Marketing Communication Tools for Apple

Marketing Communication Tools for Apple In the past two decates it become a common practice for companies to spend millions and billions of money in advertisement (see Table 1, due to lack of any further evidence the numbers should be taken under suspicion). Most of us think that they spent all this money just to make us buy more and more but is not only that. Their ultimate goal is to make as aware of their presence, they want to gain more and more market share and they also use various methods and ways to attract new customers that they have not yet consider them as an option. In order to do that they have to use some tools and means. These tools are known as Marketing Communication Tools and they consist from five principles -also known as marketing communication mix- advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling and direct marketing (Armstrong, Kotler, Harker, Brennan, 2009, p398). Not all of the tools are been used from the companies, some of them are used less some of them more. This is dependable on the strategy the company wants to follow, at this assignment I will try to critically assess and evaluate two key marketing communication tools that Apple Inc. uses. Apple Inc. founded in 1976 and is one the largest corporation across the world that designs computers, electronics and computer software. It became known by been one of the first companies to mass produce and sell Personal Computers, in 1976 Apple 1 and in 1977 Apple II. Since then they become one of the leading companies both in innovation and sales this is the reason why I choose this particular brand in my assignment. One of the most common marketing tools used by Apple Inc. is direct marketing and as Chris Fill (2005, 4th) defines the companies level in his book Apple Inc. is a type four hybrid company. This means that they see direct marketing as brand vehicle and use direct marketing to exploit market space opportunities (Chris Fill 2005, 4th, p.738). The main tool they use for their strategy is the internet and web-mail since the evolution of technology helps direct marketing to prosper and grow. Apple Inc. exploited that by using huge storage databases to keep track of their customers data and preferences. Their main goal is to build a strong and long-term relationship with their customers by forming a community and to define the word I used I mean dedicated customers that follow Apple Inc. products blindly. This growing community is the power of company; it consisted by dedicated customers that are tied to the company mainly for sentimental reasons slowing rising as a cult. Even if the products sometimes do not meet their expectations or the products are left to die from the company they still follow them as a cult current slowly rising. As an example we can relate to that cult is the Abandoned Apple Newton Brand Community as explained at Albert M. Muniz Jr and Hope Jensen Schau research Religiosity in the Abandoned Apple Newton Brand Community published in the Journal of Consumer Research mentioning how customers off different brands turn their favorite brands into a religion and giving the products supernatural and magical motifs because they believe they are consisted from some kind of magic and will survive through time and at some point they even might rise again like the phoenix from the ashes. From a consumer point of view their strategy is not as effective as it could be; mainly because direct marketing should be more about feedback and customer profile based. From that prospective they should focus more on how they can use effectively their recourses to be more customer-friendly and diverse, they need to give you the opportunity to feedback and give your own advices, after all this are a way of saying to the customer that you care about his opinion and the customer feel that they contribute to their favorite brand. In 2001 Apple Inc. decided to add one more communication tool missing so far from their arsenal, as a result from that they launched their very own retail stores aiming to get higher market share and to bring joy to millions of dedicated customers around the globe. At this moment Apple Inc. counts 324 stores around the world, their philosophy is simple, they want customers to be able to found everything around their technology in one store. The goal is simple, the company tries to be more diverse more interactive and more two-way communication with their customers, this is what personal selling is all about this is what they aimed at. They want existing customers to interact with new customers and sales personnel to interact with both of them. This is the way they make their bond with the dedicated customers even stronger, due to human interaction and tow-way communication the customers do not only attach to the brand but they evolve a special relationship with the personnel that serves them in a way that the selling personnel influence the buying decision of the customer and the customer has someone that knows what his needs and wants are. Personal selling is a great way to learn about what your customers think for your brand, because is a two-way communication and the feedback is faster than from the one you have with research or direct marketing. Is more specific, more consumer-oriented and more flexible than other communication tools but not without a cost. The main weakness is the high cost, the cost for each contact is very high and thus less time consuming methods should be introduced and used for each customer from the sales manager, as an example Germanos ( http://www.e-germanos.gr/ the pioneers in phone selling in Greece) has evolved a very effective and less time consuming model of personal selling, it is called the 5 minutes rule in which each sales personnel has 5 minutes to identify the customer, identify their needs, propose, take him to the counter and closure. Additionally there is always the possibility of misunderstanding due to the human factor involved in the whole process although human factor is a n important part of this process is also the one part that sometimes causes most of the problems the reasons may vary from cultural and religion beliefs to differences in the social status. As a conclusion after doing research for the strategy that Apple Inc. uses we came across equivocal results, despite Apple Inc. market share status (one of the pioneers at their market) and their total revenue their main goal is their loyal customers, perhaps giving more attention on building stronger and life-lasting relationships with their existing customers than introducing the company to new customers. We cannot get a clear conclusion if their strategy is either bad or good, the only thing we can assume is that what they do, they do it to keep the brand image at a level to justify that their brand is for the few and not for the many. Bottom line despite their strategy or their agenda we need to respect Apple Inc. but always have in mind that we need to be critical and analyze everything to see the hidden truth and what is going on behind the scenes. At the end I want to include a part of an interview given in the September of 2010 from the founder of Accer Inc. , Stan Shih, Apple has to be respected. He said that the company and CEO has always been using a different strategy in the computer industry. According to Shih, Apple is looking for revolution, while other PC brands are evolving naturally.

Cause and Effect of Games Addiction

Topic: Cause and Effect of online game addiction There are many reasons people play games: for their entertainment, relaxation, studying and burning free time. Game is a part of human creativity, it keeps people entertained, creative, figure out what to do or better at problem solving. The game can include friends so people will play together or against each other and become competitive. Other than the benefits from playing online games, there are also problems from online games. Two main causes of this addiction is the design and service of the games and the effect is that people have less time.Online game addiction is a problem. The first cause of game online addiction is the design of game. Game designers make characters’ look and act like humans. Thus player is easily manipulated and they can play it by themself without anyone else. Characters have clothes, hairs, body like humans for example. When player click left-mouse they stand and another mouse they go at moment. Som ething people feel this action like they are going and doing. It is really real to see and they are interested with drag their mouse . The pictures are beautiful, natural, and it looks real making the game more fun.The background pictures are many colors, flowers, water, gardens, trees, 3D of style for example. There are many tools and support players which makes the game exciting. This is like that there is a map load when people want to finish their task. Pop-up windows show up when people use their character to trade items with others and act everything with one option. Another cause is the service of the game. Player can exchange items easily and view all traditional items in the screen. Therefore they can save it in the store or take it out of the game.Players keep characters in their account for the next time they will play. Thus game services attract people to upgrade level of character. There more exercise, the better the character will be compared to others. For example if people saw their character less level than their friends they feel shy and spend more time to play online games for winning in the future. Players can get virtual money in the virtual world. They can buy something in game by this money or put real money into game system. So game provider sells account cards for player check and save money or use it in the virtual world.Many players spend a lot of time to playing online game and have too little time to exercise and study. As a result Children get bad grades, fail their exam and don’t help anything about housework for their mother. In addition, players are bad at communicating in real life because it is they can easily talk in the game and they not only act in the play but also send message for others. Player can get sick because they play too much, which means they do not get enough rest and see the computer screen a lot. Some people play action games or violent game that have a lot of strategy to kill so they act the same way in real life.Online game addiction is a serious problem for everyone. There are benefits, but there are also problems. When players play every day, they will get addicted to online games. The design and services of the games are the reasons people get addicted, and there are negative impacts to people. I think people need to talk about children playing too many games. It is acceptable to play games, however people have to limit the time. Players should spend enough time for both games and their real lives. Thus the life is balanced, healthy and useful.

Current Economic Policy Proposal Under Debate In Japan

The current economic policy of Japan does not give any support to non-profitable organizations, indebted institutes, banking sector that has a direct impact on working class of the society. It is said that current policy can drive many companies into bankruptcy.The ultimate result can be that many working class people will loose job and unemployment can increase. In order to raise the profitability and decrease the losses on the economy it was estimated that there will be 40% loss on salaries. That would have a damaging impact on their living and spending. It would resemble the era of post war (Conachy, 2001).Koizumi has advocated a system in order to bring reforms in the current economic status. His reforms were proposed to reduce further debt growth, privatization of certain companies in order to pay off debts of states, and avoid bankruptcies.Koizumi said, â€Å"There will be companies going bankrupt and increased unemployment, but if we are fearful of unemployment, we will never see the recovery of the Japanese economy.† According to Koizumi for any future economic growth first we’ll have to suffer some initial turmoil, corporate bankruptcies and increase in unemployment. There are no such rules to boost economical status in a matter of day or weeks. Quick boost to have immediate financial outcomes is not possible (Conachy, 2001).Japan need to completely reform the current policy in order to get fruitful results. For this Japan will have to go through a recession period. According to Koizumi, â€Å"There are people who say emergency economic measures should come first, but the reason the economy is not recovering is the lack of structural-reform policy†¦..It is important for Japan to go through ‘negative economic growth’—or recession—before it could begin to expand again.† (Conachy, 2001)Koizumi is the fourth candidate in election and suggests that if given charge he would form a coalition government with the opposition parties. His position is very strong in politics and might get most the votes in the upcoming elections (Conachy, 2001).Few banks including Bank of Japan and Central bank are considering increasing interest rates and monitoring the results. The interest rate was fixed to zero but raised at 0.25 at the central bank in last July.The economy of Japan is in turmoil because of policy changes. In many instances Bank of Japan is blamed for these damaging impacts.Japan has the second largest economy of the world. It grew in the last decades because there was considerable increase in investment from the businesses side reaching 2.2 from 0.8% and increased funds from consumer spending to 1.1%. In last December the inflation was slowed with GDP rate of expansion reached to 4.8%.It is hoped that this will cause an economic recovery. According to Goldman Sachs, â€Å"growth suggests there is a high likelihood of the mechanism underlying the economic recovery being sustained in t he first quarter and beyond.†According to Akio Makabe, â€Å"Raising rates would go opposite to the government's policy of spurring economic growth through lower rates and a cheap yen, it would be difficult to persuade the government with a rate hike when there is little inflation.† (Bloomberg News, 2007)The current increase in GDP rates is contrasting government decision of economic policy to reduce the price of yen and ultimately no hike from the government side can be expected due to reduced inflation.

The Perception of Franklin Delano Roosevelt - 2719 Words

The Perception of Roosevelt During the 1920’s a series of events were set into motion that plunged America into one of the worst time of its existence come 1929 and later the Great Depression. Through the challenges America faced, it arose to become the world’s strongest leading economical and political superpower. As the country began to emerge stronger than ever, leaders arose to the occasion and aided its progression as a world power. One such leader was be Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Due to his actions, the memory of him was preserved in the form of political cartoons for individuals to view and come to the conclusion that despite some ill feelings toward the man, he was a man of noble character who aided America in achieving greatness. Roosevelt grew up in a wealthy New York family, and was offered every opportunity of success. He took advantage of this and became educated at Harvard College and Columbia Law School; from here, he became an accomplished a successful career as a lawyer and politician. In August of 1921, he contracted Polio and became paralyzed from the waist down. Due to his extreme optimism that he gained throughout his privileged life, he used his Polio to this to his advantage when he ran for President by showing that he was part of a minority, the disabled, he became more relatable to the general public. He was seen as a man of action and without fear. This mentality was demonstrated during his inaugural address when he stated that â€Å"TheShow MoreRelatedThe Success of Franklin Roosevelt1431 Words   |  6 PagesThe Success of Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President of the USA during a period encompassed two of the most significant events of recent history- the American Depression and the Second World War. 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