Marketing Mix IPod

Question: Discuss about the Marketing Mixfor IPod. Answer: The Three Layers of a Product IPod was introduced in 2001. Following are the three levels for iPod: Core product- This layer represents the benefit or function of the product. IPod is a portable digital music player. Actual product- This layer represents the features or properties of the tangible product. IPods are available in different colors like silver, grey, pink, and blue and golden. The storage capacity varies from 2GB to 128GB, depending upon the model(O'Cass and Heirati, 2015). IPod touch has a camera facility for taking pictures. Nike+ feature is available for tracking the workout progress. Augmented product- This layer represents the value added features. Apple provides a one-year warranty for its iPod models(Sinha, Sahgal and Mathur, 2013). Product Life Cycle According to the Product Life Cycle (PLC) model, a product goes through the following stages on the basis of various parameters like the cost of production, sales volume and profits: Development stage- This stage is a part of the organization's strategy to expand its business by offering a new product to existing markets of operation. Heavy investment is required for the Research and Development activities. Brainstorming results in the generation of ideas. Once the idea is transformed into a product, testing is done before launching it in the market in order to ensure that the product meets the safety standards(Kuczenski, 2015). Various strategies are formulated including promotional strategies, distribution strategies, and pricing strategies. Introductory stage- The volume of sales in this stage is low become most of the people are not confident about the product regarding its use or performance. Extensive marketing is required in this phase. A company incurs losses due to high production cost and low sales revenue. Growth stage- During this stage, the sales increase due to positive word-of-mouth and advertising activities(Kuczenski, 2015). The rival brands notice the performance of the product and try to offer products with similar technology. Maturity stage- The products face stiff competition during this stage. Brands make use of product and price differentiation in order to retain their market share. This results in declining profits(Kuczenski, 2015). In order to retain their market share, the brands adopt product differentiation. Decline stage- The demand for the product declines drastically due to the availability of better technology. Figure 1: The fluctuation in sales volume during different stages of Product Life Cycle The launch of iPod revolutionized the music player industry. Huge money was spent on advertising activities. This resulted in Apple acquiring more than 72% market share of MP3 player industry in 2007. It is believed that iPod entered the maturity stage in 2008. In order to maintain leadership in this industry, Apple adopted the differentiation technique. It displayed innovation through attractive designs, amazing features, top-notch performance. At present, iPod is in the decline stage(Sinha, Sahgal and Mathur, 2013). The main reason for the decline in sales is the change in customer needs. They do not require a separate device for listening to music. Another reason is the choice of pricing strategy. In order to maintain the premium brand image, Apple has not lowered the prices for iPod models. Recommendations Apple's product portfolio includes iPad, iPhone, iPod, TV, Macintosh, iTunes and watch. Undoubtedly, Apple is one of the most innovative companies. Apple should focus on iPhone as it the best selling product and it can help the company in generating higher profits. In contrast to the Android smartphones, iPhone does not have the facility of file transfer through Bluetooth(Sinha, Sahgal and Mathur, 2013). Apple should work towards adding the Bluetooth feature in iPhone. Adding SD ports to iPhone can also enhance the customer experience. References Kuczenski, B. (2015). Partial ordering of life cycle inventory databases.The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 20(12), pp.1673-1683. O'Cass, A. and Heirati, N. (2015). Mastering the complementarity between marketing mix and customer-focused capabilities to enhance new product performance.Journal of Business Industrial Marketing, 30(1), pp.60-71. Sinha, A., Sahgal, A. and Mathur, S. (2013). Practice Prize PaperCategory Optimizer: A Dynamic-Assortment, New-Product-Introduction, Mix-Optimization, and Demand-Planning System.Marketing Science, 32(2), pp.221-228.