Apple released a bunch of new ads for the iPhone 5.
I've been a huge advocate of Apple's marketing and have always said that Apple is more of a marketing company than a tech company. Their dominance early on was in part due to great technology, but even more so, it was due to top notch marketing.
These new ads are horrible though. They have two deadly flaws with them:
1) They are BORING
2) They talk down to the customer. Their tone is almost as though they are talking to a small child.
What we are clearly seeing here is the effects of Steve Jobs no longer being around.
The company has reverted to basic feature-based marketing, or speeds-and-feeds marketing. They are no longer appealing to people's emotions, but rather, appealing to various features that will make them say 'That's cool, I should probably get that.'
The only problem with features-based marketing is that Samsung/Android devices offer all the same features.
So why has Apple gone the safe route?
I can only imagine that without Steve Jobs around pushing the creative envelope, no one wants to take a risk. Remember, when you see a marketing campaign on television, print or the Internet, some person's job is on the line. If enough people dislike the ads then that person can lose their job.
So I'd be willing to guess whoever came up with these ads, whether it be internal or external through a marketing agency, figured the best route to take was to play it safe. Stick to the features and while you won't blow anyone away, you won't get fired either.
I'm going to be so bold as to say that this is the beginning of the end for Apple. Not the end of the company by any means, but the end of Apple as we knew it, the end of the 'cool' Apple.
With whatever mojo they use to have clearly missing from these ads, I think over the coming years you'll see Apple simply settle in to a comfort zone that will make it another big, boring tech company like Microsoft, IBM or HP.
While hype over Apple is still strong, it's natural for people to lose interest in something once they become accustom to it. Which means if you are a hip, cool company, you have to keep working harder and harder to remain hip and cool. I see no evidence what-so-ever in these ads that Apple has any plans to do that.
I think they probably feel as though they've 'arrived'. Which is to say they are so big and so successful at this point - like an HP, MSFT or IBM - that they no longer have to try and be cool.
The only problem with this type of thinking is that it's when you think like this that you can end up getting blind sided. After all, it's this type of thinking that let Apple beat Microsoft, RIM and Nokia to a pulp when those companies had total market dominance.
Can someone knock Apple off its throne in the years to come? It will be hard to do, but if these ads are any indication, there is a window of opportunity to do so.
I've been a huge advocate of Apple's marketing and have always said that Apple is more of a marketing company than a tech company. Their dominance early on was in part due to great technology, but even more so, it was due to top notch marketing.
These new ads are horrible though. They have two deadly flaws with them:
1) They are BORING
2) They talk down to the customer. Their tone is almost as though they are talking to a small child.
What we are clearly seeing here is the effects of Steve Jobs no longer being around.
The company has reverted to basic feature-based marketing, or speeds-and-feeds marketing. They are no longer appealing to people's emotions, but rather, appealing to various features that will make them say 'That's cool, I should probably get that.'
The only problem with features-based marketing is that Samsung/Android devices offer all the same features.
So why has Apple gone the safe route?
I can only imagine that without Steve Jobs around pushing the creative envelope, no one wants to take a risk. Remember, when you see a marketing campaign on television, print or the Internet, some person's job is on the line. If enough people dislike the ads then that person can lose their job.
So I'd be willing to guess whoever came up with these ads, whether it be internal or external through a marketing agency, figured the best route to take was to play it safe. Stick to the features and while you won't blow anyone away, you won't get fired either.
I'm going to be so bold as to say that this is the beginning of the end for Apple. Not the end of the company by any means, but the end of Apple as we knew it, the end of the 'cool' Apple.
With whatever mojo they use to have clearly missing from these ads, I think over the coming years you'll see Apple simply settle in to a comfort zone that will make it another big, boring tech company like Microsoft, IBM or HP.
While hype over Apple is still strong, it's natural for people to lose interest in something once they become accustom to it. Which means if you are a hip, cool company, you have to keep working harder and harder to remain hip and cool. I see no evidence what-so-ever in these ads that Apple has any plans to do that.
I think they probably feel as though they've 'arrived'. Which is to say they are so big and so successful at this point - like an HP, MSFT or IBM - that they no longer have to try and be cool.The only problem with this type of thinking is that it's when you think like this that you can end up getting blind sided. After all, it's this type of thinking that let Apple beat Microsoft, RIM and Nokia to a pulp when those companies had total market dominance.
Can someone knock Apple off its throne in the years to come? It will be hard to do, but if these ads are any indication, there is a window of opportunity to do so.
Comments
Post a Comment