Apple Inc: Big Data Analytics in MacBook Pro M3 Marketing Case Study

Integrating Online and Offline Media for Product Promotion

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Introduction: Apple Inc: Big Data Analytics in MacBook Pro M3 Marketing

This study aims to focus on the effects of big data analytics and traditional marketing analytics on the new product success of the chosen organisation Apple Inc and its product Mac Book Pro M3. In this aspect, this study is going to focus on the company profile that may include the vast information regarding the company, the sector that this company operates within and the stages of implementation of big data analytics within the product development process by the company. In this regard, the online Marketplace and digital Marketing Environment Analysis will be discussed and depicted with the help of diverse macro and micro environmental analysis frameworks. Furthermore, the diverse ways of integrated marketing communication will also be evaluated here. Lastly, an in-depth and clear analysis will occur regarding the use of integrated online and offline media by Apple Inc Company for its global business expansion.

Company Profile

About the company

Figure 1: Total Lobbying spending of Apple Inc from 1998 to 2020

As a computer manufacturer company, Apple Inc was established on April 1, 1976. Apple Inc is an American-based "Multinational technology company," and the headquarters of this company is situated in Cupertino, California (Apple.com, 2023). This company has become one of the world's best favourite tech brands for its popularity. As per the report of 2022, this year this company has become the world's largest technology company only for its revenue, which was US$394.3 billion in the same year (Complete-it.co.uk, 2021). In the annual report of March 2023, it can be depicted that Apple Inc has become the world's biggest company for its market capitalization. As per the company's annual report of June 2022, Apple Inc has achieved the fourth position by becoming the largest personal computer vendor along with its unit sales and on the contrary, this company has also become the "second-largest" company of mobile phone manufacturer.

About the sector Apple Inc operates within

The Apple Inc company generally operates within the sector of Information Technology. In this regard, it can be noted that Apple Inc has established itself as one of the largest information technology companies in the world. This company has become popular within the sector of IT because of its high generation of revenue and the use of the latest technologies within its products (Apple.com, 2022). The consequence Apple has had within the Information technology and modern technology industry is remarkable and unparalleled. In this sector, this company has become popular only with the invention of the Apple Mac Book series. 

Company’s stage in the capability pyramid and implementation of big data analytics

This company reached its utmost success only by inventing the "Mac book" in 2006. In most Apple notebooks, diverse innovative and modern IT-based technologies have been used. Apple's most of all Mac books are developed by the “macOS operating system” since 2006 (Moreau, 2019). The advanced big data analytics helped this company to invent the latest Mac book series with its sleek design. As per the annual report of 2018, Apple declared its new Mac Book has become “the world’s most advanced consumer notebook."

Online Marketplace: Digital Marketing Environment Analysis

Online marketplace or situational analysis is an essential part of the development of the digital marketing strategy of any organisation. In this aspect, the "RACE digital strategy planning framework" can be more effective for Apple Inc to define the potentiality of digital marketing and the future opportunity of the product "Mac book Pro M3" (Shankar et al. 2022). The "MacBook" Apple is a globally popular brand of "Mac notebook computers" that are dealt with and created by Apple Inc.

Figure 2: Apple Inc's expenditure on research and development

Micro Environment Analysis

The micro environmental analysis of this chosen organisation can be depicted via the help of "Porter's Five Forces" framework. Hence, the growth in the use of digital marketing and technology of Apple Inc can be able to generate new paths of purchase for their consumers that are highly influential and have potential as well. It can be noted that "Porter's Five Forces" is a model that is mostly used to consider the position of an organisation and also its competitive status by properly analysing the five 'forces' within the industry (Studysmarter.co.uk, 2020). In this case, Porter's five forces analysis is focused on the opinion that there are five important elements that define the "competitive environment" of Applwe Inc in the global IT industry. Hence, based on "Porter's Five Forces" framework, the competitive microenvironment of Apple Inc. is going to develop through the three major key points "customers," "competitors," and "suppliers.". 

Customers

Porter's Five Forces have depicted the fact that consumers are highly significant for any organisation. The "Bargaining power of the Buyers" generally shows the impact of the preference as well as the buying behaviours of the customers on a business. In this aspect, the consumers are important also for Apple Inc (Mishra, 2020). The analysis of this force of this specific framework has depicted the fact that the consumers of this company have strong power because they have the power to move and shift towards other organisations within the same industry. In this aspect, in this modern era while trying to focus on digital marketing, consumers of the UK of Apple Inc. easily access details about the products' features, reviews of other customers, price rates, and many more.

Competitors

After the analysis of Porter's Five Forces framework, one can come to know the fact that Apple Inc. has grabbed half a share of the market, and as per the report of 2023, Apple Inc. has a market share of 52.05%. In the UK, Apple Inc. has a very low number of competitors, including Huawei, Samsung, Motorola, Google, Xiaomi, and a few others (Bakri, 2019). The consumers of this organisation are highly important because this company has a continuous investment in innovative research and product development. In this aspect of the marketing of "Mac Book Pro M3," this company has offered diverse facilities in digital online marketing (Kaziba, 2020). On the other hand, this company has used diverse methods to grab the attention of new as well as existing consumers by launching new innovative and unique products such as the Air Pods, Apple Watch and many others.

Suppliers

The influence of the suppliers has the power to impose demands upon the organisation. In the case of Apple Inc, the power of the suppliers are low because the company has diverse considerable suppliers and this company can choose any suppliers while trying to switch the cost range (Manoharan and Narayanan, 2021). Apple manages multiple numbers of suppliers with a low switching cost. Though this company has a strong market position, this company deals with the suppliers with major consideration.

Macro Environmental Analysis

The SLEPTS approach or analysis is a significant factor because this type of external environmental analysis can study the key external factors of a country and can easily analyse the impact of those factors on the company's growth and development for the future. The major factors under the SLEPTS analysis are sociological, legal, economic, political, technological, and sustainable, and these factors can influence the scope of the global expansion of Apple Inc. too (Kumar, 2020). This macro environmental analytical tool can be used in a broad range of various external environmental scenarios, and it can be able to easily guide the professionals, managers, and leaders of Apple Inc. to launch more new products in the UK as well as the global market and make proper strategic decisions. The impact of these factors and how they can leave a positive or negative impact on the future business development process of this company can be easily defined (He et al. 2022). In this aspect, three major macro-environmental factors have been chosen, including "economic", "technological," and "Sustainability" for Apple Inc., that may leave a vital impact on the product development and promotion of the Mac Book Pro M3, mostly in the UK market.

Economic

Figure 3: Annual revenue of Apple Inc from 2010 to 2020

In the post-Covid situation, the income source and level of income of the common people have decreased and the high [product price of Apple Inc can leave a negative impact. The Gross Domestic Product is 2.7 trillion as per the report of 2021 and that may bring future opportunities for Apple Inc (Gov.uk, 2022). After that, the interest rate and inflation rate of the UK were 0.5% and 2.19% respectively and this economic rate of this country may leave a positive impact on the development of annual revenue and net annual income of this company. 

Technological

In this aspect, as per the report of the UK government in 2018, the technological growth rate of the entire country was $446bn and that is a great opportunity for the growth of the entire organisation. This company has focused on the online marketplace and digital marketing and the total number of social media users among the UK people is 98% in 2020 (Great.gov.uk, 2022). It may bring a great opportunity to develop the digital marketing process globally. In this aspect, Apple Inc may develop the use of more Artificial Intelligence. Among the IT advancement, this company may gain the scope to use more big data analytics. Hence, with the use of big data Apple Inc can find how people are using applications and Mac Books in real life. The Apple Watch and Apple Mac Book Pro series are good examples of Apple's strategy of "capitalizing on big data" (Ons.gov.uk, 2022). The Apple Mac Book Pro M3 has the high potential to bring revolution within data gathering strategies.

Sustainability

As per the analysis of the sustainability of Apple Inc, it can be noticed that this company use environmentally satisfactory materials and essences. Apple Inc has taken a target to reduce waste from the manufacturing process. Along with all these, this company is also trying to provide diverse software tools that can allow users to manage the "energy-saving features" of their computers or diverse systems (Ons.gov.uk, 2022). This organisation also aims to adopt "product recycling programs" for their worldwide customers. This company has also taken a target to be carbon neutral by the end of 2030.

Integrated Marketing Communication

It can be depicted that "integrated Marketing Communication" is an important tool for marketing analysis. This type of marketing communication can easily allow one to use the exact scope and acquisitions in different formats. As per the "American Marketing Association," Integrated Marketing communication, or IMC, is a planned process that is developed to ensure that all brand communications are received by a consumer for any product or service over time (Tao et al. 2022). On the contrary, the "Marketing communication Mix" is another vital factor in the process of integrated marketing communication. In this regard, the entire discussion has been developed along with the support of the "DRIP" model, which is considered as one of the best marketing communication planning tools. This communication flow model has been developed based on the key elements, including "Differentiate", "Reinforce", "Inform", and "Persuade" (Tien, 2019). Hence, the entire process of integrated marketing communication is going to be developed by analysing the three major key factors of marketing communication, including "Advertising", "Sales promotion" and "Direct digital marketing".

Figure 4: Integrated market communication plan of Apple Inc

Advertising

Apple Inc generally uses the advertising method as a process of business promotion that is also significant to increase the marketing communication with their customers as well. It can be noted the fact that Apple naturally uses a "combination of print ads and commercials" to publicise their different product sequences in the global business market (Raja, 2020). This company has used the online advertising process mostly for the promotion of Mac Book Pro M3 series mostly in the global as well as UK market. 

Sales Promotion

The "Brand positioning" strategy of Apple Inc has made them one of the most tech-valuable companies in the world. The sense of identity of this company has been increased via the implementation of 'Brand positioning" in the global market. Apple's brand positioning is naturally based on the three major key elements including "innovation", "design" and "customer experience" (Juska, 2021). This sales promotion marketing strategy of Apple has supported this company to stay forward of its opponents while keeping a strong insight into the global identity of its brands.

Figure 5: Brand development plan of Apple Inc

Direct and Digital Marketing

Apple Inc generally uses a diverse product mix approach for its Direct and digital marketing. This "marketing mix communication strategy" channel of Apple Inc takes advantage of both online and offline marketing channel development (Gordon-Isasi et al. 2021). Thus, this company advertises their products, mostly the Apple Mac Book Pro M3, through online advertisements for sales promotions, selling and public relations. Apart from all this, during the process of advertising, the digital marketing platform does not share the brand's personal data with third parties. 

Integration of Online (Digital) and Offline (Traditional) Media

Clear and in-depth analysis of how the company integrates online and offline media using relevant examples

Apple implements different kinds of marking strategies that help it to perform both online and offline interactions with its customers. According to the study by Roma and Vasi (2019), Apple performs its marketing in the form of a diversified product mix strategy. However, it can be said that Apple's marketing campaign decisions take advantage of both digital and traditional media and bring out its distribution channel. The Mac Book Pro M3 has been completely based on its performance and its looks. So, it became an advantage for Apple to perform its data analytics and target those customers who are in the most need of the hardware. The data analytics helped in bringing in different kinds of valuable insights to the company from the customers and helped in making different kinds of decisions. However, the implementation of data analytics allows Apple to be fluent with its customer interactions and easily idealise the needs of its customers. Moreover, it helps in highlighting the needs of the employees and then improving those with the help of interaction and various activities. 

As Apple implements both offline and online market integration, successful marketing was required to be prepared. So, it can be said that Apple focused on using one product to be directly promoted with the other. This helped in encouraging the offline customers and setting up different sorts of dedications. As per the view of Jones et al. (2022), having a positive customer interaction and retention rate for offline advertising aids is increasing the customer presence in brick-and-mortar portals. Thus, it can be said that this helped Apple to advertise its Mac Book Pro M3 in every corner and perform collaborations for advertising it. Apart from that, online advertising has been one of the best methods that have been proven effective for Apple. According to the study by Roma and Vasi (2019), suggests that advertising online helps in capturing a targeted and specific audience. Moreover, it allows the customers to have a deep concept of the products and lets them have emerged with its reality. 

So, it can be finally concluded that brand awareness and promotion are very important for any kind of new product. However, in the case of the Mac Book Pro M3, Apple started implementing different kinds of advertising metrics for advertising. In fact, Apple started focusing on social media platforms as it will help in increasing brand awareness. As mentioned by Ayodeji and Kumar (2019), social media metrics deals with tracking the type of platform that has been capturing a wide range of audiences and followers. Thus, this strategy of social media metrics increased the rate of customer interaction with the organisation. However, the most efficient method implemented by almost most international business organizations is product-related surveys, interactive rewards, and the collection of feedback. Thus, the main aspects that are needed to be kept in mind while using social media metrics are as follows: impressions, reach, virality rate, reviews, and audience interaction with retention growth. 

Thus, coming to the conclusion, it can be said that there are a bunch of reasons why Apple is considered and will be considered to be successful. However, the reader can get a proper idea and then gain a complete idea of how often advertisements for Apple focus on its customers and its presentation. Moreover, it can be conceptualised that Apple follows a differential marketing strategy that not only helps it to stand out at the time of marketing but also regarding its quality. Apple is known for its performance, so Apple created its new Mac Book Pro M3 for its customers who had high-end needs. Moreover, it can also be said that Apple has been continuously focussing on both digital or online media and traditional or online media. Hence, it allows Apple to have a diversified product and marketing mix strategy. 

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Conclusion

It can be concluded that this study is all about the impacts of big data analytics and traditional marketing analytics on the new product success and development process of the UK-based organisation Apple Inc and its product Mac Book Pro M3. In this regard, the company profile has been discussed along with the IT sector under which this company deals with. The company's ability with the implementation of big data analytics has been widely discussed here. However, the "RACE digital strategy planning framework" has been suggested as more effective for Apple Inc to define the potentiality of digital marketing and the future opportunity of the product "Mac book Pro M3". After that, the micro environmental analysis has been conducted with the help of "Porter’s Five Forces" framework. On the contrary, the macro- or external environmental analysis has been conducted with the help of the SLEPTS approach where the economic, technological and sustainable factors have been highlighted. Hence, the process of integrating marketing communication of Apple Inc has been discussed with the process of advertising, digital marketing and sales promotion. The entire integrated marketing process has been developed with the help of the "DRIP" model. Lastly, a clear and in-depth analysis of how this company integrates its online as well as offline media platforms for its product promotion has been widely analysed.

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