products and
related solutions. Apple also employs a variety of indirect distribution channels such as
third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers and value-added resellers. The
company invested in programs to enhance reseller sales by placing quality Apple fixtures,
merchandising materials and other resources within selected third-party reseller locations.
Through the Apple Premium Reseller Program, certain third-party resellers focus on the Apple
platform by providing a high level of product expertise, integration and support services. Its
iTunes U platform also facilitates in mobile learning and real-time distribution of various
education related materials. Apple sells its hardware and software products to enterprise and
government customers in each of its reportable operating segments. Thus, the robust and
extensive distribution capabilities of Apple enhance its customer reach and provide incremental
growth opportunities. In FY2018, its direct and indirect distribution channels contributed for
29% and 71%, respectively, of the company’s sales.
● Financial Performance
In FY2018, Apple’s revenue increased to US$265,595 million from US$229,234 million
in FY2017. Revenue growth resulted from the higher sales of iPhone, Services and Other
Products categories. Increase in revenue of iPhone product category was due to higher sales of
total number of smartphone units compared to the previous fiscal and higher selling prices
associated with different categories of iPhones. Increase in Services revenue was due to rise in
sales of licensing, App Store and AppleCare fees. Services revenue growth also supported by a
gain of US$236 million associated with the resolution of various lawsuit. Other Products revenue
increased due to rise in revenue of software upgrade rights and non-software services and the
sales of AirPods, Apple TV, and other Apple-branded and third-party accessories. Apple’s
operating margin was 26.7% for the last fiscal year and was higher than the technology and
communications industry’s operating margin average of 5% for the same year. The strong
operating margin of the company could be attributed to an optimal pricing strategy and
operational efficiency. It also showcases company’s ability to create value for shareholders with
positive operating cash and fulfill obligations towards the creditors. The company’s return on
equity was 55.5% for the last fiscal year and was higher than the industry’s average ROE of
6.1% for the same year. The strong ROE shows that the company is efficient in utilizing its
equity base in delivering better results to its shareholders.

❏ Weaknesses:
● Legal Proceedings
Recent legal proceedings initiated against the company could hamper its prospective of
ease of doing business. In December 2018, a Chinese court imposed a ban on the sale of various
Apple iPhone models
in China for infringing two patents of Qualcomm Inc. The specific iPhone models which could
be affected by the ban in China were the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus,
iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. This ban could shatter the company’s smartphone
business as China is its third largest revenue generating market and the company also witnesses a
decline in demand of its specific iphones. In November 2017, Wi-LAN filed a patent
infringement suit against the company in the US District Court for the Southern District of
California. The company alleged Apple of infringing its two US patents 8311040 and 8315640
which used voice-over LTE technology (VoLTE). The court ruled in favor of Wi-LAN and

7
ordered it to pay a compensation of US$145 million as part of the damages. In August 2018,
Apple was ordered to pay a compensation of US$502.6 million for infringing iPhone, iPad and
Mac products, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and costs for infringing VirnetX Inc’s
four Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and Domain Name Services (DNS) technologies.
● High Dependence on iPhone and iPad Product Line
iPhone and iPad product lines together accounted for 70% of the total revenue. Although,
these product lines have been the growth drivers for the company, any future decline in the
growth rates could impact the company's performance. Apple witnessed decline in sales of
iPhone, Mac, and iPad categories in Greater China market due to uncertainty prevailing in
financial markets, saturation in demand of products and drop in number of retail stores and
channel partners. Dependence on few product lines increases business risk, especially in an
industry characterized by fast paced technological changes. Any market share losses of key
products could have a material adverse impact on the company's growth prospects.

❏ Opportunities:
● Focus on Services Sector to Lessen Reliance on iPhone Product Line
Apple continues to expand its services to derive growth from more sources and decrease
dependence on the iPhone business. The company aims to double its sales in all geographic
markets by 2020. Over the years, it has introduced several new services including Apple Music,
Apple Pay and HealthKit. In October 2018, Apple acquired Asaii, a digital music startup for
artist managers. This acquisition could enable the smartphone users to find new musical acts and
tracks from unsigned artists on platforms such as SoundCloud and YouTube. In September 2018,
the company acquired Shazam, an online music provider company. This acquisition could enable
Apple’s customers to listen various songs without advertisements and interruption. Apple strives
to expand its iCloud business for enterprises, which could help explore opportunities available in
cloud market. As most of the enterprise activities occur in iCloud, Apple targets to expand
cloud-based accounts, project-focused accounts, and other APIs to improve productivity of
customers. In September 2018, the company collaborated with Salesforce to incorporate new
capabilities to its existing iOS. Through this partnership, the two companies aim to design tools
and resources for developers to build their own apps with a new Salesforce Mobile SDK for iOS
on Trailhead, Salesforce’s web-based learning platform.
● Exploring AI Technology
Apple seems to benefit from the persuasive drive of adoption of Al in its various
smartphones. The company’s AI-enabled app Apple Siri decodes commands from users
automatically and performs operations accordingly. Siri brings core ML, computer vision
capabilities in photos, face ID biometric authentication features and offers dual camera system
which shoots portrait mode photos with Smart HDR and makes face recognition faster compared
to other smartphones. These techniques could enhance automatic speech recognition in
conferencing applications and other synthetic speech mixtures where voice signal is extracted
and transcribed. In November 2018, the company acquired an AI-based startup company Silk
Labs. This acquisition could allow Apple incorporating AI enabled personal assistant technology
in smartphones and other smart homes devices. In the review year, Apple injected first 7-
nanometer A12 Bionic chip with an 8-core neural engine in its smartphones that could execute 5
trillion operations per second.
● Investment in HealthTech

8
 Apple’s increasing focus on wearable devices penetration in emerging healthcare
infrastructure could drive its revenue stream. Through investments in HealthTech, the company
primarily targets to deliver consumer understanding of health and transforming expectations of
the marketplace, enable a predictive personalized, preventive health and engagement ecosystem

❏ Threats:
● Risks Associated with Trade War between the US and China
According to International Monetary Fund Outlook 2018 report, the US imposed high
tariff on US$200 billion of Chinese imports. Retaliating to this, China levied higher average
tariff on US$60 billion of goods imported from the US. Due to the ongoing trade war IMF
slashed China’s GDP to 6.2 in FY2019 from 6.6 in 2018.
● Foreign Exchange Risks
Apple operates in various countries and is exposed to fluctuations in foreign exchange
rates. The company reports financials in the US dollar and as a result, its revenue is exposed to
the volatility of the US dollar against other functional currencies such as Chinese yuan, Mexican
peso, Swedish krona, Swiss franc, British pound and euro. The major elements exposed to
exchange rate risks include the company’s investments in overseas subsidiaries and affiliates and
monetary assets and liabilities arising from business transactions in foreign currencies.
[A Progressive Digital Media business; Company Profile: Apple Inc. pg.4]
● Decline in Smartphones
Furthermore, according to Annie Gaus, “​Apple's Siri and Apple HomePod products have
lagged behind, but over time, a future less dependent on phones could weaken Apple's operating
performance, according to Forte.” (Gaus, 2019)
● Intensifying Rivalry
Apple’s products and services compete in highly competitive global markets
characterized by aggressive price cutting and resulting downward pressure on gross margins,
continual improvement in product price/performance characteristics, frequent introduction of
new products, evolving industry standards, rapid adoption of technological and product
advancements by competitors, short product life cycles and price sensitivity of consumers. Apple
continuously and timely introduces innovative new products and technologies including the
operating system, hardware, numerous software applications and related services, whereas many
of its competitors seek to compete primarily through aggressive pricing and very low cost
structures. The globalized nature of mobile communication, media devices, personal computers
and other digital electronic devices market increases intensity of rivalry with regard to cost
reduction, thereby exerting greater pressure on profit margins of organizations within the
industry. Cloud technology, ML and AI applications in smartphones have been significant trends
in the recent years. Along with Samsung, Alphabet Inc, IBM, HP, Dell are the leading
organizations dominating PC market. Apple also competes exclusively with Huawei, Samsung,
OnePlus and Alphabet in the premium smartphones category. Competitors selling
Windows-based PCs have cut prices and lowered product margins. Apple’s performance in this
market depends on its ability to continually improve the Mac platform to maintain its perceived
functional and design advantages.

9
Competitor Analysis
As far as Apple’s competition, there are low barriers to entry in a market like Apple’s.
“Apple, being a global powerhouse in this industry with a strong market share and leadership
position does not have to worry too much about new entrants, especially the smaller ones as they
will be unable to compete with the scale of operations, reach and market share of Apple.
However, company has to worry about existing large players and their new introductions in the
marketplace.” (UKEssays, 2016) Here in the United States, Apple brand is the leading
technology brand. Although other brands still are successful on the market, American technology
customers tend to perceive Apple products as luxury, easy to use, up to date technology and
exclusive products.

(Comscore, 2014)

Target Market:
Apple has established a gigantic, broad, and loyal base of customers. “Accordingly,
Apple target customer segment comprise well-off individuals who are willing to pay extra for
technology products and services with advanced design, functions and capabilities.” (Dudovskiy,
2018) Specifically for this new product extension, the company targets consumers who own
several Apple products, which isn’t rare because of their large amount of loyal customers. “​On
the customer service side of things, the team’s dedication to servicing customers and creating a
welcoming environment in its stores, has creating a cult-like following of iLifers who would
possibly sacrifice a finger for their iPhone.” (Davies, 2016) Along with the love of Apples
products themselves, Apples customer service help create a relationship with Apple experts and
the customers. Forming this relationship makes it personable, and makes it feel that they’ll
always be there for help if anything were to go wrong with their Apple products. According to
CNN Business, demographics of Apple’s target market are shown below.

10
 Although the leading age demographic in Apple’s consumers are age ranges 35-44 and
65+, Apple is incredibly impressionable amongst the millennials. Even though their spendings
are lower, their loyalty is higher than the olde demographics. Their spending statistics are lower
because their parents are purchasing for them. For example, ​“MBLM, a company that calls itself
the “Brand Intimacy Agency,” recently analyzed more than 54,000 brand evaluations from 6,000
consumers. In its ​study​, which spans 15 industries, the company found that Apple has attracted
the strongest emotional bond with millennials...​ ​it found that people between the ages of 18 and
24 (not considered millennials by this survey) still voted Apple as the brand they’re most
emotionally bonded with.” (Reisinger, 2018)
Apple’s core values to create valuable and unbreakable relationships with their customers
has benefitted their sales and brand equity ​dramatically. They have attracted customers who see
the value in not only their products but their brand overall. “The brand equity and customer
franchise which Apple embodies is extremely strong. The very successful Apple retail stores
give prospective customers direct experience of Apple’s brand values. Apple Store visitors
experience a stimulating, no-pressure environment where they can discover more about the
Apple family, try out the company’s products, and get practical help on Apple products at the
shops’ Guru Bars.” (“Apple Situation Analysis”, 2018) These factors are extremely beneficial in
maintaining consistency, repeat buyers and loyalty among the consumers, in general.
iEnergy will be aimed for many types of lifestyles. Millennials are our main target.
Millennials tend to own many products and are constantly using their maximum potential.
College students have limited dorm pace and the iEnergy would be beneficial to limited charging
outlets with many products to get through the school day. Families would benefit from owning
an iEnergy since many households contain multiple products. Most full time employees
Americans work about 40 hours a week. If you have a desk or cubicle job, the iEnergy would be
perfect addition to the work desk, especially since so many hours are spent at the office. Having

11
an office job will help make sure all devices are charged to get through the work day and for the
commute home.

Marketing Objectives:
Since 2007, about 1.2 billion iPhones have been sold. According to statistics, those
iPhone owners probably have more than 1 Apple product. Based on our SWOT Analysis, our
objective is to sell 100 million units within the 1st year on the market.
“Apple offers premium products at premium prices while still maintaining large market
share and high profit margins. Objective 1- Enter and sustain premium pricing while attempting
to gain market share. Objective 2- Increase profit margins. Even with a high or low share of the
market it’s your margins that make or break you. Apple has great margins but a low market share
across the board due to competitors low price points.” (Burnette, 2015)
Besides pricing, place, promotion and product are other concepts of the marketing mix
that Apple has mastered and gained competitive advantage over with their specific strategies.

Marketing Strategy

❏ Product
This product is an exclusive Apple Device charger called the iEnergy. Our loyal
customers often own several products of ours, and keeping them all charged efficiently requires
tedious organization. Limited outlets, space and tangled cords can be frustrating. With only one
power cord and outlet, electricity will keep an iPhone, iMac, iPad, Apple Watch, Airpods, and
Apple Pencil charged successfully without the inconvenience and hassle. This charging station is
exclusively for Apple products and created efficiently for the fastest, most convenient way of
keeping all devices organized and “alive.” If off-brands decided to produce a charging station
that charged Apple devices like ours, it would be completely unreliable because our station is
made by the Apple geniuses that have created the devices themselves. Therefore, other knock-off
competitors’ products would probably not be compatible or successful.
For our new iEnergy product, we will offer different colors and variations of the charger.
These selections will be available to offer a variety to our customers. The advanced charger will
provide charging ports for any and all Apple products such as an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch,
Airpods, MacBook, and Apple Pencil for the convenience and organization to offer our loyal
customers. The new iEnergy is positioned for Generation X and older Generation Y Apple users.
Seeing that an older Apple users are adopting to a new Apple product, Generation Y is likely to
catch on quickly.
Colors will include black, white, space gray, and wooden. As far as the black, white, and
space gray finishes, they will be made out of titanium, which will be strong and supportive for all
devices. The wooden finish on the iEnergy will be made out of maple wood. It will be a 5 ply
product so the iEnergy will be strong and durable for support of the various Apple products.
All products in our new iEnergy product line will be perfectly structured in order to
balance and display Apple devices. Each product will be hand checked to make sure each and
every iEnergy is supportive and not top heavy before hitting the market. We want to make sure
that our loyal customers are receiving the best product that we can distribute. We know how our

12
loyal customers have gained trust in Apple as a company and we would not want to be liable for
any damage that another Apple product might cause, such as our product being top heavy and
falling and damaging other expensive Apple products.
Apple Inc. has a natural competitive advantage. The newest, most advanced technology is
conveniently at our consumers’ fingertips. Charging cords are great quality and extremely
effective in quickly charging our products. However, this new charging station will eliminate the
inconvenience and unorganization that our consumers’ once faced in order to keep all of their
Apple products charged at once.
Along with purchasing our products comes the exciting packaging. Some items, such as
our iPhones and iPads, we keep in a sleek box. When the new owner reveals their new addition
to their Apple product collection, it gives a grand feeling that makes them say “wow!” As far as
the iEnergy, we’re going to display it in a box that is mostly a clear casing. The base of the
iEnergy, the part with the cord and major electrical elements, will be at the bottom of the box
with packaging and the security of a durable cardboard preventing any harm to them prior to a
customer purchasing. The top half of the box will display the iEnergy’s docking stations to give
our customers and idea of how it hold the products, how it will look on their desk, and the great
quality of the product.
“​Apple has a branding strategy that focuses on the emotions. The Apple brand personality
is about lifestyle; imagination; liberty regained; innovation; passion; hopes, dreams and
aspirations; and power-to-the-people through technology. The Apple brand personality is also
about simplicity and the removal of complexity from people’s lives; people-driven product
design; and about being a really humanistic company with a heartfelt connection with its
customers.The Apple brand is not just intimate with its customers, it’s loved, and there is a real
sense of community among users of its main product lines.” (“Apple Situation Analysis”, 2018)

❏ Price
Frankly, our consumers’ day to day activities require the efficiency of all of their Apple
products so we are prioritizing their needs by offering a much better way of charging all devices.
Prestige Pricing will be the method used because our loyal consumers are completely aware of
the quality they are receiving for the price they’re paying. Our market is willing to pay higher
prices for well-crafted, reliable, and efficient devices to carry out their daily activities. This
strategy is successful in the end because our company has a natural competitive advantage in
comparison to other competitors which will carry over with sales for the new charging station
product. Also, being that our product is an Apple Exclusive product and only Apple owners can
use it, it give a feel of exclusiveness to our customers.
Since our new iEnergy product comes in many colors and a few model types, pricing
will vary off of features. iEnergy Basic (charges iPhone and iWatch only) will be on the market
for $180. iEnergy Intermediate (iPhone, iWatch, iPad, MacBook) will be on the market for
$220. iEnergy Advanced (iPhone, iWatch, iPad, MacBook, Airpods, and Apple Pen) will be on
the market for $250. The wooden finish will be an extra $20 on each model line for quality
purposes. Since a wooden finish is popular with many interior decorative themes, we aim for our
product to look luxury as well. Having something like a wooden station on a professional desk,
counter top, and more, we want to make sure the grain of the wood is eye catching, and the stain
of the wood is the perfect shade.

13
 ❏ Promotion
Apple communicates with their target market effectively, and in many ways. Apple
would place various advertisements on all types of media in order to make our customers aware
of this new product. Being a technology company, our customers use technology constantly in
their daily lives. Social Media will be a strong platform to get out advertisements across to our
audience. Our customers are passionate about technology, and staying relevant to the change. In
order to get their attention, we will place eye-catching advertisements mainly on social media
platforms. In the margins on your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, we will have our new
product making our customers click on the hyperlink for more information.
A quick 10 second commercial while watching a video on Facebook or Youtube will
keep the product fresh in the markets mind. Twitter will be a way to reach out to our customers
by constantly tweeting about the new iEnergy product and retweeting articles, testimonials, and
positive consumer reactions to the iEnergy. Instagram posts on Apple’s account will be made
frequently with photos, commercial clips, reviews, testimonials, and more. Apple will also have
sponsored Instagram Story posts about iEnergy. A social media platform that could be influential
for this product is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a social media site to network will people in your
profession, a way to find jobs or potential employees for a company. Many of the professions
that use LinkedIn consist of desk jobs. Whether you’re a secretary for an office, teacher,
accountant, lawyer, or a even student, the iEnergy is something that would be beneficial to the
daily agenda for that role.
In addition to social media, billboards and posters will be at every corner you turn in
every major city. While on a commute home from a long day at work, you will look up and see
our billboard reminding you that your low power devices can be charged all at once. Article
features in magazines such as Wired Magazine will reach the Innovators and even the early
adopters about the new addition to our product line. Along with in depth feature in magazines,
advertisements will be placed on the back covers of technology magazines and even home
magazines.
The same advertisement commercials you will see on the internet interrupting a video
you might be watching on Facebook or while patiently waiting for a video to start on YouTube,
will be on television. Keeping the same commercial on television and internet will be a way to
reinforce the products existence to our audience, and it will also be saving the company money
creating a few commercials and using them various ways. These television commercials will be
aired on all major networks such as NBS, ABC, FOX, HGTV, MTV, and more.
Using these various advertising platforms will help Apple make their market aware of
the product, educate them about this new option, and will make the product stay significant in
their mind. Since our market makes up of tons of people with different personality types, many
advertising appeals will be used to influence our customers effectively.

14
(​These are a few of many advertisements that you would see promote the iEnergy)

(You would see an advertisement like this on a billboard, subway poster, train poser,
magazine, and more)

(You would see an advertisements like these on social media feeds. These advertisements
will also be turned into commercials for television and internet videos.
The ad on the left is using a fear advertising appeal, scaring our market saying that your
devices need a recharge like you need on your coffee break. Devices might be on low, not being
able to finish out the work day.

15
 The ad on the right is using a humor advertising appeal with an animated product symbol
to show our customers how your devices feel after they are fully charged; filled with
determination, being vibrant dancing and singing)

Many advocates and celebrities will catch on and help make an influential impact on our
customers as well. Icons such as Mark Cuban and Ashton Kutcher, tech savvy influencers and
entrepreneurs, will be asked to test out our product and promote during press conferences and
social media. Influential technology YouTube channels will be asked to do a revealing and
reviewing of iEnergy. Our Public Relations team will help generate talk about the iEnergy. News
channels will have features in their technology segment about the iEnergy to help spark interest
in their viewers. They will also help get shelf space in stores such as Best Buy, Target, and
Walmart in addition to our worldwide Apple Stores. Apple’s Public Relations team will also
have Apple sponsor for various events such as technology conventions. Conventions such as
XLive Annual Conference & Expo, Qt World Summit Berlin, and Jam Convention, are events
aimed at the innovators and early adopters in our target market. Giving them the initial looks,
reviews, and chance to start buzz about the product will make them feel special and want to
spread the “inside scoop” about Apple’s new products to their peers. Before our product is seen
and sponsor events, Public Relations will “leak” information and “rumors” about the iEnergy,
creating buzz about the product. This is a way to see how the market will react to this product,
whether they will have it on their desks or not.
Although we will be staying with prestige pricing for this new product, we will have
limited incentives during the introductory stage of iEnergy’s life cycle. This will give the
innovators and even early adopters more of a push to have an iEnergy on their desk. During the
big Black Friday rush, our incentive will be when you purchase an iEnergy you get a $5 Apple
App Store gift card. Another incentive to influence our market to be new iEnergy owners, we
will have a $10 off coupon only during the month of our iEnergy feature in Wired Magazine.

❏ Distribution
An Exclusive distribution strategy will be used for this new Apple product. Because the
charging station is exclusive to Apple Inc., it will only be sold in Apple stores or authorized
Apple retailers such as Target, Walmart, and Best Buy. iEnergy will be sold both in stores and
online through these stores. ​This is a pull strategy because these store will want to have this
product from a well known and well liked brand apart of their inventory.
​According to Craig Lloyd “...Apple Authorized stores must meet ​certain requirements
that Apple sets​, similar to how they set requirements for third-party accessory makers. This
ranges from minor things like location of the store and its business hours, all the way to very
specific requirements like how the store is set up inside and even how organized the back room
is. Furthermore, employees at Apple Authorized locations receive the same training and
certifications that regular Apple Store employees do. Apple Authorized stores also have access to
Apple resources, including genuine replacement parts, as well as product schematics and
documents to help with repairs….” (Lloyd, 2018)

Action Plan

16
 iEnergy will be expected to launch fall of 2020. Apple Keynote on the iEnergy will
premier September of 2020. Product will launch on the market November of 2020. Apple Inc
gets most revenue from products being sold during the holiday season, so the iEnergy will be
launched for the holiday shopping season.

Evaluation/Measurements
In order to analyze the product’s success, we will email customers approximately a
month after their purchase with a survey they can complete to provide feedback about the
charging station. We can also follow up a second time six months later to reassess their opinion
of the product. Another strategy may be to evaluate the sales of the off-brand charging stations in
comparison to ours to confirm that our product is doing better. Also, we can receive and evaluate
feedback from our sales promotional strategy. When people redeem their $10 off coupon after
our article in WIRED Magazine, we can collect data from which areas were affected most by this
promotion. AZCentral suggests to, “Avoid putting all your marketing eggs in one basket.
Sample a variety of initiatives to see what works best and what is a waste of time. There is no
use living and dying by one method alone unless and until you know that method is the right one
for your small business.” Furthermore, we plan to test all three of these strategies and add more
in the future if needed.

17
 Works Cited
“Apple Inc SWOT Analysis.” ​Apple Inc SWOT Analysis,​ Feb. 2019, pp. 1–8. ​EBSCOhost​,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=135508086&site=ehost-live.

“Apple Becoming America's Favorite Company.” ​AppleInsider​, AppleInsider, 10 Oct. 2017,

appleinsider.com/articles/17/10/10/apple-becoming-americas-favorite-company-as-64-ow

n-iphone-mac-ipad-ipod-or-watch.

“Apple Inc (AAPL.O) Analyst Research.” ​Reuters​, Thomson Reuters,

www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/analyst-research/AAPL.O​.

“Apple Inc Financial Industry Overview Marketing Essay.” ​UKEssays.com,​

www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/apple-inc-financial-industry-overview-marketing-e

ssay.php​.

“Apple Market Share.” ​Apple Market Share,​ 2018,

netmarketshare.com/apple-market-share?options=%7B%22filter%22%3A%7B%22%24a

“Apple Inc Objectives and Strategies.” ​Brandon Burnette​, 21 July 2015,

burnetteb.wordpress.com/2015/06/25/apple-inc-objectives-and-strategies/.

“Apple Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning.” ​Research​, 27 Jan. 2018,

research-methodology.net/apple-segmentation-targeting-and-positioning/.

Davies, and Jamie. “Apple, a Perfect Example of What Can Be Achieved.” ​Telecoms.com,​

Http://Telecoms.com/, 2 Aug. 2018,

18
 telecoms.com/491242/apple-a-perfect-example-of-what-can-be-achieved-through-custom

er-loyalty/.

Gaus, Annie. “Apple's 6 Biggest Challenges in 2019.” ​TheStreet​, 2 Jan. 2019,

www.thestreet.com/technology/apple-biggest-challenges-14822208.

“How Many IPhones Are There .” ​MiniCreo​, 2018,

www.minicreo.com/news/how-many-iphones-are-there.html​.

Lloyd, Craig. “No Apple Store Nearby? Try an Apple Authorized Service Provider.” ​How,​

How-To Geek, 23 Jan. 2018,

www.howtogeek.com/338710/no-apple-store-nearby-try-an-apple-authorized-service-pro

vider/​.

“Millennials .” ​Fortune​, 2018, fortune.com/2018/03/09/millennials-apple-brand-intimacy/.

Morello, Robert. “Marketing Evaluation Techniques.” ​Your Business​, 29 Sept. 2016,

yourbusiness.azcentral.com/marketing-evaluation-techniques-11602.html.

“Psychographic.” ​Apple Situation Analysis,​ 6 Jan. 2012,

appleanalyses.wordpress.com/7-1-1-psychographic/.

Twin, Alexandra. “Understanding How Companies Use Product Lines.” ​Investopedia,​

Investopedia, 11 Apr. 2019, www.investopedia.com/terms/p/product-line.asp.

“Who Is Buying Apple Products?” ​CNNMoney,​ Cable News Network, 2017,

money.cnn.com/2015/10/29/technology/apple-customers/index.html.

Wilhelm, Alex. “Tech's 5 Biggest Players Now Worth $3 Trillion – TechCrunch.” ​TechCrunch,​

TechCrunch, 19 July 2017,

techcrunch.com/2017/07/19/techs-5-biggest-players-now-worth-3-trillion/.

19