“In its ad blitz announcing the first ever Intel-based Macs, Apple skewers PCs — which happen to be Intel’s biggest customers,” Amanda Cantrell writes for CNNMoney. “While Apple is known for controversial ads, the newest spot puts Intel in a potentially uncomfortable spot. Clearly, Intel is happy that its newest customer — one that’s especially rich on cultural cachet at the moment — wants to celebrate the partnership, and gets some free advertising to boot. But the commercial also takes a swing at Intel-based PCs, which some analysts believe could alienate Intel’s other customers.”
“In the spot, an announcer intones that for years, Intel chips have been ‘trapped’ inside ‘dull little boxes, dutifully performing dull little tasks,’ and concludes with the announcement that Intel chips have finally been ‘set free, and get to live life inside a Mac,'” Cantrell writes. “But those ‘dull little boxes’ — PCs — are still Intel’s bread and butter. Intel’s number-one customer is Dell, which exclusively uses Intel chips and it does big business with other computer makers including Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Acer. As ‘The Critic,’ Jon Lovitz’s cranky and neurotic animated character, might have said – ‘How awkward!'”
“For its part, Dell shrugged off the ad,” Cantrell writes. “‘As far as their marketing goes, that’s marketing,’ said Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn. ‘We continue to have a very solid relationship with Intel and nothing has changed in that respect. We probably are their largest customer; we shipped 10 million systems in the fourth quarter. I don’t think any supplier is going to ignore a customer that is building that many systems and using that many of their parts in them.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The problem with Apple’s ad isn’t that it insults the likes of Dell, it’s that it insults the very people to whom Apple wants to sell Macs. Apple should show snippets of Mac OS X (a couple of seconds of Exposé here, a Dock ripple there, a Fast User Switching cube effect, a quick iWeb shot, etc.) to the world via their TV ads while they have a chance, before Microsoft covers the world with Windows Vista advertising. Instead, the only thing Apple does is tell people they made a stupid choice and show a blank Mac. Hopefully, the ad will drive people to their nearest Apple Retail Store, so that they can finally see Mac OS X, iLife ’06, etc.
Again, why iPods (and iTunes downloads) don’t come preloaded with THIS is beyond us. Such an omission is criminal. It’d be easily deleted, unobtrusive, and Windows-only users would be able to quickly see what they’re missing.
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Related MacDailyNews articles:
Corporate IT buyers fuming that Apple has Intel Core Duo Macs shipping while Dell and HP wait – January 12, 2006
Report: Intel didn’t know about Apple’s Intel ad calling PCs ‘dull’ until just before Jobs’ keynote – January 11, 2006
Back to the actual article. It’s old news, and it’s silly. These are big companies, and they have thick skins. They could care less if Apple takes a tongue-in-cheek poke at them. That’s marketing, just like the Dell guy said. I can’t believe anyone would take Amanda’s article seriously.
One thing for sure..
MDN is way off with their ideas on this one!
…that Jack Bauer!!!
The problem with Apple’s ad isn’t that it insults the likes of Dell, it’s that it insults the very people to whom Apple wants to sell Macs. Apple should show snippets of Mac OS X (a couple of seconds of Exposé here, a Dock ripple there, a Fast User Switching cube effect, a quick iWeb shot, etc.) to the world via their TV ads while they have a chance, before Microsoft covers the world with Windows Vista advertising.
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No it doesnt. They’re insulting the corporate market, which Apple hasn’t been trying to crack on the client side for like 20 years.
Flame on.
Hey Mike, I”M Mike!
Speaking of ads, have you seen this one?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6553260189868317794
The title is “Why Macs Suck” and is modeled at Apple’s failed switch campaign. Postively hilarious if you can take a little humor about Macs.
I think it’s a great commercial and it really helped out one of my favorite bands.. The Postal Service!
Mike, Captain, et al,
While I like Apple and their ads, that could be a “preaching to the choir” symptom.
To say Apple brilliantly markets themselves and “always” have is still hard to swallow. I mean they were down and out in most of the 90’s and still only have a 4% market share in computers today. When you consider that 95% of the people buy something else how successful is that really?
Of course with the iPod garnering 83%+ you would certainly say they marked that correctly. But that is a lifestyle item. Maybe computers aren’t. Not yet anyway, though they are for me.
Yeah, they were down and out in the 90’s… but remember, Steve Jobs wasn’t there and he had nothing to do with marketing in the 90’s…
As soon as he stepped in, they released the iMac and the colored floating iMac commercials, the company immediately began its turn around..
The guy knows a thing or two about marketing!
“When you consider that 95% of the people buy something else how successful is that really? “
This is a misnomer, really. Comparing Macs to Windows boxes is a non-comparison. Unlike that Mac, most uses for Windows are unremarkable at best. Windows boxes became ubiquitous in very much the same way that toilet paper or corrugated card board did, and it had nothing to do with marketing.
WTF “worst ad ever” im pretty sure ive seen worser ads, lets all whine because we’re a bunch of useless people who couldnt do any better, and then claim we’re maclovers…
here’s an idea, go make an ad yourself and get over it ^^
Jerry, you also have to remember that 4% marketshare is really not so bad..
It may sound bad, but when you break it down, the other 95% is not just one computer manufacturer.. Yeah, the others all use Windows (or linux) but that 95% represents a whole group of computer makers…Dell, Hp, Sony, Compaq, Gateway.. etc. etc..
When you break down the 95% by individual manufacturers and their individual marketshare, you’ll find that Apple is actually in the ballpark.. Dell currently has the largest marketshare at around 17%, but most other makers are in the single digits, just like Apple..
Considering that Apple’s marketshare has increased by one percent in the last year alone. 4% is pretty respectable…
Funny how an ad likes this gets so much attention in the media, positive or negative, it’s still publicity.
Imagine if Apple put out some short infomercial with OS X workflows and iLife demos, they could be forgotten the second American Idol is back on. But an ad like this, which may or bay not insult people, stirs up controversy and promotes publicity.
How long has this ad been out now? One month? People are still talking about it in the media. Can you say the same about the last Dell ad? Microsoft Ad?
Apple knows what it is doing, it did create the greatest commercial (1984) of all time, with the help of an ad agency, of course.
MW: art. “It’s a work of art.”
Imagine what would happen if Apple put out really great ads!
All I do right now is read emails and surf the web on my beige box.
Now Imagine what I could do with a “PC” from the iPod people!
Your imagination will beat out reality in both cases.
And any “Wow! Moments” along the way will just fuel your imagination.
For once I love MDN’s take.
Mike,
The floating iMac ad was not what saved the company. The iMac was a big part of the company’s resurgence, certainly, but remember that while they were running those floating iMac ads, and the iBook ads, and the PowerBook ads, and the G5 blowing the guy out of his house, and even the funny ad with the iMac and guy imitating each other, their market share was dropping. It’s been about three years since they’ve run a Mac hardware spot, and only now, because of the iPod halo effect is their market share starting to grow.
Speaking of market share, you mentioned that 4% isn’t bad considering they have so many competitors (like Dell, HP, etc.). I don’t think those companies are their true competitors. Apple’s true competition is Microsoft. When it really comes down to it, Apple’s hardware isn’t that much different than anybody else’s. Sure, it’s high quality, and looks great, but the same could be said of Sony. The operating system is what sets them apart, and that’s the front they need to compete on, especially now that they’re all using the same chip maker. So really, you’re looking at 4% vs. 95% for Microsoft. That’s not good.
So, if Apple’s competition is Microsoft, who is Sony’s/Dell’s/HP’s competition?
Apple sells computers. That is its main line of business. Its competitors are the other box sellers. To make M$ their competition means the other box makers have no competition, and must all be the same company. I can’t imagine the VP of box sales for Sony says “Hey, our X% of the market has no bearing on our ability to compete for sales because Microsoft isn’t our competition.” It kind of makes all the PC box makers one company.
Screw Apple! We, the Mac faithful, should all pitch in and make our own commercial showing off the merits of OS X. If Apple doesn’t want to take the lead, I say get the hell out of the way and let someone else who will.
Come on people now…. Think a little at least…
Does anyone think that Dell, Gateway, Lenovo or any of the thousands of white box builders of dull little gray boxes will get so freaking upset with Intel because Apple talks about dull little boxes that they are going to drop intel from their supplier lists?
Where would they go?
Freescale?
AMD? (can they make enuff chips to meet everyone elses demands? I think not)
IBM for PowerPC?
_________________
Oh and btw… putting a mess of Apple and Mac ads on every outgoing iPod (even easily if deleted) is just wrong….
I hate trailers and other ads on DVDs before the “Feature Presentation”
I hate trailers and other ads in the theatre before the “Feature Presentation”.
If I want to see a trailer, I will go to the QuickTime trailer site.
Ads for Macs on iPods….. not a good idea..
ndelc,
i didn’t say the floating iMac ad saved the company, I said it was the start of the company’s turnaround.. My point was that it was a succesful product with a succesful marketing strategy and it was not a “process” type commercial, it was a lifetstyle cool-factor type of commercial..
Regarding marketshare.. obviously, as Apple has proven, marketshare is not a true sign of a company’s health and/or profitability.. Take the iPod for example.. Thought it would be awesome if Apple can maintain it’s 80% marketshare in the digitial player market, I highly doubt that they will… As this market becomes even more mainstream, other manufactures will collectively eat into the iPods marketshare dominance.. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Apple will be selling less iPods, it just means that more companies are selling portable devices too.. Such was the case with the original iMac.. At the time it was Apple’s greatest selling computer since the original Macintosh. Even if their marketshare was decreasing, they were selling more computers than they had in the previous five years.. They just had more competitors.
And I think Justified’s comment sums up your statment regarding Apple’s competitors..
justified,
Dell, HP, & Sony compete against each other. They’re all Windows box makers. Sure they care about their marketshare versus one another, but hardware marketshare isn’t as relevant to Apple as OS marketshare is (although for Apple they are one and the same). Dell has the biggest chunk of the box maker pie, then HP (I think). So what? It’s all piddly compared to what Microsoft is bringing in.
It’s tough to compare Apple to any of these guys because they’re completely unique. Dell, Sony and HP are hardware companies. Microsoft is a software company. Apple is a computer company because they make the whole thing, but the OS is the important part. As I said before, the hardware isn’t really much different from what the others guys make. The OS is the most important element in the Mac experience. The OS makes the big difference when it comes to making a purchasing decision. If you have a Dell, the decision to switch to Sony or HP is no big deal because you’re still on Windows. All your software will still work and nothing changes about your computer experience. If you switch to a Mac, sure the keyboard is pretty much the same, and you know how to use a mouse, but the OS, the part of the computer which you interact with most, is completely different and none of the Windows software you purchased will work on it. That scares people. The OS is what makes people afraid to switch, but it’s also the reason the SHOULD switch. That’s why I consider MS Apple’s true competition. If they were just another Windows box maker, all they’d have to do is be cheapest, or highest quality, or most stylish to get people to buy. But because they have their own OS too, they need to explain WHY it’s better than Windows.
Ndelc,
I see what you are saying about Microsoft being Apple’s competior, but you they are different animals and you can’t really compare them..
Apple is primarily a hardware maker, Microsoft is primarily a software maker.. Now if Apple licensed OSX to other box makers or if Microsoft sold it’s own brand of PC they would be on a level playing field.. But neither is the case..
So the only way to fairly judge Apple’s marketshare is to compare them to other hardware manufacturers and when you do that you see that they aren’t the biggest, but they certanly aren’t the smallest either..
Mike,
While you’re right that part of the reason that Apple’s marketshare fell between 1998 and 2004 was that the market was growing faster than Apple, they had many quarters in that period where they were selling fewer computers than the previous year, all while they were advertising Mac hardware heavily. Their stead climb only started in 2004, at least a year and half after they stopped running Mac hardware spots on TV. I give Apple a lot of credit for marketing themselves well, but TV has never been a strength IMHO.
I firmly believe that exclusively selling the Apple brand is the wrong way to sell Macs. It works for iPods. It works for companies like Nike and Coca Cola, but it doesn’t work for computers. They’re too expensive and too complicated. I think they could come up with spots that not only sell the brand, but give explicit reasons why choosing the Mac OS leads to a better computing experience.
Mike,
Sorry, your last post wasn’t up when I replied to your other.
You said, “Apple is primarily a hardware maker…”
I disagree, and I think this is a very important part. As I said, the hardware is the least important part of the Mac experience. The OS is what makes a Mac a Mac, and it’s the thing that stops people from switching. If they address this, people will switch.
You said, “Apple is primarily a hardware maker…”
I disagree, and I think this is a very important part. As I said, the hardware is the least important part of the Mac experience.
What? Hmm. Compare $129.00 for OS X to $1299.00, $1999.00, or $3299.00 or more, and you’ll understand why Apple is primarily a hardware maker. THAT’S THE BREAD AND BUTTER OF THE COMPANY! All Apple software leads to Apple hardware sales.
You may have a point about the OS being the barrier to switching, but your statement that the hardware is the least important part of the Mac is WAY off base.