Apple IPhone Strategy and Innovation.
My company chosen was Apple. During the company background research, I learnt that Apple have products in several different markets and industries and narrowing this down to one would allow my research and strategy to become a lot more focused. Because of this discovery, I have chosen to zone in on the IPhone.
Advertising to parents and educational professionals that if you are to purchase an Apple IPhone, then in doing so, you gain access to a discounted price on all books from cooperating book stores, such as Waterstones, and can also purchase learning resources from examination boards and educational publishers. An alternative to discounted books would be to allow parents and schools to purchase apps produced by these companies that have an educational benefit at a discounted rate. With increasingly higher standards for technology use in early elementary grades, all children, particularly low-income children, could benefit from acquiring basic technology literacy skills in early childhood education settings to ensure they are ready for the classroom says Daugherty, L. and Dossani, R. (2014).
This initiative can be advertised digitally on the bookstores website, this will in turn benefit the retailer as having a partnership with such a large and prolific company can spur on their sales. Despite the fact that Waterstones would be offering a discount on certain products, this could allow an increase in sales for children’s products and would also drive in an older market who are accompanying the children, this could lead to further sales in adult books due to them being in the store browsing with their children. In return, Apple could feature the Waterstones app at the top of their suggested app list to encourage further customers towards the paid partner. AdBoom says that “Association Advertising” can save money. It costs nothing extra for Apple to place Waterstones as a leading app on their store, in return, Waterstones still makes a good profit on children’s educational resources even when offering a discount to parents and educational professionals, all whilst receiving an increased customer base.
Using banner advertising, for example; Waterstones can on their website, display Apple as a leading partner and encourage current customers to go out and purchase the new IPhone. The same can be said for examination boards and known educational resource providers.
This leads on to initiative two and the second part of the strategy. Using online public relations to build the reputation of Apple in the education community. IronPaper (2013) says Online PR is very similar to traditional PR in the sense that it’s about influencing people rather than buying placement for brand content. The influence could result in a story in a magazine, newspaper or blog. It could also result in other online pick-up, including social media. Apple, using the hashtag #ILearnWithIPhone can utilise social media to its advantage, generating free advertising to shed positive light on their wants to help the younger generation learn in what is a rapidly advancing technologically orientated world.
Using this social outreach, working with professionals and educational centres they can promote the message the parents and public influencers that they are “narrowing the digital divide”. The gap between disadvantaged students and their peers in access to and use of technology — the “digital divide” — is significant. Low-income families are less likely to have access to most types of technology, and children in low-income families are more likely to use technology in ways that are passive and isolated. In conjunction with this, Apple can then push the fact that they are expanding resources for teachers and families. With the discounted prices from Apple professionals could use technology to access virtual communities, find teaching materials, watch exemplars and create networks. Similarly, technology provides families with new opportunities to engage in their children’s education and increase communication with their children and with providers.
The strategy would begin with Apple using social media to create a media frenzy over the up and coming campaign with the hashtag #ILearnWithIPhone at the centre. Focusing heavily on the lack of technological access available to under privileged students, and the difficulty for establishments to afford materials they need for the classroom. The next step would be to unveil the partnership with leading book stores and educational materials and their providers, of course allowing these providers priority on app store searches for increased consumer traffic. This would then be partnered with the advertisement for Apple through-out educational and book related websites, promoting that Apple products would allow customers an X-amount of discount on educational resources and children’s books. The drivers of this strategy can be measured by the amount of resources bought with an educational discount applied in conjunction with Apple sales after a certain date, and the amount of resources sold before the discount date and after it. Also, when buying an Apple product, having the customer mark whether they have an interest in the educational benefit on a review could be a simple way of keeping track of the percentage of customers this affects. Finally, tracking the social media reach via interactions, retweets, likes and shares would allow Apple to determine how far the campaign has reached.
References:
AdBoom, A. (2016). B2B Advertising: 5 Advantages of Association Marketing | AdBoom Advertising. [online] AdBoom Advertising. Available at: http://adboomadvertising.com/blog/b2b-advertising-5-advantages-association-marketing-offers-2/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
Daugherty, L. and Dossani, R. (2014). The Role of Technology in the Lives of Children. [online] Rand.org. Available at: https://www.rand.org/blog/2014/10/the-role-of-technology-in-the-lives-of-children.html [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
IronPaper (2013). What is online PR? – Ironpaper. [online] Ironpaper. Available at: http://www.ironpaper.com/webintel/articles/what-is-online-pr/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].