Introduction – Rivian

In the first stage of the brand life cycle sits Rivian, an electric vehicle company that designs midsize trucks and SUVs. The company was formed in 2009 by RJ Scaringe, and has grown in recent years as a competitor of Tesla. With the company in the starting phases of a successful company, it’s critical to examine their marketing positioning.

  • Product: Rivian offers a suite of vehicles to meet everyday needs. Customers may consider the R1S for families or the R1T for carrying material and towing. Additionally, Amazon has picked up the Rivian Electric Delivery Van to add to their fleet of delivery vehicles. In summary, these vehicles align with Rivian with adventure-minded features (off-road capability), sustainability initiatives, and premium materials.
  • Price: As with many EVs in the market, they are typically higher priced. Rivian is no exception, as both their R1T and R1S vehicles hover between $70,000 – $120,000 depending on the features you’d want. This positions them against competitors such as Tesla, and the higher you pay, you unlock higher range, horsepower, and more premium features.
  • Place: Rivian offers multiple points of contact for the purchase of a new vehicle. Customers can choose to purchase online and have them delivered from regional service centers or visit one of their showrooms in urban and community-focused areas around the United States and Canada.
  • Promotion: Rivian promotes their vehicles as adventure-oriented and ready to tackle any terrain. On their website, Rivian showcases their vehicles traversing through mountains, forests, and other outdoor settings that scream adventure. They attempt to share that EVs are not limited to the paved road, and that with the combination of rugged features, they can tackle any terrain. Notably, they market their vehicles via social media, launch events, partnerships with Amazon, and other methods (Rivian, n.d.).

Growth – Canva

In the second stage of the brand life cycle is Canva, a graphic design program that allows users of all walks of live to collaborate and create presentations, posters, flyers, social media graphics, and many other marketing materials. With a vast library of elements, applications, fonts, and customizability, anyone can make graphics with ease. As a fast-growing company in the design market, it’s important to understand their marketing positioning.

  • Product: Canva positions themselves as an easy-to-use graphic design software, with many features such as pre-customized templates, brand kits, millions of elements, and has newly integrated AI-supported software. The product supports users from all walks of life, including students, social media designers, marketing agencies, and people with no design experience.
  • Price: While Canva offers a free plan to familiarize people with the platform, there are other avenues of creativity. People may upgrade to Canva Pro which includes all the features for $120 per year (or $15 per month), which is affordable comparing to other platforms such as Adobe. There are further upgrades for business and enterprise accounts. This allows customers to experience low barriers to express their visions creatively.
  • Place: Canva is entirely online which makes the platform accessible globally. It is primarily used on the web platform for laptops and monitors, and is also available on mobile apps such as iOS and Android devices. Canva integrates with other platforms such as Instagram, allowing instant design uploading to an Instagram page.
  • Promotion: Canva markets primarily on social media platforms, with messaging that communicates the simplicity of the platform. They emphasize through their brand messaging that design is accessible and simple and that collaboration is easy for teams and businesses. Their goal is to highlight that non-designers are able to create graphics in a professional manner with little to no experience, which engages a huge base of people to try Canva to promote their channels and businesses (Canva, n.d.).

Maturity – Apple

Apple sits at the brand maturity stage, as they have established global presence among the technology industry. Since 1976, Apple has been innovating and changing the game to produce usable technology for everyone. At the maturity stage, it ranks as one of the biggest companies in terms of profitability and market capitalization. How does it stack up in the 4Ps?

  • Product: Apple produces high-quality products for everyday use, unified in a collaborative ecosystem. Mainly, the company produces iPhones, MacBooks, iPads, Apple Watches, and AirPods – among other products such as accessories, cases, and protection programs. Their products use premium materials, consistent upgrades, and software integrations such as the iOS platform.
  • Price: Apple uses a premium pricing strategy due to its premium materials, as well as competes with more higher-end technology companies. Typically, iPhones will run the average customer north of $1,000 unless they opt for the budget iPhone (notably the iPhone 17E which just released). MacBooks cost a bit more, but again, customers can opt for the MacBook neo which is significantly less money. While most products are at a premium price, Apple offers some wiggle room to cater to those on a budget, specifically with lower-cost options and the education discount for students.
  • Place: Apple has a hybrid distribution strategy, where they sell at Apple Stores, online on their website, and third-party carriers such as cell phone carriers and electronic retailers (such as BestBuy). With the advantage of buying in-person, users can experiment with the devices and see how they feel visually and physically.
  • Promotion: Apple uses compelling storytelling to carry their focus on the user experience of the technology they produce. For commercials, they would highlight critical features that protect the user, such as privacy initiatives. Additionally, they host annual product launch events that dive into their new products. With these strategies, they tap into real-life situational uses for the devices and also remind everyone of their constant innovation, even 50 years into the company (Apple, n.d.).

Bibliography

Apple. (n.d.). Retrieved from Apple: https://www.apple.com/

Canva. (n.d.). Retrieved from Canva: https://www.canva.com/about/

Rivian. (n.d.). Retrieved from Rivian: https://rivian.com/