Trends followed in Advertising
of the Apple Mac
•In the year 1976, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs formed the Apple Computer company. In
the same year, Apple I was launched and Regis McKenna Advertising retained the
company’s account.
•Soon after in 1977, Apple II was launched at the West Coast Computer Faire becoming the
first personal computer able to generate colour graphics, include a keyboard, power supply
and attractive case.
Advertising: At the show Apple rented the largest booth and used a large projection screen
for demonstrations.
The Apple logo as seen today was designed by Rob Janoff, art director for Regis McKenna
Advertising.
Regis McKenna Advertising launched its first ad campaign for Apple in 1977. Although
advertising was initially aimed at electronics enthusiasts, Apple soon became the first
company to advertise personal computers in consumer magazines.
http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/MiscAds2/1977IntroAppleII2.jpg
http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/MiscAds2/simplicity1.GIF
http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/MiscAds2/ad24.jpg
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Simultaneous developments
in the world of the internet.
•In 1976, while Apple Computer Company was established in
California, here in Europe Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom,
sent out the first royal email.
•The internet is the biggest known revolution in the history of
computers. Technological developments and a pressing need for a
new communications network that could link continents led to its
emergence. It has no central authority and is thus designed from the
beginning to be fail-proof.
•It is important because it is a seamless source of information that
can store and retain and most importantly anyone can use it.
•The point that I wish to make is that the advancement of the internet
has largely determined changing trends in Apple’s advertising. Both
Apple and the internet make the same claim- You don’t have to be
a computer to use it.
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The Macintosh is Unveiled
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8
The landmark “1984” advert introducing the Macintosh personal
computer is aired during the SuperBowl broadcast.
•Apple inserts a 20-page ad for Macintosh in major magazines and
sets new records for readership and recall scores.
http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/gallery3.html
•Apple buys every advertising page in a special post-election issue of
Newsweek. The issue's final, fold-out ad is used to launch "Test
Drive a Macintosh" promotion. About 200,000 people take a
Macintosh home for a free 24-hour trial. Advertising Age magazine
names "Test Drive" one of the 10 best promotions of the year.
http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads5/1984TestDrive1.jpg
http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads5/1984TestDrive2.jpg
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• 1983- In the world of the internet, on January 1st, every machine
connected to ARPANET had to switch from the Network Control
Protocol (NCP) to the Transmission Control Protocol TCP/IP. By
TCP/IP replacing NCP entirely, the foundation for the Internet as we
know it today was born. Steve Case founded America Online.
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Analysis
• Apple, as known today advertises every little change
made to the Macintosh vigorously.
• It places its ads strategically across various mediamagazines, projections, brochures, television and with
the free trial of the Mac-the focus is on promotion.
• The adverts explain the product. There is concentration
on how simple it is to use a mac, as is the case with the
internet. Both are linked firmly and the advertising bears
in mind that the consumer is investing money and time
into technology. So, every bit is really worth it. It is largely
different from other computers, a theme Mac advertising
employs even now. Being the most powerful, flexible and
versatile computer in the world it aims to remove
consumers’ inhibitions towards technology.
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THINK DIFFERENT
•
A campaign that marks a completely different era in Mac advertising is the Think
Different campaign. It was created by the TBWA\Chiat\Day, agency in New York in
1997. Infact, this slogan was used by Apple till 2002.
•
The campaign speaks about the brand image not the product. It is revolutionary in
both its content and technique. Thus, it gave a new meaning to Apple- a revolution in
itself.
•
Like previous ads, this one made good use of all available mediums-the television,
smaller clips for the internet and the print.
• PRINT ADS:
http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads13/97ThinkDifferent01.jpg
http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads13/97ThinkDifferent02.jpg
http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads13/97ThinkDifferent03.jpg
http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads13/97ThinkDifferent04.jpg
• TELEVISION ADS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oAB83Z1ydE
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• I am fond of this campaign as it has a clear strategy and
does its work neatly. The aim is to create a new image for
Apple that sets it apart from the rest without slating them.
The ad works at a psychological level and creates a
piercing identity for the Brand unlike any other product has
seen. It has an ego of its own.
• The advert is launched at a time when the Macintosh has
made a mark for itself and more number of people are
getting on the internet.
• This has occurred as a result of increasing services being
provided over the net- like Pizza Hut’s online Pizza service.
Yahoo, blogs, Internet Explorer, eBay, Amazon, Real
Player, Flash and Winamp have emerged and are
becoming increasingly popular. Thus, it is the right time for
Apple to give its image a makeover.
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SWITCH
• Switch was an advertising campaign launched by Apple
Computer (now Apple Inc.) on June 10, 2002 and
became the successor of the Think Different campaign. It
featured what the company referred to as "real people"
who had "switched" from the Microsoft platform to the
Mac. An international television and print ad campaign
directed users to a website where various myths about
the Mac platform were dispelled. The television
commercials were directed by Errol Morris.
• WATCH THE ADS
• http://www.esm.psu.edu/Faculty/Gray/switch-ads.html
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WHY THE SWITCH CAMPAIGN
DOES NOT WORK
The following article by John C. Dvorak published in June 2002 explains
exactly why the Switch campaign is so Old School in its approach.
• http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,263476,00.asp
•
If I was to map a trend in Mac’s advertising, with the Switch campaign it
seems like we’re taken back to the 1970’s and 80’s adverts of the Mac. It
explains why the product works-better than its competitors- which certainly
increased their sales (now and earlier) but damaged the brand personality
(now) built with the Think Different campaign.
•
Norman Berry, a British creative director at Ogilvy and Mather, spells it out
for us. “I’m appalled by those who judge advertising exclusively on the basis
of sales. That isn’t enough. Of course, advertising must sell. By any
definition it is lousy advertising if it doesn’t. But if sales are achieved with
work which is in bad taste or is intellectual garbage, it shouldn’t be
applauded no matter how much it sells. Offensive, dull, stupid, abrasive
advertising is bad for the entire industry and bad for business as a whole.”Wall Street Journal, Creative Leaders Series, p. 12.
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Get a Mac
•
The Get a Mac campaign is a current (May 2006–present) television
advertising campaign created for Apple Inc. by TBWA\, the company's
advertising agency. There are certain clips which work only with Flash and
are therefore web clips.
•
WATCH THE ADS
http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/- 30 ads
•
The original American ads star Justin Long as the Mac and author and
humorist John Hodgman as the non-Mac PC, and are directed by Phil
Morrison. The American ads also air on Canadian, Australian and New
Zealand television. The recent British campaign stars comedic duo Robert
Webb as Mac and David Mitchell as PC; although several of the British ads
originated in the American campaign, they are generally slightly altered. The
British campaign also features several original ads not seen in the American
campaign.
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Number 1 in The 50 Worst Things
About Advertising
•
In an article in The Guardian, Charlie Brooker points out that the use of the comedians Mitchell
and Webb in the UK campaign is curious. They both star in the sitcom Peep Show in which, to
quote the article's author, "Mitchell plays a repressed, neurotic underdog, and Webb plays a
selfish, self-regarding poseur". He goes on to say, "So when you see the ads, you think, 'PCs are
a bit rubbish yet ultimately lovable, whereas Macs are just smug, preening tossers.”
•
In the October 2007 issue of Mad Magazine the commercials were listed 1 on their list of "The 50
Worst Things About Advertising.“
•
Additionally, the commercials make misleading implications. For example, in the recent addition to
the commercial line, "The Time Machine," Macs are advertised as having a backup capability to
restore deleted files, while suggesting that this feature is unique to Macs. Windows, however, has
had this functionality for quite some time in the form of the recycle bin (from which deleted files
can be restored) as well as the System Restore feature not to mention various "undelete" software
available on the internet.
•
Source: www.wikipedia.org
•
This campaign is not really different from the Switch campaign. Smug superiority continues to be
Apple’s brand strategy. The ads are tongue and cheek, give you a laugh but are still brash.
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Technology and Branding
• As of September 30, 2007, 1.244 billion people
use the Internet according to Internet World
Stats. With blogs and social networking sites, we
all have a personal space on the web. This acts
as a temporal zone which disengages us from
the society. In this moment, what Apple needs is
not self righteousness but a more
psychologically appealing identity.
• Watch this- the latest in technology and Mac
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBCfW9-hjKI
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• Does it remind you of this?
http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/Newswe
ek/p001.jpg
• Thus, the trend in Mac’s advertising has been
Launch revolution (1984)- Product (until 1997)Branding (Think Different) - Product again
(Switch and Get a Mac).
If I was to make a prediction of Mac’s advertising
future, I would say that within the next five years
considering the speed of change, Mac will have
another Branding campaign. The Macbook Pro
might lead Apple into this. It might be the focus
of another “differently thinking” campaign. And
who knows the icons might be Britney
Spears/Bill Gates/J.R.R Tolkien!
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