MARKETING DESIGN AND INNOVATION
Introduction
Innovation can be described as the ability to create something new, such as a process, device, or idea. Therefore, innovation relates to the application of much better solutions that can suitably meet unarticulated needs, new requirements, or existing market needs (Jo and Harjoto, 2011).
This is fulfilled through more efficient technologies, products, services, ideas, or processes that are easily available to society, government, and markets (Levine, Gorman, and Prietula, 2014). Innovation, therefore, refers to the creation of something original and new that can satisfy the needs of the market or society (Davenport, 2013).
The best example of product invention can be cited from the example of the creation of iPod by the multinational corporation (MNC) of California, Apple Inc. developer and seller of consumer electronics, online services, personal computers and computer software.
Steve Jobs, the company’s CEO, successfully supported all the processes of inventions and innovations with the motive of taking the company to the pinnacle of the hardware and software industry (Apple Inc, 2014).
The company’s best hardware products are Mac computers, iPods, iPhones, and iPad tablet computers. Besides the Mac line of computers, the iPod is by far one of Apple’s best inventions (Delany et al., 2002).
The project highlights details about Apple’s invention of the iPod and the way innovations are carried out to suit consumers’ changing requirements.
Invention and innovation of the iPod
The iPod can be described as a portable media player designed and marketed by Apple. The very first iPod was marketed in 2001, nearly eight months after iTunes, a Macintosh version, was released.
Therefore, the iPod was invented as a digital hub while the organization was involved in creating software for the increasingly growing marketplace of personal or individual digital devices. Apple’s software development was not carried out internally; instead, the company utilized the reference platform based on two ARM cores of PortalPlayer.
Additionally, Apple also contracted another organization named Pixo for the design and implementation of the user interface. The entire process was carried out under the direction and supervision of Steve Jobs (Carlo, et al., 2014). With the progress of the process of development, the company also refined the appearance and feel of the software.
Therefore, after inventing the product, Apple also worked hard to incorporate the latest innovation in the iPod (Camisón andVillar-López, 2014).
Development of Product
The various forms of iPods created to date are Classic, Mini, Nano, Shuffle, and Touch. The three recent versions of the iPod are the very compact iPod Shuffle, followed by the compact edition of iPod Nano and lastly, the touch-screen-based iPod Touch.
With the change in consumer demands and technology, Apple continued the process of innovation. The storage capacity of the iPods differs between models. The storage capacity for the iPod Shuffle is 2GB, while that of the iPod Classic is 160 GB.
Apple’s very first invention was the iPod classic, invented in 2001. The classic version of the iPod had almost six models. The first model had a mechanical scrolling wheel and a storage capacity of 5GB and 10GB.
The product’s rated battery life was 10 hours. The second model under the classic version of the iPod had a touch-sensitive wheel, the Firewire port had a cover, the switches were revised, and Windows was compatible through Musicmatch.
The third model was revised more, with a storage capacity range of 10GB to 40GB. The model boasted an all-touch interface, a slimmer case, and a dock connector. Musicmatch support was dropped from the iPod after the release of iTunes 4.1 for Windows (Apple Inc, 2014).
The fourth model of the classic version was more advanced. The click wheel from the iPod Mini was adapted, and the hold switch was redesigned. The fourth generation iPod also had a colour screen and picture viewing option.
The battery capacity of the 4th generation model was also elevated. The 5th model, under the classic version, witnessed several advanced changes. The iPod’s storage capacity ranged from 30 to 80 GB, which indicated that the firmware and hardware were highly updated (Håkansson and Waluszewski, 2014). The iPod’s appearance was beautiful, with the slimmer case, video playback, and larger screen.
The iPod was offered in two colours, black and white. The sixth generation of the iPod was more advanced in terms of developing the classic suffix. A white-coloured iPod instead of silver was introduced, and the front plate, which was now made of anodized aluminium, was transformed. A fresh interface was also carried out in this set.
The new model also had updated firmware and hardware, where the 120 GB model was replaced with the 80GB ones, and the 160 GB was absolutely discontinued (Apple Inc, 2014). Unlike before, the FireWire of the last few models of iPod was utilized only for charging purposes. Therefore, consumers benefitted more from the transformations that were implemented in the classic version of the iPod (Cohen, 2004).
Later, to further meet people’s demands, Apple continued with the innovation process (Jo and Harjoto, 2011).
The iPod Mini is the second innovated version of the music player of Apple in 2004. There are two models of iPod Mini. The 1st model has a storage capacity of 4GB whereby connection could be done through both USB based FireWire.
The iPod mini is a smaller version of the earlier models and comes in five colors. This model started the introduction of the Click wheel. The audio battery life of the iPod is 8 hours. The second model of the iPod mini version has a storage capacity ranging from 4GB to 6GB and a battery life of 18 hours (Apple Inc, 2014).
Therefore, the second version of the iPod mini satisfies the customers more as the battery life is much more as compared to the first model of the iPod Nano (Meliciani and Savona, 2014). Additionally, the colour of the second model attracted the customers more as brighter variants were present (Lin et. al., 2013).
Besides that, the lettering in the click wheel matched the body colour of the set. Gold colour was discontinued from the invention of this set. Apple continued progressively with the innovations of the iPods (Apple Inc, 2014).
In order to further make the accessory more flexible, attractive and user friendly, Apple introduced the iPod Nano in 2006. There are almost seven models of this version which successfully replaced the iPod Mini. The models of Nano were available in two colours which were black and white respectively.
Besides that, the best innovation was the ability to view the pictures on the colour screen. One of the models also has a casing made of anodized aluminium, and six colours are available. Another model in this version has a 2” QVGA screen, and the colours are refreshed with the help of Chrome Back.
Later on the iPods were further innovated under the Nano version whereby features such as horizontal viewing, video camera, larger screens, speaker, FM radio, pedometer, video playback, VoiceOver were added (Apple Inc, 2014). The multi touch screen iPod was also innovated for the first time under the Nano category. Different forms of iPod was innovated and sold in the market to gain and attract more customers (Evangelista, Lucchese andMeliciani, 2013).
Apple continued on with the strategy of incremental innovation after the multinational corporation introduced the innovated version of the iPod Nano in 2009. The innovated version of iPod Nano is iPod Shuffle. The iPod under this version have different features which are upgraded. One of the primary model under the Shuffle version has flash memory and is devoid of any screen.
The other model that is introduced by the company has smaller clip design. While in some of the iPod shuffle the controls were relocated to the ear bud cable, the others were returned back to the main body. Gradually less than one of the models of the iPod Shuffle version the introduction of Wi-Fi is carried out in order to make the system more users friendly.
Wireless access to the YouTube and iTunes stores also satisfied the masses and resulted in great sales for the company (DeWit and Meyer, 2004).
Finally the iPod Touch was in introduced by the technology giant in 2010 to grab the market more rapidly. The iPods under the touch version are more user friendly because of the additional features. These iPods have thinner design; two cameras for HD quality video recording and Face Time, Retina display (Apple Inc., 2014).
The features in all the further iPods under the Touch version are more improved with excellent cameras, an A5 processor, a 4” Retina display, Siri, and a faster 16 GB storage area(Keeley et al., 2013).
Therefore, going by the process of innovation, it can be stated that the company followed incremental or slow innovation in the existing products and attracted consumers each time with additions to the iPods (Keeley et al., 2013). Soon the iPods of Apple replaced the MP3 players produced by several companies.
The consumers also benefitted as they could avail various benefits from a single iPod (Chesbrough, 2013). This increased the sales of the company and in turn the revenue. Going by the technology life cycle S curve, when one version of iPod got obsolete, the other one is developed in order to sustain in the market and keep the required competitiveness (Infoworld, 2014). The S curve of Apple quite resembles the figure below:
Figure 1: Technology Life Cycle and S-curve for Apple
(Source: Anderson, Potočnik and Zhou, 2014)
Competitive Analysis and Marketing Aspects
Apple retained the required competitiveness through the right differentiation and positioning of the market offering. Besides that, the organization also developed new products, managed the life cycle through effective strategies, and designed strategies to be competitive with market challengers, leaders, niches, and followers.
The organization also managed and designed the global marketing strategies most effectively (Ceylan, 2013). Thus, the multinational organization abided by the primary principles as stated by Kotler. Apple’s competitors received tough competition because of the excellent strategies formulated by the technology giant.
The key competitors of the company in terms of the production as well as sales of the portable media player are Sony and Philips respectively (Cherunilam, 2010). Although both the companies are also quite renowned brand, Apple tops the list as the company is the inventor and seller of innovative iPods which consists of much more features as compared to that of Sony and Philips.
Sony and Philips sell low-cost media players, but Apple’s brand value and quality of iPods make the company the market leader. Apple prioritizes quality over price (Jensen, 2001). The iPod’s invention and constant innovation are evidence of this.
Besides that, the iPods of Apple have are now sold globally at most competitive prices (Bartholomew, 2001). The strategy supports the company to sustain in the market more. The media players of the competitors of Apple only satisfies the basic needs of the consumer but iPod has features such as excellent software, video conferencing, camera and have mostly a sleek look which distinguishes it to the others(Cho, Lee and Pfeiffer Jr., 2013). Nevertheless, Apple has retained the brand value successfully till date in terms of production and sales of iPod (Jensen, 2001).
Conclusion
Apple is a multinational corporation which constantly brings in the required invention and innovation in the products produced for the consumers (Hendry, 2000). Since the very introduction of the iPod, the organization maintained regular inventions to suit the changing global demand and retained competitiveness in the market (Kiron et al., 2013).
Since the invention of the iPod, the rate of sales has remained quite unchanged. The market competitors were also affected because of the extreme efficiency of the company’s research and development of products.
The marketing strategy is also quite efficiently developed by Apple as the organization added different features slowly to the iPods produced till date. The invention and innovation strategy of Apple is therefore quite robust and noteworthy.
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