From American marketing association “marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organized objectives.” It is essential to mangers having a clear realization that marketing is vital to the existence of business. Apple for instance, is a successful model of business that operating correct role of marketing and adapting suitable marketing strategies.

Marketing plays a pivotal role in generating sales, thereby contributing to strategic goals such as profit maximization and growth. The development of brand awareness and customer loyalty are also key contributors to the success of companies such as Apple. The marketing manager cannot work in isolation and often has to work with other mangers in the business to ensure the success of the marketing plan, this is called interdependence. Changes in marketing activities aim to increase the demand for a good, which will need to be managed by operations. For example, when apple decided to discontinue the production of the iPhone5 and launch two new models iPhone5c and iPhone5s, the factory management at Foxconn would have begun planning for changes in the process of layout, ordering new components, and establishing quality control systems for the new models. Furthermore, operations and marketing will often need to collaborate in the design and development of a new product, combining marketing data on customer preferences and operations know-how. Financial will also influence the design and development of new products. Budgets will be allocated by finance to all other key business functions to effectively control costs and minimize expenses in their given activities.

Sales approach and marketing approach can also effects the business. The sales approach emphasized selling because of increased competition. To some extent, the innovative nature of the smartphone design created a sales approach to marketing, particularly in the introductory stage of the product life cycle. This is because companies such as Apple were developing new products with capacities beyond consumer expectations. They were able to focus on design application design features of the earlier iPhone. For marketing approach, Apple conducts regular surveys of existing iPhone customers to assess their response to various applications and design features. This provides valuable information that becomes an input in the production of future models. For example, customer feedback on the iPhone4 led to change in the iPhone5 such as a longer battery life, lager screen size and a thinner phone.

After have a clear realization of the role of marketing, the next step is adapting suitable marketing strategies. Marketing strategies are actions undertaken to achieve the business’s marketing objectives through the marketing mix. Which includes 7P: place; product; promotion; price; people, process and physical evidence. Apple refer all of these marketing mix for iPhones. For product, iPhone has its unique system IOS, and multiple apps such as iTunes, iMessage, Facebook and so on are provided for users to download. Price skimming is used when a new iPhone is released, positioning it as a leading edge, quality product. Apple also uses competition-based pricing through reducing the older model price to the middle-range of the market when a model is up graded. For promotion area, “Apple Day”- the use of media to create a highly publicized event of new product launches. And use website for launches and product information. What’s more, Apple is strongly focusing on sales and customer service in Apple store and online ordering. All