I wrote Marketing plan about Apple Watch.

Please read my plan and make Excutive summary based onmy plan.

MARKETING STRATEGY

Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning

Positioning of Apple’s Series 3 Watch heavily relies on theattributes and benefits it contains. The Apple Watch Series 3positions itself in the minds of consumers as a “lifestyle brand”more than anything else, thanks to its simplistic use, smart devicecapabilities, dedication to a proactive and healthy lifestyle, andsuperior construction. Although many brands position themselves aslifestyle brands, trying to be with the customer every step of theway, not all can say that they have done it. With the newwaterproof design, making the device more rugged, along withlooking at many of the ad campaigns that you will see later in thisreport, Apple is looking to be just that; the brand that is withyou every step of the way.

Breaking it down further, we broke Apple’s methods into fourparts: geographic, demographic, behavioral, and psychographic.Geographically, Apple is located and recognized worldwide, but forthis report we will be focusing on the United States, with an urbandensity. The urban density involves all people inhabiting a givenurbanized area. The demographic of the customer base is set to bemales and females from the age of 20-45, across all types of peoplefrom the bachelor stage to a full nest second stage, meaningfamilies with children over 6, but younger than college age. Appletypically segments its consumers for the apple watch into uppermiddle class or high earners, with a professional or managerialoccupation. Looking deeper, and focusing on the consumersbehavioral types, we found that Apple’s segment on the market forthe degree of loyalty is high loyalty people. Typically, the mostavid fans of Apple will purchase an Apple Watch only after a greatexperience with other, more basic Apple brand products - such asthe iPhone and MacBook. The benefits sought for this segment of themarket are consumers who tend to be recreational and expressional.Apple segments the market

into those who tend to be determined and ambitious. Overall, thepsychographic research showed that these people are more upperclass social status, with an explorative and active lifestyle.

Marketing Channels

Apple has made itself accessible from many different locations.For example, you will see that Apple has a support application,simply for people looking to troubleshoot their issues or connectwith Apple support advisors. Besides this, there is an Appleshopping application, that can be used to compare and contrastdifferent products that they are selling in order to make your nextpurchase easier to decide. They also have their website which isformatted properly to be user friendly on both computer or mobiledevice.

When thinking back to many of the ways that Apple connects withcustomers, we see it through applications, tv commercials likeshown below in the marketing tactics, along with billboards thatare most commonly seen on some of the tallest buildings in largecities like Chicago, New York, or Nashville.

Marketing Communications Mix

While Apple successfully has branded its products, including theApple Watch in all different facets, it has had most of its successin the following four areas:

From and advertising perspective, the Apple Watch Series 3 nowcomes with LTE, GPS, and cellular support, and that is the mainfocus of a lot of their advertisements. Their focus on fitnessbeing implemented into a healthy lifestyle is shown in theirend-of-year holiday ads, titled “Swim”, “Snowboard”, “Soccer”, and“Workout”. All of these advertisements came in the form of15-second videos with the umbrella term, “The Gift of Go” as seenin exhibit 5. Ultimately,

Apple’s focus with these ads was on thrill seeking people aimingfor a healthy lifestyle. Each of the four advertisements showed adifferent aspect of the Apple Watch Series 3. All of theadvertisements shared a similar style, but where the “Workout” adshowed how Apple Music works through the watch, “Swim” focused onthe workout app programmed into it. (Potuck).

Apple continually boasts booming sales through advertisement, asadvertising is the main form of communicating the product tocustomers. The company produced multiple dozens of ads throughout2017, each with a specific goal. One advertisement showed how nomatter what your zip code or your upbringing, Apple can be easilyimplemented in to your life. Another showed how simple it is topair the iPhone 7 with the new Apple EarPods. Most of theiradvertisements come in the form of videos.

When reflecting on some of the events and experiences that Appleeither hosted or were a part of, Apple held two major events during2017, on June 5th and September 12th. The aim of these events wasto inform loyalists of the Apple brand about changes to the companyand upcoming products to generate excitement about what was tocome. The June 5th event, otherwise labeled as a Keynote, boasted aproud array of new products, including the enhanced iPad Pro, anexpansion to the Mac family, and a brand new HomePod. The September12th Keynote displayed a new generation of iPhone, the Apple TV 4K,and of course, the Apple Watch Series 3 with cellular connectivity.During the latter Keynote event, which took place for the firsttime at the Steve Jobs Theater, paid homage to the original founderof the product.

During the events, many influential people spoke of theproducts. Tim Cook, current CEO, was even one of the guestspeakers, introducing the Apple Watch Series 3. Tim Cook also hasjoined many technological summits during the 2017 year. One of thebiggest examples of this was his arrival at the White House TechSummit (Lapowsky). This tech summit brought

together today’s most influential people in technology and aimedat fixing the ailments at the intersection of government policy andtechnology.

Being prepared for anything that comes its way, Apple wouldn’tbe successful and maintain its solid reputation without its PublicRelations strategy (Glean). Apple has an eight-step PR plan thatallows them to remain one of the most respected brands of moderntimes:

** Storytelling. The CEO of Apple recognizes a problem and thenoffers a solution with one of Apple’s products.

** Simplicity. Press releases of the products were easy tocomprehend for consumers.

** Learn from failure. Take failures and alter them to createthe next best thing.

** The Golden Circle strategy. Compel the audience and compelyour partners – answer what the purpose is, how the companyfulfills its mission, and what it does to tackle its corebelief.

** Reviews. Pay attention to all reviews – good or bad. Tailormaterial to different target audiences.

** Top-down secrecy. Do not let word leak on newest productlaunches.

** Press releases. Use in-depth but easy to understand productdescriptions. Use single word adjectives to describe products (e.g.iPhone is revolutionary, iPad is magical).

** Culture marketing. Establish the brand as high-profile, makethe product available to businesses and individuals.

When analyzing Apple’s online and social media presence, wefound that they have very high relevance and are active, and wellknown. Apple globally has 137 different online locations, tailoredto specific regions, making it easier and more intuitive for alldifferent types of consumers. Apple is definitely location aware,using geolocation to easily communicate with people visiting theirwebsite.

Apple has a large social media following as well. On Facebookalone, the company boasts a rather impressive 11 million followers.Apple uses the platform as a more informative approach to connectwith consumers. Apple has a main twitter account with 1.76 millionfollowers, but they haven’t used it yet. However, they havealternate separate channels such as Apple Music and iTunes, wherethey seem to mostly target millennials, offering insight on theproducts in a “fresh” and “modern” way. Apple’s Instagram is adifferent story. While they do have a large following (of nearly 5million people), the pictures they post tell a story more abouttheir consumers than it does talk about the products. It’s a smartapproach to give the consumers a sense of connectivity with thebrand, vs. feeling like they are being sold something.

Marketing Tactics

During the year of 2017, Apple had three different series ofwatches: Series 1, 2, and 3. Each series of watch came with theirown special functions and features, but most of the marketingtactics for 2017 were for their newest device to the Apple family:The Apple Watch Series 3. What made this device so special was itsability to connect to a cellular connection without having yourphone or mobile device nearby. This would allow for its user tosend text messages, make phone calls, from wherever you are nomatter what you are doing. We saw this

in a one of their advertisements that they called “Surf” whichwas a 45 second clip, where we attached a screenshot below inexhibit 6.

In the video you will see an individual out surfing and whilecatching a giant wave, their watch is starting to ring, showingthat they are receiving a phone call. This is the first Apple Watchthat would allow it to function like this, since the Series 1cannot even be submerged in water, and the Series 2 you need tohave your phone within Bluetooth range which is around 100 metersor 328 feet in order to receive call notifications to yourwatch.

For this marketing plan that they released for their newestproduct, we felt that they were mostly targeting more activeindividuals, who have a high focus on living a healthy lifestyle.With this being said, we are looking at age range of mostly youngadults that we would say are around 18 - 27 years of age. Showingthe cellular capabilities and showing that no matter what it is youare doing, you can be connected wherever life takes you.

In another advertisement, more focused on the Apple Watch Series2, Apple released a 1 minute and 15 second video titled “LiveBright” with a screenshot shown in exhibit 7.

In the video you will see several different individuals doingthings like stretching, paddle boarding, hiking, going down a waterslide, playing basketball, swimming, etc. The Apple Watch Series 2was their first watch that was fully waterproof, so this was thefirst watch they really started to push the whole lifestyle device,and pop culture icon symbol, where the video focuses heavily on theuse of the fitness tracking functions. You will see individuals“closing their rings” meaning that they stood for a certain numberof hours throughout the day, exercised a certain number of minutes,or burned a certain number of calories. With its waterprooffunctionality, they advertise their addition of swim exercisetracking mode, which they show in the video of an individualswimming and checking their activity rings. You will see otherathletes checking their

heart rate, being able to make sure g sure they stay withintheir desired range in order to achieve their personal fitnessgoals.

Similarly to Apple’s other advertisement for their Apple WatchSeries 3, called “Surf”, we believe that Apple is targeting youngadults ranging in age from around 18 - 27 years of age, wherefitness and a healthy lifestyle is towards the top of their list ofpriorities showing this particular group all of the availablefunctions like heart rate tracking during while in exercise mode orthe and breathing monitor to help you in the recovery mode duringyour post workout meditation.

While watching this advertisement, we also picked up on anotherhidden message that Apple may be portraying. Throughout the videoyou see lots of diversity: people of different races andethnicities, along with seeing a wide range of colors and exercisesor activities going on. Apple is aiming to reach each and everymarket, whether you play basketball, or hike, or swim, or skydive,this watch can fit your lifestyle and serve many purposes. Also, webelieve all the flashes of colors and different activities alsosupport customization within the watch. When you purchase yourApple Watch, you are given many options for which watch band youwould like equipped whether that is the solid colored sport bandbuild for any lifestyle, or the patterned nylon band that focuseson total comfort. Whatever mood you are feeling that day, orwhatever activity that you are going to be partaking in, Apple hasa band for you, like shown in exhibit 8.

In the next advertisement that Apple released for their AppleWatch Series 3, you see them introducing how the watch can be usedwith Apple Music, and how you have the capability of listening to40 million songs, all from the little, yet very powerful device onyour wrist. This was shown in a 1 minute and 10 second video called“Roll” with a screenshot shown in exhibit 9. In the video you seean individual that is using three different Apple products orservices

and shows the connectivity that the devices have together. Thisindividual has an Apple Watch Series 3 and has his Apple AirPodsheadphones connected straight to the Apple Watch via Bluetooth,where he is able to wirelessly listen to over 40 million differentsongs just by picking songs from his watch. In the video you seethe individual skating all around public buildings, offices, etc.doing impressive skateboarding tricks while jamming out to hisfavorite songs. You see his energy become contagious as otherpeople do flips as their final act before disbursing. Music hasalways had a positive impact on so many people and can make themost gruesome task much more fun and enjoyable. With this beingsaid, Apple is able to help people get connected to their favoritemusic and jam out to their favorite artists wherever they are,while doing whatever they need to do, like in this video,skateboard.

Similarly, to many of the other marketing ads that we have seenfrom Apple, especially in the year of 2017, like “Surf”, and “LiveBright”, Apple targeted their younger crowd, particularly youngadults from the ages of 18 - 27 who are focused on living activeand healthy lifestyles. They are able to be connected to theirmusic wherever they are, without the need for their mobile deviceto even be on them in that moment. They also are able to bring intheir Apple Music service to show the 40 million different optionsavailable, while also showing the sleek, simple, and convenientdesign of the AirPods and how all of these powerful devices andservices can work together to bring the consumer one incredibleoutcome.

One of Apple’s most powerful marketing advertisements was theirvideo called “Dear Apple” (like shown in exhibit 10) which theyreleased and played right before their largest watched event of2017. They started with this 2 minutes and 38 second video ofdifferent individuals from all around the world, speaking theirnative languages, telling their stories of how the Apple watch hasimpacted their lives.

Throughout the video, you can meet some very inspiringindividuals, telling their stories. You hear from Olympians, balletdancers, marathon runners, fathers, and even a 99-year-old womanwho loves to travel the world. People talk about their journeyswith losing weight, and bettering themselves, by closing theiractivity rings. When their rings aren’t closed, they tell storiesof doing jumping jacks, or push-ups to quickly move their ringsbefore the time runs out. Besides the fitness aspect, the emotionaladvertisement goes on to show individuals in car accidents, wherethe phone wasn’t accessible, and they were able to call for helpusing their Apple Watch. The video then goes on to show a concernedDad who can use the benefits of the Apple Watch to monitor hisdaughter’s diabetes.

I think the video was their most powerful ad for 2017, being oneof Apple’s first advertisements to really try and touch viewersemotions. Many people think of it as just a watch, where you cantrack your workouts, or see a text message. But Apple goes ontoshow that the possibilities are endless of things you can do, andsome of the moments where the watch can really serve a crucialpurpose in your life.

What we also found interesting about this advertisement was thewide range of ages. You saw a little girl wearing the watch,probably around the age of 10 years old. Or another woman who saidshe was 99 years old. This is one of Apple’s only advertisements,especially for the Apple watch, for the year of 2017 where thetarget market was not focused on a specific number, but rathershowing all of its users that it can be used in so many differentways, and can be applied to people of all ages, health statuses,and ethnic backgrounds.