Market Segmentation of Apple

The industry for technology is extremely popular and fast-growing. Apple is a multinational technology company that is among the strongest and most influential representatives of the industry. The company was founded in 1976 in the US. Apple offers a wide range of services and products. The company develops, designs, and sells computer software, online services, and consumer electronics. Apple is an experienced company that is also an innovator and trendsetter in the industry. The success and popularity of the company are closely related to the effective and carefully chosen segmentation and positioning strategies. So, let’s dive into Apple’s profile and reveal the strategies behind its success.  

Let’s begin with the segmentation strategy of Apple.

The discussion and analysis of the following commercial will help to easily understand the target segment of the company.

This commercial is energetic, colorful, and simple. Usually, commercials are short and focus on transferring information briefly. Unlike many commercials of different types of companies, this commercial is noticeably long and informative. After watching the video, it seems like there is nothing more the viewer can find out about the product. You get all the information about the product, its new features, how it differs from other similar products in the market, etc.

With this commercial, Apple simply presents a new product and transfers all the information that a potential customer would need when making u purchase decision. The voiceover presents all the attributes of the product, while the video shows his words in action. The scenes of the video are changing dynamically and smoothly.

The viewer can see where and how the product can be used. At the same time, the commercial features several characters. These people are depicted as users of the product. The majority of them are young. They differ from each other by their race, gender, etc.

All of them seem quite outgoing, knowledgeable, and friendly. They look put together and nit. It seems like these people are interested and curious about innovative products and like new experiences.

The characters seem very aware of technologies and use the devices freely and confidently. All these people collectively represent the target segment chosen by Apple. All the discussed details of the commercial and in particular of the characters clearly show that Apple focuses on the segment called Conscious Progressives.  

Target Audience: Conscious Progressives

Lifestyle and Values: 

Representatives of the Conscious Progressives’ target segment are usually intellectuals who understand the value of education and give huge importance to it. These people base all their decisions on what they know.

Thus, they want to learn something new and obtain new information constantly. Conscious Progressives put much focus on growth and self-improvement and want to make life better with their actions and decisions.

People from this segment are down-to-earth, have quite a practical outlook, and are open-minded towards every aspect of life. They do everything, to be honest to the ones around them as honesty has a special place in their minds.

Conscious Progressives stay true to their principles and won’t ever break them. These people won’t choose sacrifices for a successful career or success in any other aspect. Instead, they are always ready to compromise.

Along with this, friends have a very special place in the lives of Conscious Progressives. These people are quite successful when it comes to entertaining others. They are adventurous and curious about new things and experiences.

Those belonging to this segment often organize fun and warm gatherings. Even though Conscious Progressives don’t give much importance to their appearance, they always look good and nit. This is the reason why they judge people based on personality, not appearance.

Attitude to Shopping: 

Conscious Progressives won’t rush to spend their money without a need for doing so. When shopping, these people base their purchase decisions on emotions and feelings. They can be easily attracted to funny and entertaining advertisements and make associations with them. However, all the discussed attributes don’t make Conscious Progressives demand less from the products.

They pay much attention to the overall packaging of the product and view it as a way to obtain information about the product. These people seek functionality in the products that will correspond to the image.

Besides, representatives of this segment prioritize the quality of the products when making a purchase decision. They give preference to casual items, especially in clothing. At the same time, they give big importance to the comfort of the products.   

Interesting facts about Conscious Progressives

• They actively use the Internet all the time. It is the best way for them to communicate with friends, learn something new and in general obtain information. Internet helps them to keep their minds open, informed, and stay up to date.
• Conscious Progressives love and enjoy taking part in different debates. They prefer debates on various widely discussed and popular topics such as the one connected with environmental, political, and social issues.
• These people are remarkably dedicated and loyal in every type of relationship. They tend to value and focus on relationships that are deep, long-term, and strong.

Positioning Plan of Apple

The positioning strategy has a crucial role in creating a brand image in the minds of customers. Effective and carefully chosen positioning strategy can have a big influence on the success of any company. When it comes to deciding on the positioning strategy, different companies focus on highlighting and emphasizing different aspects. This varies based on the industry, the type of the company, its size, products, etc.

The industry for technologies is fast-growing and constantly changing. Companies of this industry constantly introduce new products with innovative features and technical resolutions.

Apple is a leading company in this sphere and all the players in the technology industry very often look up to Apple, its products, new technologies, etc.

Taking into consideration the industry, the strengths of the company, Apple created an effective and strong positioning strategy. The company based its positioning strategy on several aspects.

Apple focuses on the experience provided to the customer when choosing any type of strategy. This especially refers to the positioning strategy of the company. The company positions itself as a high-quality premium brand desired by everyone.

The products of the company aren’t cheap, but even those who can’t afford them when possible do everything to put their hands on an Apple product. This is a result of effective positioning. Apple creates an emotional connection with its customer by providing an exceptional experience.   

At the same time, Apple uses positioning based on competition. In the technology industry where the competition is remarkably severe, this type of positioning is quite a good choice. Apple continuously invests in R&D and introduces innovative features and products all the time. They keep on creating technologies that are hard to copy easily and thus obtain a competitive advantage over the other players on the market.

This company is known for its unique design solutions, that are simple, convenient, and aesthetic. Apple products very often become trendsetters in the market. The famous tagline of one of Apple’s campaigns “Think Different” already tells much about the ambitions and goals of the company.

Now, let’s get an insight into the marketing strategy of Apple through the Marketing Mix of the brand.

Marketing Mix consists of tactics that effectively help to promote a brand, its production and helps to attract new customers and enlarge the customer base. Let’s discuss each of the 4 Ps of marketing one by one.

Product: Apple offers different types of products and services to its customers. As stated before, this company develops, designs, and sells computer software, online services, and consumer electronics. Among all the products of Apple, consumer electronics are the most demanded and desired ones.

These include iPod, iPad, iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, etc. All these products are created in different colors, sizes, storage sizes, and so on. The company focuses on the simple and sophisticating design of its products to make sure that people with different preferences and tastes would like the products.

Apple products are popular for their high quality, user-friendly design, and features, and constantly added innovative features. Besides, all the products and services of the company are closely interconnected with each other which provides convenience and a great experience.

Price: When it comes to pricing products, Apple uses a premium pricing strategy. This means that Apple products are quite expensive and the prices for the products of the company are comparably high from those of competitors. Despite being positioned and perceived as an unaffordable brand, many people are still willing to pay a big amount of money to purchase an Apple product.

Due to continuous innovations, new features, and technologies, customers usually justify high prices set by the company. Apple doesn’t do any type of sales on its products. Instead, the company uses another interesting way of lowering the prices for its products.

Whenever introducing a new product, Apple alters and lowers the price for the previous models. This type of pricing helps the company stand out and be perceived as a premium brand. 

Place: For distribution purposes, Apple puts its focus on Apple stores. The company opened its first store in 2001 and today it already has nearly 500 stores in more than 20 countries. These stores present all the products of the company. In Apple stores, the customer gets the opportunity to see, touch, use any desired product of the company before making a purchase.

Along with this, these stores have provided another great opportunity to customers. People owning Apple products can get technical support and repair for their devices without having to pay for it in these locations.

At the same time, Apple distributes its products through authorized sellers. Such sellers have strategically convenient locations in various countries around the world. Just like authorized sellers, Apple also has agreements with different telecommunication companies around the world.

Both of these distribution channels allow the company to bring their products closer to the customers in different parts of the world. Lastly, Apple uses its website and online stores for distribution purposes like many other companies nowadays. Customers get the opportunity to directly buy from the company without having to visit the store.

Promotion: Apple uses various promotional tactics to effectively rich and attracts customers from its desired target segment. In all cases, the company highlights and puts emphasis on the premium quality of its products, premium brand image, and shows how it is different from other companies in the market. For promotional purposes, Apple uses personal selling, advertisements, public relations, etc.

The staff in Apple stores is highly qualified and trained to provide a great experience through product testing and introductions to attract customers and convince them to make a purchase. Along with this, Apple uses advertisements on different platforms. The company actively uses websites about news on technology as well as the digital advertising network of Google for promoting its products.

Apple presents various commercials from time to time with the launches of new products. These commercials are known for being simple and informative. Besides, the company is actively engaged in different initiatives which ensure a great brand image and positive perception by the public.  

Summing up, Apple is undoubtedly a game-changer and trendsetter in the industry for technologies nowadays. Many various factors helped the company to reach such success and power. Apple continues to delight customers with excellence, high quality, and continuous innovations. The company keeps growing with deep passion and dedication for everything that it does. Much of Apple’s success is dedicated to the carefully chosen segmentation and positioning strategies that have shown to be effective. That’s all for the Segmentation Strategy of Apple. Check out the main page of our website for more posts like this.