Strategies And Policies To Survive And Dominate The Market: A Study Of Apple And Nokia

Marketing Strategy and Product Design as Key Success Factors for Apple

Question:

What is the Buisness Level Strategy ?

The aim of this study is to analyze and also to discuss the various types of strategies and policies used by the companies like Apple and Nokia to survive and dominate the market and industry. Apple is a fast growing and established company. Nokia is a company that was one of the leading companies in the year 2007 but after the introduction of new brands in phones, the company could not be able to dominate the market (Parasuraman, and Zinkhan, 2002). The study presents many ideas and ways by which the company can sustain and gain the old position in the industry of devices. The role of marketing strategy and policy plays a vital role in making the brand and breaking the brand name.

The strategies adopted by APPLE to penetrate and survive in the highly competitive market of consumer electronics are very different and unique. The company has lots of strategies and policies that help it to be one of the leading companies in mobile phones and computer system. The secret behind this success is marketing strategies, designs of the products, product differentiation, design standards, etc. that provide customers a satisfaction. This allows the company to enjoy the best manufacturer of phones and personal computers (Wilkie, and Moore, 2003). The company has lots of powerful elements like a designing firm, media platform, publishing company, a powerhouse of software, computer manufacturer, etc.

The marketing strategy of the Apple states that ignore all the critics that take place in the market and industry and focus on the work (Leonidou, Katsikeas, and Samiee, 2002). The aim of the company is to manufacture what they want and only focus on the cost of production because people afford to pay more for what they want.  In this way, they make innovations before each and every launch.

The features of the software and the designs of the phone, laptops, personal computers, iPad, etc are so unique that the customers want to buy and use them. It provides them pleasure to use such beautiful designs (Aladwani, 2001). The focus of this company is on the UVP that is unique value proposition that is a unique method help the company to manufacture beautiful designs of the gadgets that work out of the box. The focus of this company is not on a single feature but on the overall product that shows the customers the entire apple products (Cova, and Pace, 2006).

The belief of this company is that if the quality of products is good then it does not need much advertisement and promotion. The quality itself helps in the promotion and marketing of the goods. Instead of this the company has to think about the product placement. The buzz form the social media and the customers itself act as an advertisement of the product which is free of cost and more real. Apple aim is to reach to the customers through a natural way and without emphasize and manipulate them (Gummesson, 2005). This can be done through reach to the influencers and insiders who help the company to reach to the audience. They also use free trail programs and testimonials to promote their products.

Simplicity and Customer Communication Helps Apple Standout

It is said that more is not always good. There must be some limits and simplicity. Sometimes, the technology provided by the companies confuses the customers and they reject the product due to over whelmed of technology. Apple Company has reduced the confusions by reducing the hi-tech applications and software.  They also simplify the marketing of the products. In this way, they set an example for other companies that effective marketing is not the only thing to attract the customers (Varadarajan, 2010).  They believe that too much information and data may mislead the customers. They make things simple and the customers of this company love this marketing strategy. The websites of apple are not very much attractive. Instead they are simple and the data is also very limited.

The designs of centers are very simple and show the images of the beautiful products with product specifications and technical details. Apple is a company that knows its customers very well and they know how t o satisfy their customers (Binsardi, and Ekwulugo, 2003). They know how to communicate and speak to them so that they feel comfortable and not confused. They provide customers unique values like

• The iPods are just not the music players but also the storages device
• The iMac is just not a computer but also provides pleasure and excitement to the customers
• The iPhone of Apple are just not the smart hones but a power of Apple computer in a small device
• The websites are not just website but a summarize and beautiful version of all the information about the company and its products (Luo, and Bhattacharya, 2009)

The product version provided by the Apple is totally different from any other brand. They have crafted each and every thing very carefully and beautifully. They used a refined and updated version of the elements in all the devices. The motive of this company is to deliver value to the customer for what they have paid (Madhavaram, and Hunt, 2008). This can be done by providing them unique solutions. It is also observed at the apple stores that are beautifully designed and the kind of service provided is very decent and humble. The stores of apple inspired purchases. There are warm lights, the color scheme is monochromatic, etc. the large windows with great view of apple products. In this way, the company tackles their customers and gives them a new experience (Bloch, 2011).

The fan base of apple has developed over the years and now there are hardcore fans of this brand all over the world. Overall, there are big fans of this brand who are permanent customers of the same.  It provides company and enthusiasm and fanaticism (Parasuraman, and Grewal, 2000). The company focuses to build a brand personality.

The company Nokia was a market leader in the year 2007 with around 350 million of the handsets. Nokia was a company that has also launched a service of music system that includes complete download of any kind of music. The company was trying to grow as an internet company for the future but now the company is a mobile phones company that is making a good progress so that in future it can become Internet Company as well. Though, the company had made loss after the launch of music system services. The owners of Nokia said that Apple is a company that can give tough competition to the Nokia handsets (Verhoef et al. 2009). There are other brands also that give competition to Apple like Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sony, Philips, Panasonic, etc. These are the companies that are developing in nature.

Uniqueness and Flexibility as Advantages for Nokia

The advantage with Nokia brand is that they have flexibility in their brands and they use simple strategies to penetrate the market and competition present in the industry. The company has to continue with this strategy to sustain its initial dominance in the technology industry. Now, the market of Nokia is shrinking day by day. The introduction and launch of new brands in the market leads in shrinkage for the demand of the products of this company. In order to survive and continue with the dominance of Nokia brand, the company have to make strategies and bring innovation in their products so that they can reach to the level at which they were before (Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson, 2012). The companies have to make a market position by facing the challenges and making effective strategies. The companies have to analyze the opportunities and threat and then they have to frame policies.

• The company can do mergers and acquisition in order to sustain in the markets
• They can grasp innovative ideas from the leading companies so  that they can develop and manufacture  the products and services accordingly
• The company has to explore and collect all the opportunities present in the market to make profits and revenues in the future.
• They can target the emerging markets of phones and other devices
• Development of software and applications is also a good option to enter into the market as it help in boosting of revenues and profits for the company in the initial stage
• Cross selling of the Nokia phones to the business organization, enterprises, clients, etc.

Conclusion

A conclusion of the present study is that the marketing strategy is one of the crucial things that help the brands to establish their name and reputation in the market and in the minds of customers. So, it is the responsibility of each and every brand whether it is Apple or Nokia to make effective marketing policies to remain in the competition. There are other ways that can also help but it is the first and foremost element that influences the brand image.

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