NEW PRODUCT SUCCESS STORIES

RINKESH RAHUL 215119068

New product success stories- APPLE IPOD

Tagline: “engineered for maximum funness”
The iPod is a line of portable media players and multi-purpose pocket computers designed and
marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about 8 1⁄2 months after the
Macintosh version of iTunes was released. As of May 28, 2019, only the iPod Touch (7th
generation) remains in production.
Introduction
“The Iconic Apple,” Yes, it is true that half of the US over slept on the new years eve of 2011 because
of the iconic iPhone. This speaks volumes of the impact of Apple on consumers by becoming a lifestyle
brand and that is why we have choose Apple as a special case of success. Due to the strong marketing
focus “Apples” has been very successful in creating a tribe of loyal customer base that think, live and
act in a differentiated way. In the year (1998) Apple was born again when Steve Jobs launched the new
computer iMac which came with a complete collection of software’s and new operating system called
MAC OS X. It was an instant success. Soon the corporate entrepreneur and CEO of Apple Steve Jobbs
launched its “iBook” a special kind of laptop. However, the biggest success was the introduction of
iPod in the year 2001 that achieved market share in excess of 70% in the US. Furthermore, Apple made
a deal with Intel to become compatible with Microsoft Windows. Since then, iPod is enjoying market
leadership in the domain of competition.
At the start of new decade in the year (2001) Apple again launched three products namely “Power
Macintosh” “Quicksilver”, and its bestseller “iPod” first generation. In the year 2004 Apple
commercialized four products namely “xServe” “G5”, “iMac G5”, “iPod click wheel” and “iPod Mini”
and in the year (2005) again Apple launched four successful products namely, “iPod shuffle”, “iPod
Nano”, “Video iPod”, and “Mac Mini”. And finally, as we all know that in the year 2007 Apple scored
a home run by launching its premier iPhone. By analysing the above trends in NPD and
commercialization it can easily be understood that Apple is constantly churning out new innovative
products at unprecedented rate. This is mainly due to the fact that at Apple is using concurrent
engineering philosophy to good effect.
Segmentation

Marketing segmentation has helped Apple in building products relevant for target markets. It has also
helped them to eye opportunities and attack new ones. Apple has successfully used market segmentation
to put a complete iPod offering with same message to different customer segments. They have built
different offerings of iPod for different customers by thinking about different user experiences of
different category of customers. They rolled multiple types of iPods like Nano, shuffle and touch for
low, medium and high segment customers with different price points so that it can be easily affordable
yet have the esteem of a premium product. They have been never confused in their product
segmentation. It covers global markets and is present all across the globe. The have products which
appeal to all segments based on income, age or any other classification.[1]

Product
Apple iPod as a product has been a revolution in itself and has been ruling the portable music instrument
market with a market share of approx. 70% from a long time. The Core product is still the portable
music player which has given its user an ultimate functionality to it users and a freedom to access their
music from wherever they need.
Branding
Apple iPod boasts of a branding strategy which uses emotional push. They carry the attributes of Style,
creativity, imagination, power, passion, fashion and inspiration. They push iPod as giving power to its
customers by the use of technology. They value their iPods as being their best friends which adds to the
premium personality of iPod brand. In Terms of branding strategy, they use corporate brand strategy
where all products have shared brand awareness. This helps as customers already know Apple brand
and trust it.

Price
Apple follows an aggressive pricing strategy in which they try to lock on to every possible segment of
portable music market. They have offerings in every segment from low to top end. When talking about
effective product mix pricing strategy, they are following a mix of Product line pricing and captive
product pricing. This is due to step by step pricing of iPod shuffle, Nano and touch and also music
downloads only available through iTunes store which makes the customers captive to Apple.

Place
Apple delivers its products via multiple channels like online, retail shops as well as own Apple stores.
They have key apple stores at key locations in the world where apple retail staff let people free to
experiment with apple products. It has also entered into strategic alliances with other distributors like
HP for selling their products using their outlets. These apple stores give a chance of their sales prospects
to directly look into Apple world.

Promotion
Apple introduced iPods in 2001 and started to promote them differently taking in mind their premium
positioning. They promoted iPod based on their design and ease of usage as well as transfer of music
and touted its competitors of being gaudy. They never focused their promotions on technology which
was inside iPod.
Targeting
The core target market for iPod is young adults and teenagers. IPod a music player has a differentiated
market segmentation characterized in age, gender and desire for image. It is targeted towards the people
who have an enthusiasm to the technology and hobby, particularly in music. The iPod is unlike any
other music player with its unique appeal to a remarkable range of ages and personalities. In general,
iPod is designed for anyone interested in carrying the equivalent of hundreds of CDs worth of music,
and numerous other files, in a small, easy-to-use design that fits in one’s pocket. The iPod shuffle
models are designed for those who are interested in an inexpensive, well-designed portable music player
that holds a few CDs worth of music and offers easy integration with iTunes and Music Store. The iPod
nano models target the person interested in a device that provides modest capacity for music and photos
in an extremely tiny and elegant case.

Positioning

Positioning of a brand is a marketing effort and can only be done through promotion and advertising.
A company’s brand identity, its elements, its product and its communication, they all play an important
role in positioning a product.

Brand Identity: All the intangible brand assets like Apple’s brand values, its culture, employees, Brand
colors, Tagline, Tone of voice, Type of Imagery etc all these elements contribute in forming a specific
position in the minds of the customer.
Product Design and Quality: Since its inception, Apple has been rolling out products which have been
an epitome of design and quality. Apple Macintosh was the first personal computer to have a mouse
and graphical interface for a user. Apple’s iPod made the old ugly walkman’s put to shame.

Advertisements” The less the Better”: Apple always followed “The Less the Better” philosophy –
Clear and straight messaging, and usage of minimalistic colors is what has worked wonders for
Apple. The usage of mediums to promote their messaging also plays an important role in positioning
Apple.[4]

Conclusion

This practice is also done at Apple with the help project oriented teams working with a well-connected
system of links to other areas of the overall value chain. Companies should bear in mind that apart from
internal sources of innovation there is a much neglected and overlooked source of new product
development i.e. the voice of the customer has to be taken into consideration.
Companies like Apple who struck the home run in one or two of their products can help its new product
development processes because of historical research and development capabilities as well as a strong
goodwill on the market. The company can then easily launch brand extensions as well as line extensions
to help transfer the brand equity or goodwill of existing products to new products.

New product of Coco cola-Diet Coke

Tagline: “Love it light”
Diet Coke (called Coca-Cola Light in some countries) is a sugar-free and no-calorie soft
drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. It contains artificial sweeteners instead of
sugar. Unveiled on July 8, 1982,[1] and introduced in the United States on August 9,[2] it was the first
new brand since 1886 to use the Coca-Cola trademark.[8]
Introduction
When diet colas first entered the market beginning with Diet Rite, the Coca-Cola Company had a long-
standing policy to not use the Coca-Cola name on any product other than the flagship cola, and so its
diet cola was named Tab when it was released in 1963. Its rival Pepsi had no such qualms, and after the
long-term success of its sugar-free Diet Pepsi (launched in 1964) became clear, Coca-Cola decided to
launch a competing sugar-free brand under the Coca-Cola name, which could be marketed more easily
than Tab, which it did in 1982.
The controversial New Coke, introduced in 1985, used a version of the Diet Coke recipe that
contained high fructose corn syrup and had a slightly different balance of ingredients. In 2005, the
company introduced Coca-Cola Zero (renamed Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in 2017), a sugar-free more
closely based on original Coca-Cola.
Segmentation
Market segments help the company to improve their products and services, knowing what their
customers need and innovate new sectors. They markets the products selling into different or more than
one market (e.g. Diet coke) (Patrick and Thomas, 1992). To know what their customers need, Coca-
Cola uses the consumer segmentation criteria and market into different groups: behavioural,
psychographic and profile. Market segments help the company to improve their products and services,
knowing what their customers need and innovate new sectors. They markets the products selling into
different or more than one market (e.g. Diet coke) (Patrick and Thomas, 1992). To know what their
customers need, Coca-Cola uses the consumer segmentation criteria and market into different groups:
behavioural, psychographic and profile. [12]
Customer Behaviour
Coca-Cola uses customers’ behaviour as part of market segmentation through customers’ behaviour.
For example, Coke Diet is used for customers to lose their weight (Owen 2016, p.1). This market
segmentation requires British customers to use knowledge about Coke Diet ingredients that may effect
on diet. India is another market segment for Coca-Cola Company that customers concern about sugar
level. This problem leads Coca-Cola Company to release Coke Zero in 2014 and Venkatesh Kini,
directors of Coca-Cola for India believes that there are many Indian people move to healthier lifestyle
by drinking low-calorie drinks such as Coke Zero
Targeting
Women- The word diet appeals to women when buying food/ drink as they like to think they're
consuming something that's good for them/ will help them lose weight, etc. whereas men don't tend to
buy a low calorie drink. Since the drink was launched in 1982 (America), all of the ad campaigns have
been designed to show the empowerment of women. Zoe Haworth, market activation director for Coca-
Cola Great Britain, said: ‘Women are always at the heart of our Diet Coke plans and we are currently
looking at how we continue to celebrate the role of women and our Diet Coke-drinkers". Health
Conscious people also. Working People - People with a very hectic lifestyle, a lot of the adds emphasis
"taking a break" from your working day and "helps people keep up with today's hectic lifestyle. Men-
The brand isn't really targeted at men, but it doesn't exclude them from the advertising and some of the
more recent Diet Coke ad with the puppets include men that are seen as "hunks" so this would appeal
to males who aspire to be like that.[13]
Positioning
The product is intended to be positioned as “the only cola drink with a herbal ingredient”. As “the cola
drink which is not totally artificial”. This is intended to give a diet coke an edge over other cola drinks
in terms of health in the minds of the targeted customers. It is clear from above that Diet Coke and
Coca-Cola Zero are viewed as very similar products. Yet despite the similar positioning, differentiating
the two drinks enables Coca-Cola to avoid cannibalizing sales and, in fact, make a profit. Unfortunately
for Coca-Cola, it is no longer women that are worried about calories and sugar. The recognition of the
importance of healthy eating means that men now also want a healthier alternative to regular Coca-
Cola. Hence, the firm needed to introduce a new ‘Diet Coke’ with branding and an integrated marketing
communications plan to differentiate the product to appeal to men. [9]
Conclusion
The coca cola enterprises have earned $21.65billion with net income of $173 million in 2009 and in the
quarter of 2010 Coke Company have earned $5.88 billion. Diet Coke successfully targeted Millennials,
from design, to flavors, to advertising style and imagery. Developing an accurate understanding of
Millennials, the audience identified as key in rebuilding the brand, has been key to Diet Coke's recent
success. The brand's relevance to their outlook and lifestyle has been here in irreverent advertising
highlighting consumption experience over diet/health claims. Access valuable strategic take-outs to
help direct future decision-making and inform new product development.
References
1. John Dudovskiy, Apple Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning, https://research-
methodology.net/apple-segmentation-targeting-and-positioning/
2. Hitesh Bhasin, Marketing Strategy of Apple Inc – Apple Marketing Strategy,
https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-apple/
3.Angela Romero, Apple's iPod Marketing Plan, https://www.slideshare.net/angelaromeroSF/apple-
marketing-plan
4. Positioning of Apple | Apple Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning,
http://heartofcodes.com/positioning-of-apple/

5. Marketing Mix Strategy Analysis of Apple's iPod, https://www.ozassignments.com/marketing-mix-

strategy-analysis-of-apples-ipod/
6. Kelvin Thompson, Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Process of Apple In,
https://prezi.com/bv8gix-aygq6/segmentation-targeting-and-positioning-process-of-apple-in/
7. Muhammad Tariq, New product development processes: A case study of Apple’s success with
iconic iPod and iPhone,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325313483_New_product_development_processes_A_
case_study_of_Apple's_success_with_iconic_iPod_and_iPhone

8. DUBLIN, Success Case Study: Diet Coke Market in the US,

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190131005463/en/Success-Case-Study-Diet-Coke-

Market-2019

9. Diet Coke vs Coca-Cola Zero – Brand Positioning,

https://manifestedmarketing.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/diet-coke-vs-coca-cola-zero-brand-

positioning/

10. Jay Moye, 'We Needed a Big Idea:' The Extraordinary Story of How Diet Coke Came to

Be, https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/we-needed-a-big-idea-the-extraordinary-story-

of-how-diet-coke-came-to-be
11. Diet Coke, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_Coke

12. Jagadish Chowdary, Diet coke case study, https://www.slideshare.net/jagadish1992/diet-coke-

case-study-51463906
13. Hitesh Bhasin, Marketing Mix of Diet Coke – Coke Marketing Mix,
https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-diet-coke/

14. Journey Staff, Diet Coke, https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/diet-coke-faq

15. Jennifer Horn, TIFF: Diet Coke launches an ‘extraordinary’ look,
http://strategyonline.ca/2011/09/07/tiff-diet-coke-launches-an-extraordinary-look/