Individual Marketing Strategy Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Individual Marketing Strategy Report - Essay Example To combat this growing consumer discontent with Apple’s iPhone, it is recommended that Apple redesign its promotional strategies to include lifestyle-relevant celebrity endorsers, change its current pricing structure, and emphasise more on the tangible product benefits as part of the marketing mix to regain competitive advantages and revenue growth. Apple must first, however, identify the psychological and sociological characteristics of its primary profitable market segment, the Achiever group, to accomplish gains in restoring the brand’s reputation. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................ 2.0 Situational analysis..................................................................................................... 2.1 PEST analysis................................................................................................. 2.2 SWOT analysis..................... .......................................................................... 3.0 Differential advantage................................................................................................. ... ..... 5.2 Marketing strategies and programmes............................................................. 6.0 Conclusion.................................................................................................................... References 1.0 Introduction Research in Motion (RIM), now appropriately renamed as Blackberry, had dominated the mobile phone market between 2000 and 2005, being an innovator and pioneer in a product category that was in its technological infancy and introductory period along the product life cycle. With the release of RIM’s Blackberry 957, one of the world’s first smartphones, Research in Motion was able to define the product category and gain first mover advantages, something achievable through technology leadership and the ability to corner the market in a specific product category (Agarwal and Gort 2001). Up until 2006, when Research in Motion launched its Blackberry Pearl 8100 (the first smartphone with camera capabilities and othe r functional features found on today’s smartphones), RIM was considered to be the foremost expert in mobile telephony virtually untouchable by potential new market entrants for its technological leadership. However, Apple Inc. developed its first version of the Apple iPhone, a revolutionary mobile telephone technology that encompassed multi-functional features and benefits ranging from streaming video capabilities to Internet Wi-Fi connectivity capacity. The innovative features included in the first and subsequent versions of the Apple iPhone quickly seized market share from the previous market leader, Research in Motion, rapidly building market segment loyalty for Apple. Subsequent versions of the iPhone were released yearly following 2007, which now include the Apple iPhone 5 that was just