Executive Summary
The paper primarily delves into the marketing strategy of approaching various private schools in the U.S. in order to market the iPad 6 as an educational tool. With the growing interest in incorporating technology with education, Apple can position itself as a primary supplier of tablets in this market sector resulting in a considerable amount of profit for the company.
Private School Promotional Plan
Goal
The primary goal of this marketing plan is to find a new market for the iPad 4. This market must be large enough to sustain a significant amount of sales while at the same time viable enough for other aspects of the company’s services (i.e. iTunes sales). Thus, the goal will focus on expanding the reach of Apple into markets that are not as easily penetrated by its other corporate rivals. With the growing incorporation of technology into education, one possible route that Apple could take would be to integrate itself into this potential market by emphasizing the benefits that the iPad 6 could have in improving the learning capacity of students.
Objective 1
The first objective is to create a marketing initiative that would suit the new target market. This would focus on showcasing the effectiveness of the iPad 6 as an appropriate enough tool for education that would justify the inherent cost associated with it.
Objective 2
The second objective focuses on creating long-term income streams from the sale of the iPad 6 in this new market via the iTunes services resulting in higher profits for the company in the long term. This aspect would focus on sales of eBooks as well as education-based applications.
Target Market
The primary target markets for this marketing proposal are the various private schools within the U.S. This is in part due to the emphasis they place on providing a superior means of education and student development as compared to their public school counterparts. It is based on this assertion that promoting the iPad 6 as an educational tool to them is a good idea.
As various school districts and teachers have noted, students are able to relate better with technology-driven lessons rather than traditional methods of teaching. This is evidenced by numerous studies that compared teaching utilizing traditional means with that of technology utilization (Lynch & Redpath, 2014). These studies utilized computer programs that turned ordinary lessons into games which enabled students to learn in a “fun” way.
This resulted in higher levels of student interest which actually resulted in greater lesson retention and even curiosity regarding new lessons that were to be presented, a factor rarely seen in the traditional method of teaching. In direct relation to this, the creation of the iPad 6 can be considered as a tool that enables teachers to open a child’s imagination and feed their natural curiosity with little effort on the part of the teacher. The degree of interactivity helps to make lessons fun which has been shown to create a greater predisposition towards learning. This in effect creates the potential for greater degrees of student participation in lessons, enabling better subject retention and, as a result, creates higher scores on academic exams and quizzes (Mautone, 2013).
As such, private schools would definitely be interested in incorporating the iPad’s use into their curriculum of education since it would result in students that would be interested in learning. This would result in better grades which would justify the high cost of tuition fees that parents pay for such institutions (Han, 2014). It should also be noted that if computer programs are used to teach the topics in kindergarten through grade twelve, this would encourage more students to continue their studies well into college since the act of learning would no longer be considered a burden.
Overall, the primary reason why this target market was chosen is that private schools understand how greater interactivity in lessons results in a distinct increase in student interest which would help improve information retention and increased awareness in a subject being taught.
Description of the Action Plan
Product
The primary product for this marketing initiative is the iPad 6; however, instead of the ordinary retail version that is sold in stores, the iPad 6 that will be promoted to the various private schools will come with preloaded applications that are oriented towards assisting teachers and the school in educating the students in each class. These applications will be developed by programmers that Apple Inc. will hire and will focus on creating software that enables schools to assign homework, have students submit it electronically to their teacher once it is completed, and send daily updates and materials to students regarding the material that they must read in order to be prepared for class the next day (Powell, 2014).
These messages can come with links that take students to articles or short lessons that have been created by the teacher to guide the students during the learning process and would enable them to better understand the lesson material that has been given. Based on the work of Rivero (2013), it was noted that providing additional benefits that come with a technological product was a smart way for companies to distinguish themselves from the competition.
For instance, while there are an assortment of education-oriented applications that are currently available on the Google Play Store and on Apple iTunes, the fact remains that the various private schools would still need to examine each application, determine their worth and see if it can be incorporated in the teaching style that the school would need. It is based on this that if Apple were to provide a custom made application tool for education that comes with each iPad sold in bulk to a private school, this would create a very enticing offer for the school since they would not have to go through the entire process of having to develop their own in-house application or determine whether what is available on the various application stores is viable enough for their needs. Additional benefits that can be emphasized by Apple Inc. are the implementation of “school controls” on the various iPads while they are being used in school.
This means that while the iPads are being utilized within the WIFI network of the school, students will be unable to browse the internet or play games on the iPads that they are given. Instead, they will only have access to the education applications that have been approved for use on that day. Enabling such a function would go a long way towards showcasing how the iPad can be used primarily as a teaching device and not as a distraction for students while they are in class.
Promotion
The primary method of promoting the iPad 6 as a tool for education in private schools will focus on the utilization of technology-based computer applications wherein lessons are turned into games and through the use of step by step, animations to teach difficult lesson concepts. By doing so, Apple can show that students will be able to be drawn into the lessons which creates a better environment for learning.
When examining the applicability of particular technologies and programs to the process of education, it becomes an argument of tradition versus innovation. It brings about the question of where the future of education is headed and whether traditional methods of education will be supplanted by an apparent future where technology-based learning environments will be dominant (Asher-Schapiro & Hermeling, 2013).
This is one of the primary hurdles that Apple needs to overcome in order to convince private schools that buying iPads for its students is a good long term investment. It should also be noted that various educators do agree that greater interest in learning usually brings about higher grades and the utilization of technologies such as computer-based learning systems such as the iPad definitely increases the level of interest children have in learning new lessons and concepts which of course is the goal of all educators. This increased level of interest which has been shown to create a greater predisposition towards learning in effect creates a whole new standard for the future of education.
This data can be shown to private schools to convince the board of directors or the principle of the necessity of the iPad in improving the quality of education within the schools. The main goal of the promotional tactics that have been presented is to show that students are able to relate better with technology-driven lessons rather than traditional methods of teaching due to the greater degree of interactivity brought about by lessons using iPad applications.
Main points of the Promotion
- Lessons utilizing technology in the form of interactive computer programs have been shown to increase the degree of student interest in lessons.
- The potential for the use of technology in education is potentially limitless and could possibly supplant the current method of teaching.
- Students are able to interact more with technology-based lessons this facilitating greater knowledge retention and interest in the subject.
Price
The price of the product will be $600 per unit; however, this includes the $25 per device that will be spent by Apple in order to load the device with all the necessary education applications needed by the schools.
Place
The start of the marketing campaign will begin in the Eastern half of the U.S. in New York and Boston where there is a considerable concentration of private schools. This should enable the company to properly gauge the necessary communication tactics to contact the schools and make a product pitch.
Sales Responsibility
The person responsible for the sales will be the marketing manager of Apple Inc. who will assemble a team of individuals to contact the various private schools within the country in order to set up deals and negotiate prices.
Timing
The timing of the sales will coincide with the general public release of the iPad 6 in December. The custom made iPads will be delivered to the schools the day after the initial release date for their use in the following school year.
Marketing Budget and Estimated Profitability
The primary cost of the project is an additional $25 per unit that Apple would need to spend in order to install all the necessary education applications to entice private schools to buy iPads for their students. This price was determined based on an examination of current software offerings on both iTunes and the Android App store involving the various applications that would be feasible for schools to use. With a current private student population within the U.S. consisting of 5,268,000, the total cost of the promotion is $14,070,000. However, with the estimated price of the iPad 6 is set at $600, Apple stands to make $3,160,800,000 off the entire sale. This is a 5,000 percent profit ratio for the company and shows the sheer level of potential that catering to this population set could have for the company.
Measurement
First and foremost, it is important to note that there are currently 30,861 private schools within the U.S. (which constitute 24 percent of all schools within the United States) with roughly 5,268,000 students enrolled from kindergarten till grade 12 (constituting 10% of all students within the United States). As such, measuring the success of the marketing activity will simply consist of determining the number of sales equaling the current number of private schools and their students. Since the method of sale is primarily business to business, Apple will be able to immediately determine whether the endeavor has been successful based on the number of units sold within a given period.
What I Have Learned
Based on the activities done in this paper, I learned that it is necessary to create added value for a product in order to distinguish a company in a highly competitive market environment.
Reference List
Asher-Schapiro, A., & Hermeling, A. (2013). Racing the iPad in K12 Education. District Administration, 49(4), 70.
Han, J. H. (2014). Unpacking and repacking the factors affecting students’ perceptions of the use of classroom communication systems (CCS) technology. Computers & Education, 79159-176.
Lynch, J., & Redpath, T. (2014). ‘Smart’ technologies in early years literacy education: A meta-narrative of paradigmatic tensions in iPad use in an Australian preparatory classroom. Journal Of Early Childhood Literacy, 14(2), 147-174.
Mautone, M. (2013). Integrating the iPad into the ASD Classroom. Education Digest, 79(4), 25.
Powell, S. (2014). Choosing iPad Apps With a Purpose: Aligning Skills and Standards. Teaching Exceptional Children, 47(1), 20-26.
Rivero, V. (2013). A New Mobile Approach to the Learning Space. InternetatSchools, 20(4), 12.