Apple vs PC: iYawn (or: why Apple should stop advertising)
Have you seen the new Apple VS PC ad? I am personally getting sick of these ads. Especially the jingle is going on my nerves.
But furthermore, I am kind of surprised. The apple brand has thrived on a concept of understated confidence which is visible in the design of their products, the usability, and so on. Also, it does enough to sometimes reward its followers. In a way these TV spots are for Apple followers. Man, do I feel good I have a Mac at home after I watch that ad. So, all is good: you got understated brand confidence and a cultish following (or what else do you call people waiting in line 5 hours at the Apple store?)
So what’s up with the advertising in terms of persuading non-users? Constantly reminding people of how another brand messes up is not exactly self-confident. In fact, it kinda looks like Apple is scared Windows7 could actually be a real competitor to OSX. What’s more, in the eyes of a non-user, it might seem pretentious and it could even keep me from trying a Mac out of spite. I’ve actually been one of those people. Apart from some functional reasons, I didn’t use Macs because I felt the brand was too arrogant, or that I didn’t want to be part of a sect, fearing that, I too, would start running around preaching the lore of Apple.
Apple makes great products. Thank you Apple. I’ve become a user too. But please, stop advertising. It makes me cringe. a) you don’t need to and b) it doesn’t help you and c) you can find other ways to reward your followers than to spend it on ads that alienate potential users. Take it from someone who resisted you for a long time, until he found out he could install Windows7 on a Mac.
About The Author
Alexander Wipf
Head of Strategy at Leo Burnett Frankfurt
Other posts byAlexander Wipf
Author's web sitehttp://culturalfuel.com
Ads? Which ads? Oh - you mean their popular short film program …
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:48 pmhi Alexander, nice post but I disagree with your views! I think it’s refreshing to find an advertiser/agency who are being consistent with their message for 3 years now - a rarity nowadays. The ads are working in the market place too. Yes, some of the executions border on the smug and irritate both Apple & Windows users! But overall, I think it makes sense for Apple to keep creating dissonance about Windows. Of course, they will have to change strategy if the general groundswell of appeal to Windows 7 is positive - as seems to be the case. With Vista there was genuine frustration and the campaign simply capitalized on it. I think they should continue until the consumer sentiment towards Windows changes.
October 24th, 2009 at 3:08 pmI agree with the comments of the first post. I have been raised as a mac user. I have always been happy to explain things about macs to people who dont use them, or dont know how to use them. When the first Mac vs. PC commercials appeared on television I found them funny because there were different things that I found were true. Little things that would poke someone in the side once in a while. However, even though at home I used a mac to do most things, in school I only used windows OS. So I was aware of the differences and how each could benefit different things. When vista came out, I felt a bit of disgust because I really loved XP, but it went away after I found work-arounds, or just felt that it was not worth it to fix some of the driver issues.
The commercials kept coming and I felt that they were still relevant. As far as vista was functionally anyhow. I kept trying to save copies of XP to keep the school computers going. Everything was fine, I could have a fun laugh from the commercials once in a while. Then they started getting to me.
The arrogance started/got worse, and I was starting to point out more things that macs do more often than pc’s that were never being looked at even though both OS have the same problems.
Then I beta tested windows7(amusingly enough, I bootcamped it on my imac) It ran like a charm. Blew my expectations away, and it was only the first beta. I recently saw an ad which badmouthed Windows7. I felt a significant amount of anger because over the months, I have felt worse and worse about owning anything from Mac. I felt they were smearing the image of mac. I also feel that the ads should stop going in the direction of trashing Windows, and stay as far away from Windows7 as they can, because this is getting ridiculous.
I agree with most of Bhat’s comment as well. I just wish as a mac user that they would lay off a little. At least with some of the research ive done about the overall thoughts on mac, it keeps leaning towards seeing them as throwing crap around hoping people will believe their “fake” message. People who know computers will no doubt look past the computers, but many more people who are not familiar with the inner-workings of computers( but have had enough experience with pc) will go out and buy a more cost effective pc without any alienation until after they try to figure out that both are just as difficult to master.
I just wish the commercials would lay off and leave casual mac users to repair the image that once existed.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:56 amI agree with the comments of the first post. I have been raised as a mac user
January 8th, 2010 at 8:44 pm