Introduction:
Apple Inc., formerly named Apple Computer, Inc., is an American multinational corporation which is based on designing and manufacturing consumer electronics and related software products. It was established in Cupertino, California on April 1, 1976 and its primary business is to develop, sell and support a range of personal computers, computer software and hardware, portable media players like the “iPod” and more recently mobile phones known as the “iPhone”. Since its birth, Apple has operated in approximately 200 stores in 5 countries and an online store where hardware and software products are sold. The iTunes Store provides music, music videos, television programs, movies, podcasts, iPod games, and audiobooks, which can be downloaded using iTunes on Mac or Windows, and also on the iPod touch and the iPhone. The fundamental reason why Apple Inc dropped “Comupter” from its corporate name was so that it could expand into the other aspects of the consumer electronics market without restricting itself to its initial focus on personal computers.
This report will use Apple Inc as a case study to underline the importance of Marketing to Organisations in the 21st Century.
What is Marketing? The modern definition and history of Marketing:
In an electronic journal called “Broadening the Concept of Marketing”, marketing was defined as involving “product development, pricing, distribution and communication; and in the more progressive firms, continuous attention to the changing needs of customers and the development of new products, with product modifications and services to meet these needs”. Such a definition describes the essence of modern marketing very well as it hints how modern successful (“progressive”) organisations should seek to meet the desires of their consumers. A great misconception of marketing is that it is just regarding selling and advertising but what must be