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journal: mac
I Think I’m Gonna Crash: Get A Mac Complaints Quashed
I suggest you contact Dr Feiss so she can prescribe you something to fix this
You just can’t satisfy some Mac users when it comes to adverts. They call for adverts advertising the Mac based on what it can do rather than what it looks like (beauty is, after all, only skin deep) and then they complain about them when they come. So here are some of the biggest complaints and why they aren’t really well founded:
The Mac guy looks like a jobless slob
And the problem with this is? I mean unless I’m missing something there’s not much about him that screams out jobless or slob. Sure, he has a beard. So do many people. Do I go around calling them slobs? And jobless? Well, generally people like that are either students or they have fun jobs. Think of it as the clothes representing freedom for the bores of the corporate environment (which just so happens to be Windows centric).
Another thing to look at is this. Who is going to appeal more to the people have iPods? The PC guy or the Mac guy? Surveys are saying that a large amount of iTunes users are Teenagers. So when you consider that iTunes users generally equals iPod users and iPod users generally equals Apple’s current target audience then you see where this is coming from.
The Viruses ad will lead to viruses
Really? Oh dear, I’d better start planning then. I mean we all know that all these virus writers out there never go on the internet and so will likely have never seen all the writing over the past 5 years about how secure OS X is compared to Windows. So of course now they know this they’ll come and attack us.
For one, do you see people complaining about how MS saying it has improved the security of Windows will lead to more PC viruses? Also, there is a good reason why Apple can do this, because it has a good basis to it. Hands up who has been infected by a Mac virus in the past 5 years? Maybe 5 people at most who are reading this will have been “infected” by a Mac “virus”. Now how many of those have actually had any damage done. The only person with their hand left up will be the one who downloaded the Word 2004 demo off a P2P network and had their home folder wiped. And that wasn’t even a virus, it was a trojan.
The Mac OS X security model is far superior to that currently in place in Windows. No, it isn’t invulnerable but it does make it a lot harder for someone to do something to your machine that you don’t know about.
But the ads don’t show what a Mac can do!
So, what can a Mac do? Well… it can start up. It can let you word process, it can let you manage your photos, it can let you listen to music, it can let you surf the web. Pretty much everything you can do on a Mac you can do on a PC and vice versa. What Apple is doing is that it is saying that the Mac can do all these, but better. It makes life easier for the user.
Another minor thing that I’ve heard relating to this is about the plug and play comments. Someone mentioned that Windows also ships with generic drivers. The difference though is this. I wouldn’t expect to be able to take my printer to school and plug it in to the USB port on a school computer and be able to just press print. On a Mac I would expect to be able to do that.
And I’ll leave you with this last little one:
How is Apple going to get customers by trying to insulting them?
Honestly, if you are insulted by these ads then you are too uptight. I suggest you contact Dr Feiss so she can prescribe you something to fix this.
More Info
Apple - Get a Mac
Michael Tsai - Get a Mac
John Siracusa - Selling the Mac
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thinkback
Great analysis of the analysis!
From the little I’ve seen, the ads work. One doctor I help out on occassion called me yesterday and asked me if I could help him pick out a new Mac.
I have been extolling the virtues of it to him for years, but he never seemed to get it.
So, I had to ask why and he said he had saw an ad on Tv about how Windows crash and get viruses and the Macs don’t. He said he never really thought about it before, but was so tired of dealing with all the problems.
In one ad, Apple did what I tried to do for 10 years.
I’d say they work.
previous poster wrote: “you don’t want to alienate the affluent White guy in a suit”.
I’m a white 40 year old guy in a suit and I use XP as a workplace OS. At home I use a Mac of course. And no, I’m not the least bit offended by the “PC”. I’m just happy to see my Mac at the end of the day.
Hey take it easy. The ads are fun and give the message “a Mac is a better PC”.
Pilky: excellent post.
The typical “affluent white guy in a suit” hates being forced to wear a suit.
I’m a white 40 year old guy in a suit and I use XP as a workplace OS. At home I use a Mac of course.
Exactly, Mac users love these ads.
| May. 03, 2006 | ||
| 12:49 pm |
It is not about me being picked up because PC looks like a businessman, it is about me wanting to be like Mac. Seriously, all those iPod commercials tell it like it is. How many of us look like the dancers in those commercials? How many of us want to feel the experience those dancers represent?
So, I had to ask why and he said he had saw an ad on Tv about how Windows crash and get viruses and the Macs don’t.
He didn’t see the Switch ads in 2002? That campaign got a lot of publicity. Everyone had seen those ads and/or heard about them, yet Apple’s sales went down along with the market share during and right after those ads ran.
| May. 03, 2006 | ||
| 12:54 pm |
The switch ads weren’t as affective. The switch ads were more people experience with macs. These ads are pretty straight up. “We believe our product is better. This is why”.
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| May. 03, 2006 | |
| 1:12 pm |
He didn’t see the Switch ads in 2002? That campaign got a lot of publicity. Everyone had seen those ads and/or heard about them, yet Apple’s sales went down along with the market share during and right after those ads ran.
IIRC, sales were relatively flat. Personally in hindsight I don’t think the time was right then.
| Nick | May. 03, 2006 | |
| 1:58 pm |
I think real people talking about their real experiences on Windows is more compelling than an actor saying he’s a PC.
But it’s the same message and I don’t think it will work, again.
| May. 03, 2006 | ||
| 2:02 pm |
Not really. The last message was more along the lines of “Windows sucks, the Mac doesn’t” while this one also conveys the messages that the Mac plays nice with Windows and lets you do cool things.
And if you consider Apple’s hardware is vastly improved over 2002’s lineup, and Apple’s increased mindshare since then…
| Nick | May. 03, 2006 | |
| 3:24 pm |
The ads basically protray Pc’s as slightly befuddled and out of step (who wears a suit to work these days?) but in a relatively benign way - the slapstick is a nice touch ... if you’ll notice in the virus one, he never actually comes out and says macs are immune just that compared to 114,000 virii, the “mac” guy si just doing fine and is not prone on the ground.
As others have pointed out, he could be Bill Gates cousin,
Jobless slob with a beard? Umm beards are hot. They also show that they are mature, and grow facial hair. unlike the imature clean shaven one who works for the man. I like how the ads don’t show what it does. Because nobody wants to see an ad with a demo of a mac. ads are meant to be entertaining. so when you go to a store, you remember enjoying an ad from a certain compnay, and are more apt to trying the product. i heart the new apple ads.
| May. 03, 2006 | |
| 7:56 pm |
The fact that we’re discussing here proves that the ads work.
Come on people, when was the last time you discussed the latest commercials from tv?!
Come on people, when was the last time you discussed the latest commercials
from tv?!
Switch, which was a failure.
| May. 04, 2006 | ||
| 9:01 am |
Exactly, Mac users love these ads.
Mac Fan, I think we actually agree on something. LOL!
I’ve been looking at those ads and they look like they were designed to the “elitest” part of the Mac world. I think some of the Mac world may have been a bit shaken by the move to Intel and this is just a way of drumming up a little more passion and energy in the Mac community.
There’s no way that an ad saying “ you like itunes well the Mac has iMovie, iWeb, GB, iDVD, iPhoto etc. and they work just like iTunes” is targeted towards anyone but Mac users. They didn’t even explain what those apps do! And they definitely didn’t show them off.
If that’s supposed to get PC users to switch then it’s bad advertising. But I don’t think Apple is that stupid.
I’ve been looking at those ads and they look like they were designed to the “elitest� part of the Mac world. I think some of the Mac world may have been a bit shaken by the move to Intel and this is just a way of drumming up a little more passion and energy in the Mac community.
Yes, I agree that Mac users are targeted, but not solely. People forget that companies market to their existing customers all the time. Look at the exodus from Quark, the king, to InDesign. It can happen to anyone, even Microsoft.
I don’t really know of any Mac users who are “shaken up” by Intel processors, though. All the Mac forums I visit mostly are comprised of Mac users who are anxious to get away from the problems and delays they have been accustomed to with Mac processors. Come on, a PowerBook with a G4 processor versus a dual core Intel processor that’s many times faster? No brainer.
I think the ads are meant to convert Windows users, but also to remind Mac users what the other side is like.
There’s no way that an ad saying “ you like itunes well the Mac has iMovie, iWeb, GB, iDVD, iPhoto etc. and they work just like iTunes� is targeted towards anyone but Mac users. They didn’t even explain what those apps do! And they definitely didn’t show them off.
Exactly. It’s like if you were to run off, “Nero, DVDit, WinAmp...” To a Mac user. When you list those apps, it means nothing because the majority of Mac users have no idea what those titles are and have no experience with them. I don’t want to get into a discussion on how iLife compares with whatever your favorite Windows titles are, but I think that’s a good point about how ineffective that particular ad was at switching Windows users.
And what the heck is a Mac anyway? There are millions out there who have no clue what a Mac is. The people who do know what a Mac is and are using Windows PCs anyway aren’t going to rush out and buy one from seeing those ads, IMHO.
| May. 05, 2006 | ||
| 9:05 am |
And what the heck is a Mac anyway? There are millions out there who have no clue what a Mac is. The people who do know what a Mac is and are using Windows PCs anyway aren’t going to rush out and buy one from seeing those ads, IMHO.
Did you notice that those TV ads never really mentioned that Macs don’t run Windows? They made it seem like the Mac was just another brand of PC (like a “Thinkpad” or “Pavilion” or “Vaio") that came with extra software. I bet a lot of people think the “virus” commercial was talking about some kind of bundled security programs (for Windows) that come bundled with the Mac to prevent viruses.
1.
The Mac guy looks like a jobless slob And the problem with this is?
Jobless slobs don’t have money to buy $2,799 MacBook Pros. They get their parents to pay for their stuff. So Apple should go after the parents.
You don’t want to alienate the affluent White guy in a suit because there are a lot of them and they buy stuff. You don’t want to alienate your audience at all by implying they are boring or uncool simply because their current system is a PC.
The current Mac users think these ads are great. Most everyone else views this as another smug Apple ad that proclaims their superiority. We’ve been there and done that too many times and it didn’t work. Look at Apple’s market share and sales numbers before Switch, during Switch, after Switch. It didn’t do well. Their market share went down along with unit sales of Macs from 2002 to 2003.
Well, generally people like that are either students or they have fun jobs.
And the vast majority of people wear business attire like that and have a job. You want to attract those people. Graphics designers and people who have “fun jobs” don’t need to be sold on Macs.
Don’t spend millions preaching to the choir.
Think of it as the clothes representing freedom for the bores of the corporate environment
This isn’t philosophy. It’s a 30-second TV ad that is suppose to get people to want to buy a Mac.
Who is going to appeal more to the people have iPods? The PC guy or the Mac guy?
So you agree that the characters in the ad influence whether or not the audience can relate. Great. So go with that and think about how you could do this ad where it doesn’t alienate anyone.
The iPod ads didn’t alienate anyone.
Surveys are saying that a large amount of iTunes users are Teenagers.
I’d like to see those surveys. Also, who bought those iPods for those teenagers? The parents. What is going to appeal to Dad or Mom? Being told that they are boring and not “with it” and uncool? Or having an ad that doesn’t alienate them and just tells them in a straight way why they should purchase a Mac over a Windows PC?
Again, remember the ad of the couple creating a DVD of their honeymoon and then sending it to their parents? Apple should show parents making photo books of their children, for crying out loud.
Apple should make multiple ads that cover the same topics, just do it like the honeymoon ad that shows the people doing it, that shows the product.
So when you consider that iTunes users generally equals iPod users and iPod users generally equals Apple’s current target audience then you see where this is coming from
But if you don’t sell Mom and Dad, it doesn’t matter what Tommy wants.
What Apple is doing is that it is saying that the Mac can do all these, but better. It makes life easier for the user
Ah, so you think just telling everyone that the Mac is better is more effective than showing them the product is better?
So instead of showing us a photo book being made, having the unshaven guy without a job say “photo book” is more effective?
Honestly, if you are insulted by these ads then you are too uptight.
Not insult. If your audience doesn’t relate or if your message doesn’t appeal to them, they will not react to your message in a positive way.
And it seems to me that several people here were insulted by my comments about the slob with no job. It seems these people are too uptight.
You don’t want to alienate your audience. I’m sure that most of the students and unemployed and current Mac users love these ads. Is that who Apple needs to convince? No.
Dell had a teenager in their ads but they didn’t alienate their audience because the parents in those ads weren’t portrayed as uncool or idiots. Those Steven ads were very effective because teenagers liked the ads at the same time parents liked the ads (anecdotal opinion). They ran those ads for a long time and would have run them longer if the actor playing Steven hadn’t got busted for drugs, IIRC.