Introduction
Apple is one of the leading technology company companies in the world. In fact, Apple is the most valuable technology company according to market capitalization. Apple reputation is gained due to the company’s ‘i’ products. These include the iPhone, iPhone, iTunes, iCloud, iPod, and iPad. The company credits its success to its revolutionary leader, the late Steve Jobs. Jobs made strategic decisions that helped in making Apple the most valuable technology company in the world. During his time at the helm of the company, Jobs was able to launch several successful products.
Some of the products that Jobs helped in launching include iPhones, iTunes, iPods, and iPads. Apple has revolutionized various industries with its products. The company influenced the music and technology industry with its iTunes, iPads, and iPhones. The iPad is the latest Apple product that Jobs had launched inline production before he died. The iPad is a portable tablet computer. The iPad has conquered the tablet personal computer market. To achieve success, the company should ensure that it targets the youth. Eliciting demand from the new generation would guarantee a future market for the company’s products.
Market Vision
Apple strives to ensure that all children use an iPad in their daily activities. The company would like the youth to prefer Apple’s products, and specifically the iPad, for both the school activities and the entertainment.
Objectives
- To create software applications that would improve the quality of education.
- To develop various software applications that would help children in learning and entertainment.
- To simplify the usability of the iPhone to enable children to use the product with ease.
Purpose
This marketing plan will provide a strategy that Apple will use to ensure that it markets its products to kids. The marketing plan will ensure that kids can use various applications of the company to further their intellectual development. Apple has a strong brand name. Therefore, promoting the iPad to children would be easy.
SWOT Analysis
Apple has a globally recognized brand name. Therefore, it is easy for the company to market its products. Customers associate the brand name, Apple, with high-quality products (Kapferer, 2012). Therefore, it would be easy for the company to launch an iPad that targets kids. Apple produces high-quality products due to the fact that the company is a pioneer of high-quality products. Some of Apple high-quality products include the iPhone, the iPod, the iTunes, the iMac, and the iPad.
Apple invests huge sums of money in research and development. Huge investment in research and redevelopment enables the company to devise various revolutionary products. It has several patents that protect its intellectual property.
Apple has a strong presence in the education sector. The company has various initiatives that help in the education of children (Costello, 2012). This would make it easy for the company to launch products that target children.
Situation Analysis
Overview of Industry
The iPad market has several competitors. Quality is among the factors that affect the competitiveness of companies in the industry. Samsung is the major competitor of Apple. However, Apple has a competitive edge over Samsung due to the high quality of Apple products. Apple targets the high-end market, where quality is more important than the price. There is very little competition in the kids’ iPad market. This market promises to reap huge financial rewards to the company in the future.
Competition
Samsung’s Galaxy and Amazon’s Kindle Fire are the major competitors of Apple. Kindle Fire challenges Apple’s position in the market due to the quality of the product. Samsung is Apple’s main competitor, as mentioned above. Samsung challenges Apple’s market position in terms of the quality and price of its products. However, the major handicap of Samsung is the fact that the company does not use its own operating system in its tablet computers. However, Apple uses its own operating system on the iPad.
Target Market and Positioning
Target Market Analysis
Apple’s target market is children. In the market segment, price is critical in making the decision whether to buy the product or not. Therefore, Apple should ensure that it charges a low price for its iPads in a particular market. In addition, the company should ensure that it incorporates various entertainment products on the iPad. This would make the iPad favorable to children. Technology is the future of education. Therefore, parents are willing to introduce various technological gadgets to their children if those gadgets help improve the intellectual ability of their children.
Promotional Methods
Apple will collaborate with various early childhood learning institutions in promoting the iPad. The company will provide gifts to children who buy the company’s products. It will also distribute tickets to visit various parks or cinemas to those youngsters who use the company’s products. In addition, the company will devise various television advertisements that target children. The company will ensure that the television stations air the advertisements at a convenient time when children are watching the television. The company will use its presence in the educational sector to market the iPad to its target group. Apple will also collaborate with early childhood learning institutions in developing applications that help children in learning.
Conclusion
Marketing the iPad to children would guarantee future demand for the iPad. Children will use the iPad in their education. This would make them conversant with the product. The iPad will have various applications that will introduce fun in learning. This will make it easy for children to learn.
References
Costello, S. (2012). My iPad for kids. Indianapolis, IN: Pearson Education.
Kapferer, J. (2012). The new strategic brand management: Advanced insights and strategic thinking. London: Kogan Page.