“How did iPod make a large fortune? By spending a small one. With an iPod and iTunes ad budget of over $200 million since 2001, Apple has outspent Sony, iRiver, and Creative combined by more than 20 times, according to TNS Media Intelligence. The TBWA/Chiat/Day-designed ad campaign has managed to turn the human silhouette, a cubic box, and even the color white into symbols of Apple. ‘It’s easy to reinforce brand perceptions with that much advertising,’ says Forrester analyst Joshua Bernoff,” Al Ehrbar writes for Fortune.
Ehrbar writes, “Of course, there’s far more to the iPod story than ads. ‘Having the brand without the substance will never fly,’ says IDC consumer electronics analyst Susan Kevorkian. Steve Jobs argues that iPod’s astounding success—some 28 million sold—is about elegant software, not elegant billboards. And he’s right. Those happy ads simply reflect the smooth user experience that a union of great software and hardware creates.”
Full article here.
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Just imagine… if only Apple would make the same effort with Mac OS X and the fine hardware it runs on…
MDN Magic Word is… should. Oh… the things Apple SHOULD do…
MDW = gives, as in “what gives?!”
why doesn’t apple advertise? i don’t get it. the iPod is proof that advertising works, but most people I know don’t know anything about macs.
who knows?!
– john
The argument is that an operating system is too big a concept to communicate in a 30-second spot. That’s why the few Mac ads they’ve had concentrate on the hardware’s aesthetics.
But I reckon some shots of the Dock, Expose and Fast User Switching would say it all.
All you ipodders can go to hell! nothing beats iriver! nothing!
Why doesn’t ferrari advertise their cars? why doesn’t porche advertise?? because they dont need to.
How do you advertise that your product delivers true customer satisfaction without being corny??? Think about the corny ad’s microsoft has about using products in the “world of software that runs on windows” CORNY.
There is myst of exclusiveness by apple not advertising. People want to find the one thing that is the most benefit to them. they want to find it as though they found it all by themselves, not by huge billboards and blinking ligts to point the way to them.
Thats why apple fans are who they are… becasue to them, they found apple on their own and its a secret they share. A package that delievers awesome customer satisfaction. If apple went on a marketting blitz.. they would just loose out in my eyes making it a product i dont have a thrill to seek.. just like a honda, toyota (even though they are good cars you dont see people going crazy over it like a ferrari, becasue every channel you flip theres a toyota ad on tv!)
It’s ironic that Apple’s often a leader in its design ware, be it hardware oor software, they’re always more intuitive, elegant & especially user-friendly, so the very BIG question that many of us have is WHY NOT APPLE, WHY DONT YOU ADVERTISE TO SHOW OFF THOSE ADVANTAGES?
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iTunes is the ad. If folks use iTunes, they’ll be comfortable with the Finder. That should about do it, once they arrive somewhere where they can get a hands-on with OS X.
I don’t think that Mac advertising will ever center around the actual operating system. That’s not a very advertisable product to the non-techie consumer. The advertising will come after the Intel switch, and will encompass the style of the hardware, the capabilities of iLife, and Front Row. It’ll be about the Mac as a digital lifestyle hub.
Macs sales are growing at a faster rate than the industry as a whole. I figure if you properly segmented the markets, Mac sales should scare you. Why waste money on OSX ads?
Why doesn’t Apple advertise their computers? Why doesn’t Apple advertise their computers? Why doesn’t Apple advertise their computers? Why doesn’t Apple advertise their computers? Why doesn’t Apple advertise their computers? Why doesn’t Apple advertise their computers?
THIS IS THE #1 QUESTION THAT ALL SHAREHOLDERS MUST ASK STEVE JOBS ABOUT AT THE NEXT SHAREHOLDER MEETING.
Why doesn’t Apple advertise their computers? Why doesn’t Apple advertise their computers? Why doesn’t Apple advertise their computers? Why doesn’t Apple advertise their computers? Why doesn’t Apple advertise their computers? Why doesn’t Apple advertise their computers?
iRiver?
Are they still in biz?
Does anyone know with hard facts how the Switch campaign really helps Apple? I thought i read somewhere not long ago Apple is putting together that campaign again, no?
<<if only Apple would make the same effort with Mac OS X and the fine hardware it runs on…>>
Right now, because Apple uses PPC chips and the rest o fthe computing world uses Intel, all debate concerning Macs or Windows is centered around the hardware.
APPLE DOESN’T DEVELOP OR MANUFACTURE HARDWARE.
When the Mactels come out, the debate will shift to the OS, the ONLY thing Apple produces, and the only thing that truly differentiates one platform from another.
At that time, with the debate narrowly defined, Apple will be able to advertise the key differences between Windows and MacOS, without the debate drifting to hardware (which is irrelevant).
You’ll see it one day … when thin and handsome Steve is ready to pickle fat and ugly Steve and his neurotic sidekick. Until then … shhh!
White isn’t a color; it’s the lack of color.
Apple has been advertising their OS for some time now, in publications like Scientific American. There is an audience that can appreciate what Tiger truly has to offer.
Like someone said here in the forums the other day, maybe Apple doesn’t want to chase the Wal-Mart crowd. they seem to be doing just fine emulating McIntosh Labs, Bang& Ollufson (sp?), Porsche, etc. Those companies mostly advertise in the enthusiast media.
I’ve been a stockholder since the year the iMac was born. I agree–ADVERTISE! Show off iLife and OSX apps, it is possible to do quick shots of gorgeous wow looking features that non techie people drool over (at least the ones I show my mac off to do). The way TV is today with quick video cuts, you can get a lot of visuals in. However, I think Steve’s route is to bait with the iPod and sink money into the Apple Stores instead of commercials for the rest of the stuff. So that when Winduhz based iPod people (or others) enter an Apple store, they get to experience everything themselves. But even though I think I understand what he’s doing. I’d rather see some ADS on SOMETHING besides an iPod. I mean, how many people are left to convince, with, isn’t it 85% of the market.
to: rainy day
actually we see white because all of the colours of the spectrum are being reflected to our eyes.
Comment:
From: Rainy Day
Oct 25, 05 – 09:34 pm
White isn’t a color; it’s the lack of color.
ON the contrary, white is the presence of all colors (digital artists and photographers, more so, know this). So the Apple logo’s transition from the psychedelic rainbow to pure white was based on science.