The Targeting Campaign of Apple's iPhone X

Apple introduced its iPhone X in 2017, a game-changer for Apple that alerted the world. The iPhone X marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the device and it’s the biggest redesign of the iPhone since it was launched a decade ago. The latest iPhone X has no home button which is one of the big changes as it provides an almost full-screen experience for people to use the device. It successfully managed to satisfy customers from varying segments of the market; from appreciating the phone design to quality and performance of the technology products. This diversification expanded Apple’s iPhone value proposition.

The iPhone mainly targets both male and female consumers who are between the ages of 20 – 45 years old from the middle and upper social class and identify themselves as Aspirer, Succeeder, and Explorer. The personalities targeted are hardcore loyal, determined and ambitious. The product line focuses on creating premium smartphones using design models and technology that are advanced and satisfies customer desires. The iPhone X’s technology allows customers to take clearer resolution pictures with its innovative True Depth camera system. They have adopted the future of smartphones with many of their other successful innovations to find a balance between form and function to create the perfect product for customers.

The iPhone X model consists of 3 main product categories – performance, quality, and style design, for different purposes and consumers. Apple has adapted to fit and satisfy the needs of consumers, with products ranging from iPhone to iPad and even MacBook to appeal to the varying segments. Under the performance segment, Apple extends the product line for differing lifestyles and users. This includes phones specifically for ‘iPhone photograph challenge’, where the iPhone X’s 12 – megapixel dual-lens camera provides optical True Depth image resolution for users to capture remarkable moments using the iPhone camera. Apple has also incorporated its iOS software into its smart watch (Apple watch) which connects to the user’s iPhone to deliver notifications, send texts and run apps. This is an excellent strategy to enhance the value proposition to consumers who are into the latest technology gadgets. Their ability to combine performance, quality and style coupled with their brand reliability adds huge value to consumers as it fulfills the criteria for both style and function.

The iPhone product line practices a mix of both premium and skimming pricing strategies. Firstly, Apple uses premium pricing to charge higher prices among other mobile phone brands such as Samsung, HuaWei, Oppo, etc. This strategy creates the perception to the consumers that Apple’s iPhone has a higher value than its other competitor’s phones as well as the prestige and exclusivity of the product, enhancing the value proposition of the product. Next, the strategy of skimming prices is adopted when Apple released its newest iPhone in pricing these newly phones at a high initial price. With Apple’s technology of its iPhone, consumers value such features and are willing to pay more. The higher prices influence brand perception and the value of the phones. Following this continuum, Apple does not lower the price to meet the needs of a more price-sensitive segment of the market. Instead, Apple released a newer iPhone model which caters to consumers who aren’t racing to buy an expensive phone. This strategy allows Apple to entice more consumers to upgrade their phones as many people are holding onto their current phones longer.

Apple aims to sell more than just phones; it aims to sell why those features in the phone matter to the customer. Apple’s advertisements often portray in creating high-quality and impeccable visuals yet at the same time to keep things simple and memorable. Most of Apple’s advertisement goes straight to the point where it will focus on one key feature of their product. The advertisements usually follow the same style using either white background to contrast the stylish black of their products and logo or an inverse with black backgrounds and white text with a white logo. One of Apple’s biggest promotion is their yearly keynote speeches where it will announce their newest iOS, hardware products and application features to the world. This strategy captures consumers’ attention and draws a huge following to consumers who have been loyal to the brand. Television advertising is a significant driver for Apple as it does a better job promoting on the buzz talk shows about the products than it does indirectly building brand perceptions. The engagement of such advertising strategies generates word-of-mouth, and this helps to build Apple’s brand perceptions which lead to the building of consumer’s desire for the iPhone. With a combination of creative and effective marketing tactics, Apple can appeal to a larger audience and help increase relevance to target groups that were not interested in Apple’s iPhone originally.

Apple typically adopts a direct and indirect distribution strategy when releasing their new products. The company sells its products directly via its Apple Stores which allows consumers to go down directly to purchase the products on the spot. This creates a personalized high-quality buying experience for consumers who purchase the phone from the store. Apple also focuses on other channels of distribution for their Apple products. The iPhones can be seen to be sold on Apple’s online website, in which consumers are not restricted from buying the phones directly from the store. For indirect distribution strategy, Apple sells its products through retailers and online websites such as iStudio and Amazon. These distribution channels open up more platforms to distribute the products to consumers around the world and are also another source of revenue for Apple. Telecommunication operators such as Singtel, Starhub, and M1 are also another indirect distribution channels for Apple to distribute their iPhones to the consumers. This distribution approach opens up more channels for consumers of Apple’s mobile phones.

The iPhone product line could introduce hardware and software compatibility with Android phones. Consumers can choose to purchase both Apple and Android apps from the app store as this expands iPhone users’ phone application options. This new product of hardware and software compatibility improvement can effectively appeal to both Apple and Android consumers who value inter compatibility and seamless experience when using their mobile phones. Product compatibility options can also include hardware accessories such as earpiece and similar charging ports. This will bring about a revolution in the field of smartphones that Apple can exploit and enhance its position of supporting hardware and software compatibilities with other technologies to continue to create value for customers.

An ethical issue that Apple deals with is the environmental impact of its products. Apple is constantly releasing newer phone models, and this could result in older mobile phones being tossed aside. Furthermore, with the release of their new products, this drives people to replace or upgrade their phones whenever Apple comes out with their latest iPhone. However, Apple has taken steps to mitigate this by shifting towards greater sustainability. One example would be their recycling program at its stores which aims to encourage its consumers to recycle their old Apple products such as the iPods, mobile phones and MacBooks. Consumers that trades in their old phones can receive discounts on a newer phone. This strategy allows Apple to build its products with sustainable recycled materials that are suitable for recycling in its product line while increasing positive brand perception among consumers. Apple remains aligned to its values of continuous improvement and delivering the best product quality to its consumers despite the tremendous pace of technology changing today.