Marketing Mix, Ipod

According to NPD Group, the iPod has 92.7% market share in the MP3 player market. Incredibly, the closest competitor struggles with a mere 3% of the market.

With a simple-to-use operating system that is truly intuitive, and small ear-bud headphones that could be considered the best on the market, the iPod is far and away not only the market leader but also the market favorite.

Apple doesn't win because it has a product that no one can copy. Indeed, Dell's DJ, Creative's RIO and other MP3 players are arguably very similar in features. Industry watchers also see a challenge to the iPod's dominance with cellular phones that play MP3 files.

While competitive devices swarm into the marketplace, Apple will keep winning in the marketplace because the iPod captures our imagination. It brings the universality of music into a compact device that's so easy to useÐ'--the owner's manual can be thrown in the trash. This year alone, according to the Apple Insider, Apple is challenging its retailers to move over 100,000 iPods a week!

Two simple examples, the Paper Pro Stapler and the red-hot iPod, prove that Product can still win in the marketplace.

Promotion

Love him or hate him, there's probably no one on the planet better at promotion than Donald Trump. Whether it's blatant and shameless self-promotion, or promotion for his hotels, casinos or golf courses, Trump has mastered the art of public relations, branding and personal selling.

If you ever visit New York City, you can't get away from Trump. As you tour the city you'll run into Trump Tower, Trump Park Avenue and Trump World Tower, just to name a few.

Every Trump property has his name prominently displayedÐ'--branded, if you willÐ'--on the front of every building. Taxi cabs across NYC show the face of Trump and his NBC television show, "The Apprentice."

Even if you don't tour NYC, Trump's empire is ubiquitous. There's now Trump Ice bottled water, Trump tailored suits and five books on how to think like Trump and become a billionaire. And it's impossible to forget: two words that have been etched into our collective psyche from "The Apprentice"Ð'--"You're fired."

Trump critics keep wondering when the populace will tire of his endless self-promotion. Perhaps in the near future the Trump brand will reach the point of saturation, but it's not there yet. Anything with the Trump name sells. In Florida, the Trump Tower Tampa condominium highrise had 70% of its units sold a month before the sales office even opened. And Trump golf courses on the East Coast still command $300,000 membership fees and annual dues of $15,000.

Trump succeeds in the art of promotion for a few reasons. The first reason is the sheer force and personality of Donald Trump. He is absolutely shameless in his self-promotion. Everything is "the biggest", or "(h)uge"Ð'--with a New York emphasis on the "u."

Is every Trump property the biggest or the best? Certainly notÐ'--look no further than his struggling three casinos.

Yet Trump, during every press conference, every interview and every taping of "The Apprentice" keeps reminding us that he works with "only the best" and that "quality" and the name "Trump" are synonymous. Reminded enough times, pretty soon we begin to believe it.

The second reason that Trump is a master of promotion is that he realizes every moment and every interaction is an opportunity for promotion. During job interviews, Trump reminds candidates that they would be working for the best company in the world. During meetings with vendors he reminds them that to work with Donald Trump means instant cachet. Customers pay a premium to acquire a Trump condominium or golf membership. Employees, vendors and customers all want to work with Trump.

Even if it's widely held that Trump is a little bit over the top with his promotional abilities, it doesn't matter. He's a billionaire. Businesses small and large can learn from him.

Price

Pricing decisions are rarely easy, and in fact are most often complex. In the airline industry, for example, dynamic pricing software changes prices based on seat availability and flight demand. Hotel chains often adjust their pricing in real time based on levels of occupancy. And in consumer industries, retailers often hope for an across-the-board margin, say 20% across the storeÐ'--but competitive forces often adjust pricing by the aisle and item.

One company, Planalytics, even helps retailers like The Home Depot and J.C. Penney manage risk and forecast demand for their products based on weather patterns. The more data (past sales, seasonality, weather patterns, etc.) made available to pricing decision makers, the more pricing can be adjusted in near real time to maximize revenues.

Pricing can take on a new dimension when seeking new market opportunities. Let's turn again to Apple Computer: Marketing professionals at Apple saw that the price point of $299 for an iPod, or $249 for the iPod mini, was reasonable for most consumers. Market research, however,

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