Apple's Extended Marketing Mix (7P's)

This is how Apple Inc. uses the 7p's method to achieve success.

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Product:

Apple was founded as a computer company in 1976 in the United States, but during all this time, they have launched a wide range of electronic products adapting therefore very well to the customer needs. Although, If we have a look at the sales history, we can easily see that the iPhone has been the most sold product.

Price:

Since the beginning, Apple has opted for innovation and prestige, something that has, from a business aspect, defined how their pricing and sales strategy evolves. The first apple product was sold for £666.66 and since then it kept this range of prices.

Although if we compare prices and hardware with the competitors, some people might say their products are overrated, but one of the main strengths of Apple is the UX or User Experience. After all, who does not like exclusivity.

Apple’s pricing strategy has always recognised a point of maturity giving their audience what they needed to become potential customers, and even though for some people their prices are out of budget, the brand has recently released the iPhone SE for a very low price so everyone can join their community and enjoy their services.

The Electronic Company follows a Skimming pricing strategy, which means that the producers set a High-Initial price, and once the main consumers has buy it, the brand will drastically reduced their prices to capture the low-end buyers, the objective is to obtain as much revenue as possible before the market substitutes it with other upcoming products.

Place:

Apple Stores are a specialized store of the brand where everything was going to be arranged in a strategic way so that the set of factors and details transmits its philosophy.

Their products and services are available in physical stores situated mostly in the high streets and strategic locations, they also offer all these features online in their website or by other distributors such as telephone companies etc…

Steve Jobs had always clear his idea of the apple store appearance as they always followed a premium and minimalist style.

Promotion:

As we all could expect, Apple uses most of the marketing communication channels to promote their products and services, but I've found out that they use an unusual method.

Some of those channels are: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tv, Prints, Billboards etc…

I've analyzed Apple's Promotion and Social Media Strategy, click here to know everything about it.

People:

Since the beginning of Apple, they have hired more than 75.000 people worldwide.

The giant tech makes sure that all their staff is the best staff, they have spent a lot of time training their personal in order to deliver the best outcome to the customers.

A few years ago there was a leak that the tech company Gizmodo posted about Apple's secret employee manual training.

According to Gizmodo, “Selling is a science, summed up with 5 cute letters: (A)pproach, (P)probe, (P)resent, (L)isten, (E)nd.”

Those 5 words correspond to the steps that the Apple retail stores should follow in order to help customers and make them feel welcomed, empowered, happy, and eager to return.

Process:

Apple Product Process starts designing the product at the factory, product designers are especially important for Apple, they are actually isolated from other departments. Once the design of the product has begun, the ANPP is getting action. The ET (Executive Team) meets every Monday to review and check the product's design. Then the Engineering program manager (EPS) and the Global Supply Manager will work along always making decisions for the best of the product.

It turns out that once Apple is done building a product, it redesigns the product and sends it through the manufacturing process again, explaining the various versions we may see leaked.

This is a 4-6 week process that ends with a gathering of responsible Apple employees at the factory. Afterwards, it’s time for packaging, Apple has special designers to work only in their packages and they work hard to communicate the right message to the consumer, which is simplicity, sophistication and premium materials. Once all this process is done, the next stage is to launch the product and make sure their staff is advised and trained with a high knowledge of the new upcoming products, features or services.

Source: Panzarino, M. (2019).

Physical Evidence:

Apple has online and physical stores and as they do with their products, you will find simplicity, minimalism and sophistication, which is a very updated and attractive physical evidence.

The giant tech had worked hard on their physical evidence in order to improve their customer experience.

Rob Janoff was the graphic designer of the actual Apple's Logo

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