MobileMe failed on the Me Group 6 Case Analysis

Marketing Case Analysis

MobileMe failed on the Me
Group 6

Stephanie Legore
Krystina Cunnington

Gabriel Da Silva
Steve Jobs already said that MobileMe would be the exchange for the rest of us for

example, that the service would synchronize with features offered to iPhone users. Little did

he know that amongst Apples numerous successful launches, MobileMe would go down in

history as a horrible bust. What went wrong with MobileMe? Could anything different have

been done to avoid a bust and hit a home run with a project that aimed to be revolutionary at

the time of its launch?

MobileMe was part of a new product line Apple developed for its product mix in 2008. While

some could argue that MobileMe was an improved product building on its predecessor, the

.Mac, the fact that it was completely rebranded and remodelled classifies it at a whole new

line. At that time, the launch of the iPhone and the App store were also set with MobileMe.

The product was initially touted as a product that would push contact and calendar changes

nearly instantaneously among various communication and electronic (MKTG Case) For an

annual payment of 99$ Apple was to provide seamless synchronization and compatibility

between their platforms through MobileMe. Unfortunately, the rushed launch created negative

reactions that would never permit this program to recover from all the bad press.

During the Steve Jobs era, Apple was known for their first movers advantage. MobileMe

built on .Mac and was the basis of what would become iCloud. Perhaps the pressure of
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staying ahead of the competition was the products downfall. Steve Jobs comments of the

product were clear. MobileMe was simply not up to Apples standards. Launching the

product at the same time as its other new product lines (iPhone and new iOS) was clearly a

mistake that prevented developers to focus of the new web based platform. The biggest

mistake that created this dud was in the development stage. During the birth of cloud

databases, it was undoubtedly foreseeable that glitches would occur in the system. Launching

the platform at large was very taxing for the server, fixing the problem turned out a bigger

challenge than imagined by Apples network engineers. It has been noted that the platform

could have been launched in phases. Phasing in geographically or by certain features could

have eased the system in the market and shorten the time required to fix the kinks.

So what should have been done with the MobileMe launch? After having revised the case,

this is what could have been done to offer a new product that could have been successful in

the new world of cloud computing.

Apple practices planned obsolescence as a marketing tool which has proven to be successful

for Apple. However, the launch of MobileMe was not a tangible product that could be bought,

exchanged, tested, etc. Apple was providing a service based on inefficient data.

The management firm Booz Allen Hamilton (Lamb, 2013 P.169) studied the new-product

development process and after analyzing 5 major studies, they concluded that companies will

most likely succeed in developing and introducing new products if they:

1. Make the long-term commitment needed to support innovation and new-product

development.
Apple has done so with their products; i.e. phones, tablets. They did fail to

invest in technology and study the needs of its customers. If they followed the

necessary steps to understand their customer, they might have had greater

success launching MobileMe as an all-in-one solution for its customers.

MobileMe failed on the Me Group 6 Case Analysis 3

Research and development is integral part of successful new-product launches.

One question that Apple did not answer as a result of this launch was whether

the customer would benefit from this product. They did not evaluate the risks

properly.
2. Use a company-specific approach, driven by corporate objectives and strategies, with

a well-defined new- product strategy at its core.

Clearly, per Steve Jobs own words, the company did not have the proper

strategy in place. A new-product strategy (Lamb, 2013) links the new-product

development process with the objectives of the marketing department, the

business unit, and the corporation. A new-product strategy must be compatible

with these objectives, and, in turn, all three objectives must be consistent with

one another. A new-product strategy is part of the organizations overall

marketing strategy. It sharpens the focus and provides general guidelines for

generating, screening, and evaluating new-product ideas. The new-product

strategy specifies the roles that new products must play in the organizations

overall plan and describes the characteristics of products the organization

wants to offer and the markets it wants to serve. The objective of MobileMe

was audacious. Connecting all you devices and enabling user to access data

from whatever device they were using at a given time. Writing in a new

contacts email in your phone and have it automatically pushed to your contact

list on your laptop. With this service tying in to their other product lines, there

had to be more time spent of the development phase. In order for the need

sentiment to develop in consumers, the service must function properly.

3. Capitalize on experience to achieve and maintain competitive advantage.
If Apple followed the marketing recipe used in the past, where customer buy-

in, trust and confidence supported their client base and success. The issue with

their new platform was that it simply wasnt living up to expectations. While
MobileMe failed on the Me Group 6 Case Analysis 4

customers were expected to pay for this service, the product failed to live up to

the hype Apple attempted to create. Slowing down the launch of this platform

was important for this product. Apple still had much to learn on internet based

products. The multilateral facets of MobileMe proved to be much more

versatile and complicated than the iTunes or App store that were simple

transactional platforms.
4. Establish an environmenta management style, an organizational structure, and a

degree of top management supportconducive to achieving company- specific new-

product and corporate objectives.

Apple has successfully launched several products based on these 4 methods.

Unfortunately, the execution of this launch was poor. Had Apple assessed the

market and their competition by applying the Competitive Intelligence system

(Lamb, 2013 p.87), they might have introduced a more effective marketing

campaign for the customer - a pure experience rather than a forced one. The

whole idea of MobileMe is to develop strong synergy between Apples tangible

products. With one platform service the whole width of Mac, iPod and iPhone

products, the need to purchase this service would have boomed. There lack of

response also demonstrated weakness in the eye of the consumer. While being

great at selling products, companies must also be equipped to adequately

respond to crisis. Issuing a statement, pulling the plug to announce that must

go under serious update while compensating customers could have saved

MobileMe. The brand received so much negative press that the company had

no choice but to pull the plug completely and head back to the drawing board.

MobileMe taught Apple a valuable lesson. By burning the steps when developing and

commercializing new products, nothing good can be achieved. Monitoring every step of the

process is crucial for managers because the key to a successful product whether is it tangible
 MobileMe failed on the Me Group 6 Case Analysis 5

or intangible is the customer experience. Alain Bouchard, founder of Couche Tard noted in his

autobiography that the key to any business is customer experience. He relates to his business

environment saying that although you may have a cutting edge store, profits will never soar if

customers do not feel like they benefit when doing business with you. Unfortunately for

Apple, the poor preparation of MobileMe failed to live up to the Apple name and now,

MobileMe will forever be remembered as the platform who let us down.

References
Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., McDaniel, C., Kapoor, H., Shearer, J., Boivin, M., & Appleby, R. (n.d.).

MKTG: Principles of marketing.