college marketing class project

[chucktown]

Hey everyone, was wondering if y'all had any suggestions...

I have to research and analyze the marketing strategy and environment of a product and am considering doing the iPhone. I need to interview people (company personnel, competitors, suppliers, consumers, etc.) either over the phone or in person. If I go with the iPhone does anyone have any suggestions as to who I should contact?

I think I'm going to try to meet with someone at AT&T, my local Apple store, and Alltel... who else should I try to contact? Anyone in particular at Apple? Would they be receptive to answering my questions?

Thanks for the help

 

[chucktown]

nobody?

 

[InvalidUserID]

Company personnel would be difficult unless you were in the Bay Area. I know people at Apple but they are in finance and engineering, not marketing. You could try calling HQ and seeing if someone could help out.

Competitors, same thing with Apple.

Apple Store, you might have some luck asking the manager or assistant manager if you could have a few minutes of their time for a project.

Consumers would be the easiest out of everyone. This board would be a great resource, if it is considered viable by the professor.

I feel for ya...I had a similar project and chose Intel since it was a local company. My group literally spent hours before we found someone willing to participate but that person opened the doors to other resources, so don't give up and be diligent!

 

[Abstract]

Perhaps you should be a bit open-minded about the goals and just target ANY smartphone. Target Palm, and even Blackberry. Say you're doing a student doing a marketing class, and they may be more likely to help you. If you were phoning to pitch him some sales idea, then he may be less receptive.


Good luck with it.

 

[joro]

I agree with abstract that you’re options will much more plentiful if you open your topic up to smart phones in general – as opposed to just a single one. In terms of getting in contact with people, I’ve had to do similar projects in business school and I had success either (a) talking to the manager of the local store or (b) getting in touch with the press contact for the company (you can find this on the corporate website). Good Luck!