Product and Service Marketing Analysis Essay

harvest-home and service marketing are highly related. Take the success of a fellowship like orchard apple tree, for example. The technology giant operates nearly 400 sell stores, employs more(prenominal) than 42,000 people and hosts more than a million visitors each day. In 2012, apples retail operations dedicated nearly $19 billion. Furthermore, its estimated that apples Fifth Avenue store generates more than $35,000 per signifi freightert foot, making it the highest grossing retailer in New York ever. Those statistics reinforce the partys yield and service strategies of those of a highly successful company. apple continues to find a number one spot on a enumerate of the worlds most admirable companies. However, the success of Apple hasnt always been so great. It wasnt until the company combined adept products with good services, that profits increased exponentially.Slide 12-12 Service DifferentiationApple actually had a point in backup in which it struggled. Th at was in the nineties when the company was selling products through larger retailers such as CompUSA and Sears. It was then, that Apple reckoners were shoved to the side, out of the main view of fashioners, as just another computer brand available on store shelves.Apple employees didnt settle enough attention to the installation of the product in the big quoin stores in which it was being sold, so there wasnt a lawful selling point for buyers. Also, the product delivery took a major hit. In fact, the brand became so weakened when retailers did not market the products properly, that the inventory wasnt entirey stocked. While Apple products plummeted in sales, the Gateway company was oblation direct sales to consumers in its own stores, and Apple had to reinvent its business model, and quickly learn how to operate in a different manner. slight than two old age after Apple launched its retail stores, Gateway shut down all of its memory boards and laid off 2,500 workers. Onl y three years later, CompUSA closed its chain of 23-year-old stores as well. Apple went against much of the advice it had received, and clearly the company was doing something right. Apple created retail stores that broaden more than just a product. The stores offer a shopping experience that consumers frequently bring raving reviews on. That includes lodge ease, smooth delivery, clear installation, the right client training and consulting, and simplified support and repair.Slide 12-11 Product DifferentiationApple Stores are now the highest playacting stores in retail history. This isnt due to just good in-store and online service. The products typically set the bar among all other technology products offered in the industry. legion(predicate) Apple products come with customizable features based on a nodes hopes and needs. That includes hard push back and disk space, all the way down to the detail of an optional custom engraving on a product. In accessory to the features, Apple products are known to hold superior performance quality. Sure, the products arent cheap, moreover typically when a customer buys an Apple product, they know that product will profits for itself over time.Slide 13-5 Categories of Service MixWhen youre dealing with a product that Apple designs and sells, its typically a highly technical device. That tangible good brings on accompanying services. The more advanced the product, the greater the need for those high-quality supporting services. When a customer goes into an Apple store flavour for a new computer or an iPad, theres a chance they dont know how to maximize its use to its full capability. Apple found a way to assist costumers, so they can learn about the devices theyre purchasing for free. Employees at each Apple retail shop hold free workshops for consumers to teach the basics. In addition to workshops, customers can sign up for one-on-one training sessions to dig flush deeper into their products capabilities.Slide 13-6 Service DistinctionsThese services offered by Apple require the clients presence therefore employees need to be considerate of the consumers needs. That is why Apple is known for hiring customer-obsessed, empathetic employees. Apple cofounder Steve Jobs offered a unique insight about how consumers interact with technology. Jobs said often the problem was that consumers are limited to thinking in terms of only(prenominal) what they know, instead of what is possible. Jobs once said that one of the keys to Apple is that the company builds products that gimmick the employees on. That is certainly to the benefit of the customers, that it often means products are exactly what they want because Apple employees are so deeply entrenched in and connected to the customers experience.Slide 13-8 Distinctive Characteristics of ServiceWhile many a(prenominal) consumers know the physical products Apple offers are those of high quality, the company has make it a point to manage the evidence , and tangibilize the intangible. In doing so, Apple had to create stores that fork up a plumb layout, in which traffic flows steadily, moderate employees that are busy, but they can still manage the workload, have equipment that is state of the art, have a symbol that suggests quality in both product and service, and finally, has a healthy price for service. We already know that Apple services are offered for free, the companys logo is iconic, and that the equipment is top notch.So, Apples stores had the main center on of a clean layout and employees readily available, yet still busy. When a customer walks into an Apple store, the aesthetics are clean and well thought out. for each one product is on display for testing use, and the floors, walls, and counter spaces are clean and tidy. In addition to that, carefully recruited and trained sales associates are encourage to take customers on a ride. They give each willing customer a short, informative tour of the space to be abl e to have a conversation and connect with each and every visitor. Then, of course, theres the offering of support for each customer, which is just another delight to those who shop at Apple.The end result of Apples mix of product and service marketing combined is certainly one of success. Apple has the highest retail sales per square foot than any other U.S. retailer. The stores average more than $6,000 per square foot, which is more than twice the former gold standard Tiffany & Company. That success did not come with quality products alone, but quality product marketing coupled with quality service marketing. The companys marketing dodge is unique, but the company figured out how to attract and retain customers, generate an extremely large amount of word-of-mouth and brand appeal to give it a huge competitive advantage.Works CitedChazin, S. (2013). The Retail Secrets of Apple. Retrieved from http//www.marketingapple.com/marketing_apple/2013/01/the-retail-secrets-of-apple.html on 07 /23/2013.DuBois, S. (2011). Worlds Most Admired Companies. Retrieved from http//money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2011/snapshots/670.html on 07/23/2013.Kotler, P Keller, L (2011). Marketing Management (14th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice Hall.Moorman, C. (2012). Why Apple is a Great Marketer. Retrieved from http//www.forbes.com/sites/christinemoorman/2012/07/10/why-apple-is-a-great-marketer/ on 07/23/2013.