Determining Goal
Apple’s most important goal is to continue to innovate its products so that they remain at a high level of competitiveness. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that work is carried out in accordance with high standards of ethical norms and the requirements of sustainable development.
The corporation’s clients and shareholders are most affected by this problem. Consumers want to buy the latest and most excellent products that are also environmentally friendly, while shareholders want Apple to be profitable and sustainable in the long run (Mao et al., 2020).
The top management makes decisions on this company issue, led by Tim Cook. The team also includes specialists responsible for various areas such as design, supply and development, innovation, and sustainability.
The overall goal is to increase sales of their products by improving their quality (Mao et al., 2020). In this regard, the specific changes that companies need include reducing their carbon footprint and becoming carbon neutral, using entirely renewable energy, and producing more innovative and environmentally friendly products.
Among the tangible results through communication efforts, the company would like to achieve positive coverage of its activities in the media, increased customer loyalty, investor confidence, and employee engagement. It would be possible to understand that the company is moving towards the goal through annual financial reports and a survey of customers and employees. This information could give a clear idea of whether everything is going according to plan.
Identifying and Profiling the Audiences
The primary audience of the company is clients and investors. They are the primary audience, and their knowledge, attitudes, and behavior must be changed to support and invest in Apple’s sustainability efforts (Mao et al., 2020).
Secondary audiences are suppliers and employees of the organization. Apple’s sustainability efforts can positively impact them. Thus, they may be interested in improving their methods of achieving more efficient work.
The company’s third audience is activists, social groups, and politicians. They can exercise their influence on primary and secondary audiences by advocating certain values or applying specific laws governing the company’s activities.
Clients
They may have some idea of Apple’s efforts to bring sustainability and innovation to its products. However, they do not fully understand how many factors influence their purchasing decisions on the environment.
At the same time, factors such as pricing policy, lack of awareness of the company’s practices and efforts in certain areas, and skepticism about Apple’s environmental activities are barriers to full audit support (Mao et al., 2020). The advantages of the full support of the audience are a large number of positive feedback and improved purchasing activities.
Among the audience’s characteristics is that most Apple customers are interested in innovation, tech enthusiasts, and people who care about the environment. They can spend time on the Internet, reading technology news or environmental blogs, and they can also be active in sports. Environmental organizations or social media influencers may influence them. The audience can be motivated by the feeling that they are positively impacting the world, saving money, or getting a better product for their actions.
Investors
This category of people is interested in the company’s development in the direction of sustainability, as this can bring more potential benefits in the form of profit.
Barriers for them may be a lack of understanding of the sustainability system and concern for financial performance. With full support and assistance, this audience can provide maximum financial assistance in solving all the modern innovative innovations of the company (Mao et al., 2020). In addition, they can help with the implementation of new strategic goals.
The characteristics of the audience include the possible transfer of investor experience to improve the company’s cash flow and improved networking between different groups of responsible managers. They can spend their time delving into the business world to better understand new profitable ways to invest. They may be influenced by rating agencies and competition from other investors. This audience can be motivated by financial profitability in case of successful investment.
Suppliers
They may be interested in the company’s successful development because their future financial well-being will depend on it. In this regard, the main goal of suppliers is to provide the company with the best possible components to improve the overall quality of products (Mao et al., 2020).
Barriers for this audience may be a lack of understanding of the importance of the final product and the limited cost of resources in production. By circumventing potential difficulties and gaining support, the audience can develop a long-term partnership that is beneficial to all parties to the arrangement.
The characteristics of this group can be considered a great experience in production and the study of all the subtleties in the resource provision necessary to fulfill contracts in full. Factors influencing the audience can be international corporations or specific local statutes and laws. Motivational sources for suppliers can be the financial benefits of cooperation, the desire to improve the terms of cooperation, and the ability to attract large companies as customers.
Developing Messages
Clients
The audience may not fully understand the need for sustainable development and combating the increase in carbon dioxide emissions. Accordingly, this may be reflected in their decisions that will affect the desire of the consumer to buy the product. They may refuse to purchase due to a lack of understanding of what they are overpaying for. The advantage, in this case, can be the support of ethical statutes and awareness of the contribution to the cleanup of the environment with the support of the company’s product.
The desired change in attitude should be that clients feel they have the ability to change the environment for the better. However, they may also feel that they are supporting the development of modern technology by buying Apple products (Mao et al., 2020). The change in behavior should be that customers choose to buy the company’s products and encourage others to do the same.
To motivate an audience of customers, you can use several suggestions:
- By choosing Apple products, you can help protect the environment and enhance your experience with ease of use.
- By purchasing environmentally friendly products, you are investing in the sustainable development of mankind in the long term.
- Your decisions can have a positive impact on technology innovation.
Investors
The barriers to the audience are the fact that they are primarily focused on financial gain for themselves and not on benefit for the consumer. At the same time, the advantages of the audience with loyalty may be additional funding for establishing and developing sustainability and researching new technologies. This can lead to long-term financial benefits for investors.
The changes that need to be made are recognizing the importance of the company’s sustainability and advocating for Apple’s efforts to achieve harmless manufacturing. Changes in behavior should be such that investors will prefer Apple to other competing companies.
Messages can be:
- The key to long-term success and financial stability is sustainable development.
- Aligning investment with environmental care is an essential component of a developed world of the future.
- Apple will be able to guarantee improved financial performance as an industry leader in innovation.
Suppliers
Barriers for this group may be restrictions on the cost of production from the buyer. Thus, suppliers cannot always find a way to supply the highest quality components. Thus, the principle of sustainable development of the corporation may be violated. However, if the audience is aware of the importance of the goals, the benefits can be the implementation of sustainability to save money in the long run.
The change in attitude should be an awareness by suppliers of how sustainable development and the environment are essential for the company and consumers. Thus, changes in behavior are expected as the introduction of the principles of sustainable and harmless production.
Potential audience messages might include:
- Implementing a sustainable development strategy can be the reason for the emergence of new profitable partnerships and financial inflows.
- The industry’s long-term success can be ensured through green production and sustainability.
- The partnership with Apple could significantly impact how the technology industry develops in the future.
Selecting Communication Channels
Customers
Clients can mainly receive information from social networks and news, considering them to be reliable sources of information. In addition, they can trust acquaintances who recommend certain products to them. The audience spends most of their time on the Internet or the street, browsing social networks or billboards. Thus, channels for reaching the audience include television, social networks, street advertising, websites, and shopping centers.
Investors
The audience receives information from specialized financial news sites. They consider professional sources reliable. They spend most of their time on the Internet searching for new relevant information. In this regard, the channels that will be most effective are websites and social networks.
Suppliers
They receive information from colleagues and news on Internet TV or jobs. People they know are more likely to be trustworthy. Suppliers spend most of their time researching the market. They are more likely to give their attention in a formal office setting. In this regard, websites and distribution through people can be potential channels.
Choosing Activities and Materials
Companies should use conferences and commercials to convey information to all audiences. Each audience corresponds to the messages that are directed to them in order to achieve the goals. They are designed to give people the benefit of working with or purchasing Apple products. At the same time, the desired results correspond with the messages since they reflect what goals the company has set. Of the two types of communication, both are limited in time and resources. The community climate towards conferences is positive as the company has had similar events. Considering cultural appropriateness, tailoring each event to a specific country and geographic context is essential.
Establishing Partnerships
For a company, such partners can be organizations engaged in various production or marketing activities. They will be able to disseminate valuable data about sustainable development or the implementation of beneficial new technologies. In this way, the partnership can help Apple achieve its goals.
Implementing the Plan
- [Preliminary Work] Preparing to organize an advertising campaign and networking.
- [Weeks 1 & 2] A list of potential partners who can help advance the company’s goals.
- [Week 1] Development of a plan for cooperation in the field of technological development.
- [Week 2] Calculation of potential risks when implementing a campaign.
- [Week 3-4] Working to address and mitigate risks for Apple and partners.
- [Week 5] Increasing the potential customer base through the launch of advertising.
- [Week 6-9] Launch and monitor a turnkey initiative to promote a company’s sustainability campaign.
Reference
Mao, Y., Lai, Y., Luo, Y., Liu, S., Du, Y., Zhou, J., Ma, J., Bonaiuto, F. & Bonaiuto, M. (2020). Apple or Huawei: Understanding flow, brand image, brand identity, brand personality and purchase intention of smartphone. Sustainability, 12(8), 3391. Web.