Watts writes, “Many pundits have repeatedly said that Apple could increase their market share dramatically if they would just show off the true products instead of just focusing on the associated glitz and glamor.”
“They have a huge opportunity with Leopard still being new to the market to highlight some of the specific features of the OS. Stacks, Spaces, Time Machine, Dashboard, the new Finder with Cover Flow, and even Spotlight would all provide great material for a collection of simple television ads. All they would have to do is show the features being used, throw in some overview narration, a simple soundtrack, and that’s about it. There’s your next campaign, Apple,” Watts writes.
“OS X is too good to not be promoted in the right way, and I know these demonstration ad ideas go against everything that Apple has been doing on television lately, but I think it’s about time for them to see the light of day,” Watts writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: For years and years, we, and many others, have been advocating that Apple should just show the damn OS on TV. One would think that Mac OS X Tiger vs. Windows XP would have the most striking to the clueless masses (almost all of whom, of course, are on Windows, if they have a computer at all), but Leopard’s features, taken one at a time, could be explained well enough in 30-seconds to make an impact. Or so it seems to those of us who know what we’re looking at. After all of this time, we can only assume that Apple and their ad agency have conducted numerous survey’s and found that what seems to us to be the best course (show the OS) is, in fact, not an effective course of action.
Perhaps to clueless computer users, such ads would be meaningless. We’re not in the target cannot accurately assess, but we imagine the possibility that seeing Leopard’s Stacks, Spaces, and Time Machine in action might mean nothing to those who think the Internet is the Big Blue “e.” The question then is, how many Windows users are there who would understand what they’re seeing if they were shown Leopard in action in TV ads?
Showing Mac OS X Leopard in action in TV ads to those Windows users who have a bit more knowledge and who are clearly not enamored of Vista might have a positive impact for Apple. We base this on the reactions we get on planes, etc. when the random Dell-toting seatmates next to us are shown Mac OS X in action. How significant of an impact is the question. Is it worth the cost of a multi-ad national TV ad campaign? By now, we have to conclude that Apple’s research must say no, it’s not worth doing.
I was typing in a forum with a guy.
He didn’t know macs existed anymore.
He says he hasn’t seen one in a decade, and didn’t see any for sale in a decade.
He was not pulling my leg. I have been talking with him for 4 years now in this forum. He is a little bit of a simpleton.
But it is depressing nonetheless.
Yes!
On another note. Hello everybody, hope yaawwl fine!!! not to put too fine a point on it!!!!
Lots of Love Crabapple.
Interestingly, I think some of the “Get a Mac” ads do a very effective job of showcasing the features – symbolically.
I think the latest “Time Machine” ad does a great job of conveying the feature without having to stare at an image of a computer screen and watch a little arrow scroll around with a voice over telling me what’s going on…
The point of advertising is to take complex or abstract concepts and make them quickly and easily understandable for the viewer, while creating curiosity. The current crop of Mac ads does just this. Fanboys hate them, but the ads aren’t aimed at their demographic.
These ideas of actually showing the OS are nothing more than the dreams of fanboys. And let’s not even hear talk of an infomercial.
All I know is that I’ve had more PC using friends comment about the current ‘I’m a Mac’ ads than anything Apple has EVER done. And that’s what its all about, isn’t it? To remember the ad!!
As usual Apple is too late. Microsoft had a head start by about a year and real computer enthusiasts have seen the magnificence that is Windows Vista, which can play games. Maybe you MAC sheep should check out an OS created with clear, consistent design rules, beautifully rendered transparency and gorgeous fonts. Why should us Windows enthusiasts have all the fun?
Besides, consumers want choice. You only get 1 flavor of Leopard, and Microsoft wisely offers 7 versions of Vista. How cool is that? Cupertino locks you into 1 version of their expensive and proprietary platform. Think different, MAC lemmings. Windows is just like a MAC but cheaper.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Warning to MDN:
Any more negative comments about what I do and you’re done!
For the rest of you, get your butts in line. I’m trying to decide on whether fully faded or partially faded Levis will be best for tomorrow’s show. Being the decider, I’ll decide. That’s it.
It may be helpful for some people to show off the features but maybe not as many as by targetting the people they are at the moment. It’s not as if these adverts aren’t doing well for them.
No.
Gee, that was easy
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Nobody is talking about acid-wash. Nobody. The silence is deafening.
It’s going to be acid-wash.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Yes.
Duh.
MW= “should” (no kidding)
Should’a been done long ago.
show a clip of leopard installing without any fsckups… seriously…
Think iPhone Ad! In the same simple yet effective way, show how “This is OS X, this is your Mac on the internet, this is your Mac doing email with “Mail”, iChat, etc.”
I think you could do a series of these ads that show the simplicity of the Mac’s OS and the simplicity of iLife and they’d “get it”
Average consumers will get bogged down by OS X demonstrations.
The Get a Mac Ads now are clever in that they communicate the benefits of OS X, not the features.
Benefits sell, features overwhelm.
@Caesar, what are you referring to??
On topic, Apple should only show the OS in action when it makes sense to do so. — i.e. when a metaphorical approach won’t work, and so far, there hasn’t been a need to show the OS. People would be uninterested in that.
I have always said Apple should send a Rep. and go onto QVC or The Home Shopping network for an hour special and show off OS X. Dell, HP, Acer, etc you see do it and I myself watch them to see what all they are showing. I think if Apple did this they would blow people away. Apple at least has stores you can walk into now and get someone to help you, but you could hit even more people showing off the Mac to millions of people sitting at home.
The only reason I can think of why they don’t do it is because they usually have pretty big discounts on the machines that are sold on Home Shopping networks and Apple is probably unwilling to drop the price in order to be on the shows.
Dan
Everything on TV is fake. Trying to show something real on TV never works. The only way to sell Macs is to motivate people into the stores.
There’s a joke about a man who asked a woman about her monkey and got conked on the head because it was her baby.
Even during the “Wow is Now” advertising campaign when Microsoft truly believed its monkey was a baby, and even though they have a huge installed base that is familiar with Windows XP, Microsoft did not advertise Vista in action.
Neither should Apple show Leopard in action. Apple would have to compare it with Windows to give viewers a point of reference. That would make it an advertisement for Windows, too.
Leopard is different enough from Windows that switchers have to go through a transition. It’s not possible to do that in a 30-second commercial. Just saying “Press the command key…” loses your audience.
I have seen television commercials for software, but I’ve never seen a TV commercial that actually showed the software. Imagine a commercial that shows balancing an account in Quicken and nothing else in the software. The ad would mystify more than enlighten, and would make the software look hard and complex, even if it isn’t.
For all these reasons, showing Leopard’s features on TV to a general audience would backfire badly.
perhaps one of us should make the ad ourselves, put it on you tube and bring it to apple’s attention…
If they were to show the OS, they’d do best taking one of a couple of routes:
1) over-accentuate the interface — create a mock 3D version of it and zoom the user through the “depths” of the OS as if they were on an exciting action-packed journey.
2) overlay animated characters on the interface and do stuff in fast-forward mode…. eg. boot up, whip together a photo album, and then shut down… zooming in on the screenshots of those menu commands really closely.
Focus on the WHY, not the HOW.
yes… BENEFITS SELL
so you SHOW THE OS doing something beneficial.
Different cheesy music is required however.
There’s no doubt that many people would not understand. Those same people are not likely to be moved by two actors ‘symbolically’ representing computers either.
But show a Mom how the parental controls work and you’ve sold a computer. Show how Searchlight works to anyone and you’ve sold a computer. There are simple beneficial features that could be shown, all tied up with a “and no worries about viruses and other problems that plague Windows machines”.
I don’t think ads about the OS will work. A better approach would be the infomercial, the 1/2 hour marketing blitz. It’s good because those that want to see it will be mesmorized, channel surfers will catch glimpses and could be interested. A great way would be based on a company that provided tutorials and support for migrating from the PC to the Mac. Even if Apple only footed 1/2 the infomercial bill, it could be a huge generator of revenue. Seems that if Apple will give a discount to Best Buy, that a Company created to do the transition would be a potential partner that could earn money on the hardware sale also.
Nobody wants to learn an OS, even OSX, during the commercial break. If we have to watch commercials at all, make them funny or fill them with large-breasted wenches – but please, no esoteric computer geek-speak.
Unless it’s spoken by a large-breasted wench. Now that might work…
exactly what Leader said. the iphone ads were a huge departure from the usually esoteric mac and ipod ads. i think this is a sign of things to come, to have more demonstrative ads for mac os. the ‘get a mac’ ads are clever attention grabbers, leaving most viewers with a laugh and connecting a memory with a product comparison. if you haven’t recently done so, go to the apple site and look at all the ‘get a mac’ ads that have been made. it’s amazing how they are cranking those out. so well done.