Principles of Marketing in Apple iWatch

Apple iWatch (New Product Launch)

Product / Service

Target Market

Apple iWatch (New Product Launch)

Apple iWatch (New Product Launch)

Marketing Channels

Apple Inc. uses both direct and indirect marketing channels for its product offerings including the Apple iWatch. The company uses three different direct marketing channels one of which is the Apple Online Store where the channels take the form of: Producer - Consumer. The second direct channel is using the different Apple Stores where only Apple Products are sold directly to the consumer, which also takes the similar form of Producer -Consumer. The third direct marketing channels takes the form of strategic channel alliances where Apple products are sold in a store within a store. The Apple personnel sell Apple products in a retail store within Comp USA. This marketing channel takes the form of: Producer-Retailer-Consumer (Mohr et al., 2010).

The indirect marketing channels take into account the wholesalers and retailers as marketing channels Producer-Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumer. In this case, the wholesaler and the retailer is the link between the producer and the consumer. The indirect sales uses online sales or catalog sales Producer-Retailer-Consumer. (Mohr et al., 2010). This product offering is more service dominant taking into account the different services offered by the iWatch.

2. According to Boone and Kurtz (2010), distribution decisions encompass distribution intensity. This takes into account the number of intermediaries or retail outlets through which a manufacturer or producer distributes its products and goods. The Apple iWatch, has exclusive distribution as the product goes hand-in-hand with the iPhone. Apple Inc. and AT&T have entered into an agreement that only the listed companies should provide phones to the consumers. This type of distribution may change the target market. This is to target the young consumers who experiment with different mobile networks and to reach to these target audience it is imperative to include other mobile networks. At the launch of iWatch its distribution was restricted to limited consumers

3. Value Chain

All parties in the value chain bring value to the consumer. The three main parties in the value chain are producer, wholesaler, and retailer. The producer brings value to the consumer by manufacturing the products in accordance with the needs and preferences of the consumer. Wholesalers act as the distribution link between the producer and retailer to enable the consumers to obtain the product offerings (Prazibat and Brajevic, 2009). On the other hand, retailers have a significant role in the supply value chain. They provide satisfaction to the end-users with reference to their requirements and needs. The wholesalers and retailers provide value by serving as a link between the producer and the consumer. The retailers provide additional value to consumers by increasing the accessibility of the product-distribution points (Prazibat and Brajevic, 2009).

The recommendation given would not necessarily constitute a new product but rather a product line extension. For instance, the introduction of iWatch for iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s would effectively bridge the gap. The product line extension would allow the offering to occupy uncontested space in the perceptual map for the target market

Product Lifecycle