As by means of every Apple marketing, the iPhone promoting policy is extremely obvious, straightforward in addition to bright. by means of the unadorned plus straightforward apple icon, Apple focuses on the pure innovative style of their products without every one the "fluff". The iPhone was released by Apple in June, 2007. The ground-breaking style of the iPhone was touted for months before the initial release in addition to has remained the best of the best when it comes to cell phones over the past several years. Before the iPhone's official release, Apple ran four television commercials promoting the new cellular phone.
The first of the commercials portrays the new iPhone as the following step up from the favored iPod. The iPod was all the rage up until this point, in addition to the iPhone was speculated to be the following-generation iPod, oh, plus it's also a phone! The advertisement displays every single one of the enhanced features available in the iPod, plus more, the point being "There's never been an iPod that can do this."
"So, say you're watching Pirates of the Caribbean"
Finger clicks on video in addition to displays wide screen movie.
"Mmm, did somebody say Calamari?"
Finger clicks back to menu, selects Maps application to search 'Seafood'.
"The closest would be..."
Map displays all seafood locations in addition to highlights location nearest to you.
"Ah!"
Finger clicks seafood location, plus restaurant phone number displayed. iPhone dial's.
The first four iPhone commercials flaunted the convenience, innovation, in addition to usefulness of a single product with the functionality of not only a phone, or a music device, but a product that can, among other things, listen to music, watch videos, view photos, make conference calls, check e-mail, browse the net, as well as view maps.
Not just does Apple utilize television for their advertising strategy, but they use their website by posting videos, they also published a handful of press releases that could have been released in one single document. Apple often uses this tactic to build up hype and leave the consumer wanting more.
by way of Apple's brief press releases, giving the audience little to go off, "Apple leveraged a law of social physics - news, like nature, abhors a vacuum. In the absence of real information, those who care about a product will grasp at any rumor that comes their way. Apple may publicly disavow the rumor Web pages that scramble for scraps about the companies plans, but secretly their advertising department must be delighted. It would cost a lot to buy that kind of Web advertising." (Silverman, 2007)
The official iPhone website does more than just provide details about the product. the website provides top tips in addition to tricks for the use of an iPhone, as well because a huge focus on apps. Almost the complete iPhone page displays images of apps, provides the "App of the Week," the web site also contains sections titled "Apps for Everything," and the "Top Apps." Apple's website is a great advertising tool for current iPhone users in addition to consumers that be interested in purchasing the iPhone. The promotion of the apps will create a stronger source of revenue for Apple. Because customers see top rated applications, they are more likely to download the app, rather than searching through 25,000+ apps to find one that may be of any value to the consumer.
Successful younger men were the target audience that Apple had originally focused on. Apple had hoped that with this target audience, in addition to the fact that 48% of this audience did not already own an Apple iPod, would allow them to reach their forecast of 10 million sales by the end of 2008.
One month prior to the release of the iPhone, Solutions Research Group profiled a cross-section of those aware of the phone. The forecast of potential buyers for the day of the release ranked a majority of T-Mobile customers, AT&T's only GSM-based product competitor, at 15%. The second largest group expected to purchase the new iPhone was AT&T's existing customer base, at 12%. The Solutions Research Group also found that 72% of males, versus 28% of women were most likely to investigate the phone at its minimum price of $499. (Malley, 2007)
The obvious current target audiences for the Apple iPhone include young people between the ages of 20 and 35, affluent teenagers, "jet-setters", plus "mobile" employees who work outside of the office.
Apple is known for their simplistic, but catchy commercials. In recent television commercials for the Apple iPhone, "There's an App for that" is the new catch phrase that places a strong focus on the apps available from the App Store. Apps, or applications, are in "every category, from games to business, education to entertainment, finance to health as well as fitness, productivity to social networking. These applications have been designed to take advantage of iPhone features such because Multi-Touch, the accelerometer, wireless, as well as GPS" (Apple, 2009). Apple currently claims to have 25,000+ apps available, and counting.
The focus on the variation of apps offered opens up the target audience greatly. There is essentially an app for everyone. As a few of the iPhone commercials advertise, you can find the snow conditions on the mountain, track calories in your lunch, find exactly where you parked your car. You can find a cab in a strange city, find your share of the bill for a table of 5, or learn to fix a wobbly bookshelf. You can read a restaurant review, read an MRI, or just read a regular old book. These are just a few of the features that Apple has promoted through television commercials. iPhone apps provide every functionality that one can imagine.
When the iPhone was initially released, it was priced at a hefty $599. Still, hundreds of many people rushed out to get the new phone, forking over a third as much as they'd have had they waited an extra 3 months. 3 months after the initial release, Apple reduced the cost of the iPhone to $399. This enraged Apple's loyal customers in addition to consumers who purchased the new phone just months earlier. One year later, Apple again reduced the cost of the iPhone to $199, 66% less than the original price.
In July, 2007, the Apple iPhone was every single one the hype. I believe that Apple's decision to release the phone at $599 was slightly based on greed. However, their product was the most progressive out in the market place, giving Apple the freedom to price the iPhone at whatever they wanted. Many believed that Apple had cut the purchase price after discovering lower than expected iPhone sales. Apple, however, states that the purchase price cut was made "to spur holiday sales plus predicted that Apple would meet its stated goal of selling its 1 millionth iPhone by the end of September." (Dalrymple, 2007)
Because with the product life cycle of any cell phone or Apple product, including Apple's iPod, prices are often reduced drastically months after the initially release. Tech products are always competing against "the latest plus greatest" while maintaining a relevant price in the market place. Had Apple not reduced the cost of the iPhone, the purchaser base would have dwindled quickly as many consumers are unwilling to spend $599 on a cellphone, no matter how many useful features the phone may carry.
Because the iPhone remains to be the number one smart phone around, the product continues to grow, increasing size capabilities, increasing the number of applications available, as well as providing new features that are released through new iterations of the phone, continue to provide a greater value to the iPhone while the pricing remains relevant.
At this time in the product life cycle, Apple continues to release enhanced iterations of the iPhone. with most iPhone users un-willing to purchase a newer version of the iPhone because of price, the target audience for the newer generation phones is new iPhone customers. by Apple's installed base continuing growing, they've found a way bring in reoccurring revenue from their existing customers through the sales of their application downloads. Because more and more people purchase the iPhone, Apple's audience for new customers continues to dwindle. Fortunately for Apple, they've built in another source for revenue that continues while in the life of the product.
References
(2009). Apple: iPhone. Retrieved April 26, 2009, from Apple
Dalrymple, J (2007, Sep, 11). Lessons learned from the iPhone price cuts. PCWorld, Retrieved Apr 26, 2009, from http://www.pcworld.com/article/137046/lessons_learned_from_the_iphone_price_cuts.html
Silverman, D (2007, Jul, 10). Apple's silence helped the iPhone hype. Chron.com:Computing, Retrieved Apr 26, 2009, from http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4954824.html
Malley, A (2007, Jun, 6). Apple, AT&T neophytes to define iPhone audience - report. AppleInsider, Retrieved Apr 26, 2009, from AppleInsider Website
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