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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.jpghttp://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.jpghttp://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 media-

magazines, 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.jpghttp://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads13/97ThinkDifferent02.jpghttp://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads13/97ThinkDifferent03.jpghttp://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 ADShttp://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/Newsweek/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!