apple Here's Why Apple's Advertising Is Suddenly An Unmitigated Disaster

[BajiRav]

Source

I don't care much about the ads or why they are bad but just liked the way this piece is written.

One of the more famous quotes associated with the ad biz is the one Steve Jobs is reputed to have said to his ad agency early in the relationship?

?I want insanely great advertising.?

The agency in question was Chiat Day, long since swallowed up by BDA (Big Dumb Agency) TBWA, which was in turn swallowed up by BDHC (Big Dumb Holding Company) Omnicom.

Another famous ad quote was that of Jay Chiat, Co-Founder of Chiat day, who once said? ?I can?t wait to see how big we get before we turn to s**t!? Well, both guys eventually got their wish.

For years, Steve got advertising for Apple that was great, and then with 1984 for the launch of the Mac, it became insanely great.

At the same time, Jay was building an agency that was to become the envoy of the advertising business, doing consistently excellent work for a range of major clients as well as Apple.

Then in 2002, Jay died.

Unfortunately, since its acquisition by Omnicom, and merger with TBWA in 1995 the work had already started to suffer, as in common with all agencies belonging to holding companies which are invariably run by bean counters, the bottom line had become more important than the quality of the work.

However, that was with the exception of the Apple account, for which Chiat continued to turn out terrific work. Why? Simple, Steve was still signing off on the advertising. And anyone who?s ever worked with Steve will tell you that as an acknowledged control freak, he would kill anyone suggesting he rely on third party boiler plate research, focus groups, datametrics and all the other bulls**t agencies love to bombard clients with. Steve relied strictly on his gut. And Steve?s gut was invariably right.

Then in 2011, Steve died.

And Apple?s advertising is now an unmitigated disaster. The new TV campaign features an ?Apple Genius? showing people on airplanes, on the street, and about to give birth, how to use their Macs. Firstly, they have achieved the impossible by creating a clone of the?Dell Dude,? only worse.

This guy sleeps in his Apple store tee shirt and name tag, and is the kind of weasel you want to punch in the face. At least the ?Dell Dude? was weird in a funny way. Remember, he got arrested in the west Village for trying to score weed from an undercover cop? And, at the time (2 AM in the morning) he was wearing a kilt!

Somehow or other, I don?t think the ?Apple Genius? could score itching powder in a joke store. Anyway, the really important point is that Apple has invested years and millions of dollars hammering home the proposition that Apple stuff is so intuitive, you just switch it on and instantly become Leonardo Da Vinci. The last thing you need is the "Apple Genius" looking over your shoulder.

Whoever is responsible for this should realize that Steve is sat on his iCloud watching them right now? And he doesn?t think this is insanely great!

The Moral: Without the original visionary in charge? Jay?s prophesy always comes true.

George Parker has spent more than 40 years on Madison Avenue. He?s won Lions, CLIOs, EFFIES, and the David Ogilvy Award. His blog is adscam.typepad.com, which he describes as, ?required reading for those looking for a **** & vinegar view of the world?s second oldest profession.? His latest book, "Confessions of a Mad Man," makes the TV show ?Mad Men? look like ?Sesame Street.? Update: He just got named as one of the 22 Most Influential Ad Bloggers, in the known universe, by: Guess who?

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

And Steve?s gut was invariably right.

Not always, but generally!

But yes, I agree with this article. The 1984 advert would NEVER have been made under a holding company!

[CentralDogma]

It is interesting the shift in advertising that Apple has had recently. They used to have a strict ?no celebrities? policy because they believed the products should speak for themselves. Their recent ads are certainly very un-Apple like.

[DeadEndAccount]

I have a feeling that things will get a lot worse - the problem I think with the latest Apple ad wasn't necessarily bad if viewed as a standalone ad without any association with Apple but once viewed in context with previous advertisements it does come off tacky. IMHO I've always said this - keep the marketing in house so then you can control every aspect of it. Funny enough, where I live the new ad isn't being used (we don't have Apple Stores) thus they're still running the MacBook Pro 'Retina' marketing - still I question how much 'influence' advertising has regarding products once they're launched and established in the market place.

[neufuse Veteran]

Apples latest ads are pure crap, they went from "hip" to talking down to the average user and seem like something you'd see on a B movie...

[Glassed Silver]

I have a feeling that things will get a lot worse - the problem I think with the latest Apple ad wasn't necessarily bad if viewed as a standalone ad without any association with Apple but once viewed in context with previous advertisements it does come off tacky. IMHO I've always said this - keep the marketing in house so then you can control every aspect of it. Funny enough, where I live the new ad isn't being used (we don't have Apple Stores) thus they're still running the MacBook Pro 'Retina' marketing - still I question how much 'influence' advertising has regarding products once they're launched and established in the market place.

Preach it, with all the money Apple has I wonder why they let others influence or control their advertising and even giving those peeps a profit margin.

Surely you could have some of the designers on board for creating, which I bet they already are, but they should have more influence.

I'm thinking about Scott Forstall and Jonathan Ive, both brilliant people.

Seriously, give those guys at least some decent full blown veto rights on the advertisement suggestions, that should help things a litte - at least prevent such ridiculously bad ads like the last three.

Jonathan Ive is charming and has a sharp sense for beauty - make use of that in the ads.

There are some other heads at Apple I'd absolutely give some more influence, because obviously they didn't say a lot, at least in my belief.

Too bad Bob Mansfield is leaving Apple, he's one of my favorite executives, I will greatly miss him in the keynotes :p

Philip Schiller definitely is a social guy, so his position in Marketing is okay, I just think he either had a too social approach in the latest ads or didn't put enough of his own ideas into it.

I know Steve Jobs said "don't think about what I would have done" (along those lines), but I seriously that at least in marketing the people in charge should ask themselves for a second whether going too far off from what has worked so long is a good idea.

People have certain expectations from the company that promotes beauty in detail and perfection, any ad that is "good" or "okay" will get slammed like nothing, whilst if it had aired for any other company out there would probably rather get praise.

Apple needs "insanely great" ads in order not to look tacky there.

You judge yourself by what you can do.

Others judge you by what you've already done.

Glassed Silver:mac

[threetonesun]

Apple needs "insanely great" ads in order not to look tacky there.

Err, the old switch commercials with the "normal people" in them were absolutely terrible. The Mac vs. PC ones were questionable at best. I don't see how this campaign isn't just an extension of those two.

Apple's best advertising is the guy next to you using their products, and the big shiny stores they put in all the visible locations. I personally wonder how much impact their print / media sales even have.

[Glassed Silver]

Err, the old switch commercials with the "normal people" in them were absolutely terrible. The Mac vs. PC ones were questionable at best. I don't see how this campaign isn't just an extension of those two.

Apple's best advertising is the guy next to you using their products, and the big shiny stores they put in all the visible locations. I personally wonder how much impact their print / media sales even have.

Enough to justify the costs I guess.

Also, marketing in media goes beyond generating sales, just fyi. ^_^

Oh and seriously: I don't think this is a downward spiral, I believe though, that in the post-Jobs times people look at Apple differently.(haha, see what I did there? :p)

I think a bunch of Mac geeks even fear that they'll lose some aspects of Apple - probably ethos behind some concepts/quality - which is accelerated by ads that disappoint.

Not saying they are on their way down, just tossing some ideas what some paranoid Mac geeks think, and I know where they come from, but I seriously think that Apple can keep rolling out AA quality.

They've got Sir Ive ;) :laugh:

Glassed Silver:mac

[DeadEndAccount]

Preach it, with all the money Apple has I wonder why they let others influence or control their advertising and even giving those peeps a profit margin.

Surely you could have some of the designers on board for creating, which I bet they already are, but they should have more influence.

I'm thinking about Scott Forstall and Jonathan Ive, both brilliant people.

Seriously, give those guys at least some decent full blown veto rights on the advertisement suggestions, that should help things a litte - at least prevent such ridiculously bad ads like the last three.

Jonathan Ive is charming and has a sharp sense for beauty - make use of that in the ads.

There are some other heads at Apple I'd absolutely give some more influence, because obviously they didn't say a lot, at least in my belief.

Too bad Bob Mansfield is leaving Apple, he's one of my favorite executives, I will greatly miss him in the keynotes :p

Philip Schiller definitely is a social guy, so his position in Marketing is okay, I just think he either had a too social approach in the latest ads or didn't put enough of his own ideas into it.

I know Steve Jobs said "don't think about what I would have done" (along those lines), but I seriously that at least in marketing the people in charge should ask themselves for a second whether going too far off from what has worked so long is a good idea.

People have certain expectations from the company that promotes beauty in detail and perfection, any ad that is "good" or "okay" will get slammed like nothing, whilst if it had aired for any other company out there would probably rather get praise.

Apple needs "insanely great" ads in order not to look tacky there.

You judge yourself by what you can do.

Others judge you by what you've already done.

Glassed Silver:mac

The only thing that could make the advertisement more tacky would be if they used Comic Sans for the font.

Microsoft had some ads running where it was showing the family getting together using Microsoft software and hardware - the first time I saw it I couldn't help but say, "hey, I'll give them an A for effort - they try so hard and it is so cute that they don't give up but keep on trying like the little engine that could" but in contrast to the latest Apple ad I think Microsoft's own creation came off looking good compared to it.

Funny enough most of the advertisements I've see from Microsoft where I am are online (banner, social networking etc) or in print media. Windows 8 screenshots and leaks have been really created buzzed which has opened me to the idea of maybe replacing my iMac and MacBook Pro - something that I would have never considered 1-2 years ago. It appears that targeted marketing plus good product equal conversion of some to the new Microsoft. Compare that to Apple where they've been behaving like petulant douches, failing to properly update Pages/Keynote/Numbers (the half assed update doesn't count - couldn't even be bothered removing iWork references), the lack of any sort of forward looking direction (Microsoft are more willing to go into depth about the future or the changes made in current products) and the push by Apple to write off hardware that is less than 3 years ago - combine that together and Microsoft is coming off even better these days. At least where I stand it appears that Apple is digging a deeper hole thus reducing my chances of being a repeat buyer of their products.

[grik]

Eat an Apple everyday on BPN to make you happy.

This is just more Apple coverage bogus mambo-jambo theories and opinions rather than News. In the end this is very good for Apple they make their word pass, the hate also makes more fanboys and buyers.

I miss accurate and real Back Page News. Maybe its just me. Sorry for the offtopic.

[Scorbing]

Steve Jobs died and with him, all the right decision making and good ideas. Cook better get on the ball.

[Jase]

Steve Jobs died and with him, all the right decision making and good ideas. Cook better get on the ball.

You mean the beachball.. ha, see what I did there?

I'm funny dammit.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

You mean the beachball.. ha, see what I did there?

I'm funny dammit.

As funny as warwagon jokes.

[Colin McGregor]

It is interesting the shift in advertising that Apple has had recently. They used to have a strict ?no celebrities? policy because they believed the products should speak for themselves. Their recent ads are certainly very un-Apple like.

ya cause the 2 in the extremely stupid "Im a mac" commercial were just normal everyday people.

[bjoswald]

No surprise. With Steve gone, they will eventually run out of ideas. Kill the general and the army will die.

[Growled Member]

Apples latest ads are pure crap, they went from "hip" to talking down to the average user and seem like something you'd see on a B movie...

That's what I thought too. Jobs would not approve.

[theyarecomingforyou]

I'm sorry but the ads put out while Steve Jobs was in charge were equally bad ('

', anyone?). People need to stop attributing everything positive to him and everything negative to his absence.

[Shiranui]

And Steve?s gut was invariably right.

Until it became cancerous and killed him?

[Boz]

The thing here is that Apple can coast on the money and products Jobs envisioned and they have built (aka iPhone/iPad) for another decade due to consumer lock-in and obstructing and suing everyone who out-innovates them. Also, American stock market and government don't want them to fail and will protect them any way they can because there's A LOT of money spinning around Apple.

The reality is that not a single person at Apple right now has true, founder, emotions about the company. And it's already showing. With Steve gone you can see quality slipping, stupid ideas coming out, horrid advertising and more lawsuits that really are trying to buy them time.

Most of the folks there, including Tim Cook are corporate tools. They will succumb to the same pressures that other corporations succumb to. Steve Jobs came back and everybody feared him. He was the only one who could tell board and investors to shove it when he wanted to do something his own way. He was Apple.

But despite bad ads that give us a hint of new Microsoft like Apple, they still have locked in consumers and tons of cash to continue coasting for quite a while.

[+Warwagon MVC]

I like their new Ads, they are talking to the average user at a level they understand.